Three passengers 'feared for their lives' after being picked up by a hooded thief driving a stolen taxi at speeds of up to 100mph.

The friends claim the driver later attempted to run them over at an industrial estate before fleeing for safety when he told them he had a gun.

The terrifying incident happened after the trio left Tree nightclub in Old Town at 3am on Saturday.

A Ford Allied Procab with taxi number 346 and license plate number SF18 ATV was stolen from an address nearby on the same evening.

A 21 year-old man from North Swindon, who wishes to remain anonymous, had been clubbing with two friends when they got into the same taxi - and only realised it was stolen the next day when news of its theft circulated on Facebook.

He shared the details of his journey from hell with the Adver.

"We had been at Tree. We did order a taxi through the app, but we ended up taking a walk and found this taxi at the start of Wood Street so we got in," he said.

"The driver was wearing latex black gloves, had a facemask on and had his hood up which we thought was weird but didn't question too much. 

"Almost immediately we were concerned because his driving was extremely erratic, he was swerving across the road and he must have been going at least 100mph at times. 

"He was taking us in a weird direction and one of my friends was really suspicous so he started asking the driver to stop, who then pulled the handbrake. My friend then got out.

"At the time my other mate and I just wanted to get home so we were asking him to get back in the car but he was begging us to get out, saying 'that's not a real taxi driver'. In the end he dragged us both out, we were at the industrial estate by Mead Way.

"The driver started demanded money for the journey and we asked him to show us his ID but he kept saying he couldn't take his mask off because of Covid.

"He then, out of the blue, tried to run us over, driving up onto the grass verge and he came so, so close to hitting my mate.

"We reacted quite angrily, because it was quite a scary thing to have happened and then he started shouting at us that he had a gun and we could see him reaching for something.

"We ran and eventually he drove off."

The incident was only reported to the police after the friends saw a Facebook post calling on people to help find the stolen taxi.

He said: "It was definitely the same taxi, the moment I was sent the post I recognised the car.

"It was a mental situation, his driving was insane and when ge tried to run us over and mentioned the gun I definitely feared for my life.

"It was scary because we had no idea what his intentions were or why he was doing it."

The man said the driver returned to Tree nightclub and picked up another group containing a member of his family.

"I've seen a video of my cousin and her brother in the back of the taxi and they're getting thrown about because of how badly he's driving," said the 21-year-old. 

He says that group were taken to their destination safely, albeit shaken when they arrived. 

Another woman told the Adver she was approached by a man in what she think was the same taxi - again on Friday night into Saturday morning.

Wiltshire Police are investigating and urged witnesses to come forward to help track down the rogue taxi driver.

A spokesman said: “We are carrying out enquiries following the theft of a taxi from outside an address in Swindon.

“It was stolen from Springfield Road overnight between Friday (November 5) and Saturday (November 6) and was reported stolen on the Saturday morning.

“We have since received a report of the possible thief driving the taxi, a black Ford Allied Procab, and using it to pose as a taxi driver and pick up customers.

“These people reported that the driver was acting in an aggressive and threatening way, as well as driving erratically, but thankfully they were not injured.

“We are investigating both the theft and the subsequent incident involving the man posing as a taxi driver.

"Anyone with information about the theft or anyone who has seen the stolen taxi is encouraged to call Wiltshire Police on 101, quoting crime reference 54210108220. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.”