STARTLED motorists watched in horror and amazement as three men, armed with shovels and a metal bar, violently attacked each other during the evening rush-hour on a busy Salisbury roundabout.

Drivers saw one bare-chested man with his head covered in blood and another waving a shovel about.

The battle took place on the side of the road near the roundabout at the junction of Newbridge Road with Coombe Road and Harnham Road on February 1.

The fight followed a series of road rage incidents between the occupants of a white Land Rover Defender and a white VW van.

It began near The Stag pub at Charlton All Saints and ended with the two vehicles colliding on the roundabout at the top of Newbridge Road.

A jury at Salisbury Crown Court heard this week that one motorist was so alarmed at the way the two vehicles were being driven along the main A338, he used his mobile phone to alert police.

Police subsequently found two of the men involved receiving treatment at Salisbury District Hospital for head wounds.

The third man flagged down a police car in Exeter Street and told them a blood-stained steering 'crook lock' was in the back of his Land Rover.

Land Rover driver Mohammed Emamy (27), of Sandy Lane, Redlynch, and 40-year-old William Gillard, from Broadfield Road, East Gomeldon, the driver of the VW van, both denied dangerous driving.

In the dock with them is Stephen Fotheringham (35), who lives in Windsor Road, Salisbury, a passenger in Gillard's van.

All three pleaded not guilty to affray. (Case proceeding).