One of the men struck a blow to the rear of the vehicle. The chauffeur driver, who was about to leave to pick up a passenger from the airport, got out to investigate.

As he was dealing with the man at the rear of the vehicle, a second man jumped into the driver’s seat and started to drive the vehicle away. The chauffeur attempted to stop him and was dragged by the moving vehicle for some distance before he lost his grip.

He suffered injuries minor injuries. He was treated in hospital. The victim was working at Heathrow Airport for a chauffeur company called Sovereign Chauffeurs based in Canary Wharf.

He is currently unable to work, due to his injuries. The stolen Mercedes S-Class car was later involved in a police chase. It was subsequently recovered after it had been crashed into a brick wall in West London.

Terence Flanagan, GMB Professional Drivers Branch Secretary said, “This vicious attack on our member and the carjacking of his vehicle comes days after GMB warned of the increasing violence being meted out by the public to professional drivers.

“GMB wants to see coordinated action by everybody involved in the industry to minimise and eliminate the avoidable risks to which members are exposed. GMB also wants to see CCTV in passenger vehicles and in the places where the cars wait for passengers.

GMB wants to see the specialist insurance companies who deal with professional drivers amending their insurance policies to cover the full gamut of the damages to drivers, their vehicles and their livelihoods that are now commonplace in the industry.

GMB will be seeking meetings with the relevant bodies to learn the lessons from this carjacking.”