A lone driver has told of the moment that she pulled in for blue flashing lights - only to realise the man "swaggering" towards her was not a police officer at all.

Ebby Tremain has spoken out in a warning to other motorists following the alarming incident, which happened as she was driving home to the Helston area on Sunday evening.

Travelling from the direction of Redruth, in the dark and fog, Ebby became aware of a car following her closely, with the headlights so bright she had to alter her rear view mirror to deflect the glare.

As she reached Nine Maidens area blue flashing light appeared from the dashboard of the car behind, with driver flashing his headlights.

"Normally an undercover car would have lights behind the grill, so I thought 'Odd'," she said.

Despite this she pulled in, as did the car behind, and after a wait of around ten seconds a man got out the car.

"He had a hoody on, he was quite short and he was carrying something in his hand - I don't know what. Maybe a torch. Then something came over me - flight or fight kicked in. I thought, 'This isn't right.'

"I the only way I could describe it was his swagger. I thought, 'That's not the countenance of a police officer. I don't think they would get out with a hoody on, with the hood up," said Ebby, who added that the man had almost got level with her car when she made the decision to drive away.

She described the driver behind as "teasy as hell" after this, tailgating her and flashing his lights constantly until he suddenly turned off just before the Wheal Dream restaurant, towards Trannack.

Ebby drove straight home and called the police, just to check whether her registration plate had been taken by a genuine officer, but was told there was nothing on the system at all.

Ebby said she had been left angry, rather than upset, about what had happened.

"The only thing I could think of was perhaps it was an older lad trying to rob somebody. Maybe smash the windscreen with a torch and demand money.

"If it was an older person [driving] they probably would have stopped and not thought to question the fact there's a blue light behind, and just waited for someone to come round.

"I hope if they ever try again it will be some 6ft 7in wrestler who would dropkick that blue light where the sun doesn't shine and make him scream for his mother," she added.

A police spokesperson said: "If this happens to you, and you have reason to believe this is not a genuine police car, do not stop. Drive to your nearest police station or if you have a passenger or hands free please do not hesitate to call 999 and we can check if the police are actually behind you and wish you to stop."

Anyone with information about the incident on Sunday is asked to call 101 quoting log number 703 for January 29.