Track 'raider' given public nuisance charge

A MAN who drove his girlfriend's car on to the former Formula 1 circuit at Brands Hatch during a race has been charged with causing a public nuisance.

Jack Cottle, 21, was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment in June after footage appeared on YouTube of a white Volkswagen Polo being driven into the middle of a Fun Cup race at the Kent circuit, police said.

Cottle, of Durgates, Wadhurst, East Sussex, was charged when he answered bail at a Kent police station last night.

He will appear at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court on September 22, a police spokeswoman said.

Near the beginning of the three-minute, 17-second video, a woman appears to ask: "Does anyone not think it's weird that no-one's said anything?"

A few seconds later, as the car enters the race track, she begins to scream, begging the driver to stop as he and a person sitting in the back holding the camera phone laugh.

The video provoked outrage on Twitter.

NBC Motorsport commentator and journalist Will Buxton questioned how the car was able to get on to the track.

"The driver may be a complete idiot, but he should never have got even close to the paddock, let alone the pit lane or track," he tweeted.

A second video shows the car during the race, with a commentator asking: "Why is there a Volkswagen Golf on the track? I know these are VW Beetles, but that's not quite right, is it?"

By Ruth Lumley, Press Association