A TAXI driver described the terrifying moment a passenger charged at him with a meat cleaver over an £18 fare.

Martin Roper – a former butcher – was waiting outside a flat in Marks Tey for Christopher Waite to return with the cash.

Waite, 22, emerged with a meat cleaver instead and told him: “I’ll cut you up.”

Mr Roper got back in his cab, locked the doors and called the police.

Waite, of Honeywood Close, Marks Tey, was arrested and has been jailed for 12 months.

Judge David Turner QC told Chelmsford Crown Court: “This was an ugly, disgraceful and terrifying incident. People who produce knives in public go to prison.”

See the full story in today's Gazette.