BRAVE Jane Purkis stepped in front of a car to stop a road-rage motorist driving at her daughter.

The motorist rammed his car into the back of Sherry Purkis's Fiat Uno when she stopped for a few seconds to drop off her mother.

The driver then reversed and was about to take a second run at the Uno when Jane leapt behind the Fiat to protect her daughter.

Mrs Purkis, a 44-year-old bookies' manageress, said: "He sat there revving his engine and looked like he was going to run me down, but I wasn't going to move. I was going to safeguard my daughter."

The motorist, driving an orange Vauxhall estate, then reversed away at speed.

Mrs Purkis said: "I have never come across such violence.

"If we had been abusive then I could understand his behaviour a bit, but we were not. My daughter was just giving me a kiss goodnight."

She had spent Saturday evening with her daughter and was being dropped off at her home off Hove Street at 11pm.

Sherry, 22, said: "We stopped in this small alley and were there for just seconds when this man pulled up behind, revving and honking his horn.

"I was just about to pull away when he reversed and rammed into me."

The collision smashed the bumper on her Uno.

Sherry said: "He was about to drive at me again when my mum went behind to protect me."

Insp Allan Penfold, of Hove Police, said it was a nasty incident and he appealed for witnesses or anyone with information.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.