A disqualified driver sent police on a search for his kidnappers after claiming he was abducted and thrown from the van he crashed into a central reservation.

Joseph Allcock was neither licensed nor insured to drive the Vauxhall Astravan he crashed on the A11 at Elveden, near Thetford, last Saturday morning.

When police arrived at the scene shortly after 4.45am, the 25-year-old told officers his name was ‘Eric’, and that he had been kidnapped and thrown from the van before the collision.

Following a brief search for his kidnappers, Allcock changed his story when identified by officers, who then arrested him for driving while disqualified and uninsured, and obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty.

A search of the van also turned up eight grammes of cannabis, which Allcock admitted possessing, along with the driving offences, at magistrates’ court in Ipswich on Monday.

Solicitor Claire Lockwood told the court that Allcock had been driven by a friend from his home in Hatfield, Doncaster, to meet mutual cousins in Thetford on the day of the crash.

She said the pair had fallen out after an argument at McDonald’s, and that Allcock’s friend walked away from the van, advising him to tell police he had been kidnapped in the event of a collision.

“He had planned to stay at the Travelodge in Mildenhall,” she added.

“He doesn’t remember much about the crash, other than getting out and looking for someone to help him.

“He tells me Eric is a family name, but he accepts obstructing a constable. He also accepts the cannabis was for personal use.”

Allcock was banned from driving in 2010 and had yet to pass an extended exam to regain his licence.

In 2011, he was sent to a young offender institution for 16 weeks for driving while disqualified.

In 2015, his licence was endorsed for driving while disqualified and uninsured.

Magistrates said Allcock’s story about being advised to tell police he had been kidnapped made no sense.

They sentenced him to 12 weeks’ custody, reduced to eight weeks for his guilty plea, and suspended for a period of 18 months.

He was disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay £500 in fines and costs.