THE aftermath of a crash caused by an alleged drink driver in Coleford has been described as a 'war zone'.

Witnesses saw a red Vauxhall Corsa hurtle down Lords Hill at around 60mph and collide with six cars near the junction of Old Station Way, writing off several of them.

Violence then broke out when angry residents whose cars had been damaged tried to stop the men in the car from fleeing the scene.

A resident who had both of his cars written off, who did not want to be named, said he heard a loud bang outside his house at around 4.45pm on Saturday.

"At first I thought it was a lorry coming past because sometimes the trailers make a lot of noise," he said.

"Then a neighbour knocked on my door to ask me whether I'd seen what was happening.

"I went out and there was absolute carnage in the street – it was like a war zone.

"The guys in the Corsa were trying to get away so we floored them both and held them there until the police came. They were being quite violent, making threats, and one of them spat in my face.

"I just said 'look at the damage you've done – be a man and face up to it'.

"If this had happened at the same time on a weekday I would have been getting my daughter out of the car right where they crashed."

Another man who tried to stop one of the men running away suffered broken bones in his hand when he was knocked over by him.

Damage caused to parked cars will run into thousands of pounds and, without vehicles, some residents have been unable to get to work since.

Paramedics who were first on the scene assisted an elderly lady who was in one of the cars that was hit.

Coleford firefighters also attended and disconnected the battery of the Corsa so it didn't catch fire and helped paramedics with first aid.

A 23-year-old man from Bream has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving following the incident and he has been bailed until January 6.