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FIGHT VAN MAN

Irate Amazon shopper stole delivery driver’s keys and refused to let him leave until he got his £400 mattress after missing drop-off slot by minutes

A SHOPPER held two Amazon drivers hostage taking the keys to their van after missing his delivery slot mattress by "literally minutes”.

Dean Smith, 44, followed the van after arriving home to see the vehicle with his £400 bedding pulling away from his home.

Dean Smith, pictured with his mattress, took the keys to a delivery van after missing his delivery slot by 'minutes'
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Dean Smith, pictured with his mattress, took the keys to a delivery van after missing his delivery slot by 'minutes'Credit: SWNS:South West News Service
The delivery van pictured behind Dean Smith's trailer during the stand off after businessman Dean ordered a mattress from Amazon
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The delivery van pictured behind Dean Smith's trailer during the stand off after businessman Dean ordered a mattress from AmazonCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

Dad-of-one Dean managed to speak to the drivers when he pulled over in a country lane to make a phone call.

He pulled up alongside him and asked if he could take it away in a trailer attached to the back of his Land Rover to his home in Tavistock, Devon.

But the men refused, telling him it had been logged as a missed delivery and would need to be returned to a warehouse 70 miles away.

Dean lunged for the keys to the van and refused to give them back until they gave him his goods.

He said he would have missed the initial delivery slot by "literally minutes".

Dean, who runs a drainage company, said: "What got my goat is that I had a trailer on the back of my Land Rover.

"I said, 'This is crazy.' I spoke to the guy's boss and told him that, but they were going to drive back to Taunton an hour and a half away."

He added: "He said, 'We've got nothing for you to sign and it has gone off my screen.

"It is a real flaw. It was a case of, 'computer says no'."

The bizarre standoff ended after police turned up and - after threatening to arrest Dean - ordered the shell-shocked drivers to make the delivery.

Dean said: "I'm a man of common sense and I was not prepared to let this mattress be driven away.

"Even if they took it out of the van and left it at the side of the moor, I would have been happy. This is bureaucracy gone mad.

"They wanted to drive the mattress back to Taunton and then back to my house tomorrow. I worked in transport deliveries for seven years and this is just insane."

Dean followed the van and said he asked the Panther Group drivers if they were carrying his mattress
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Dean followed the van and said he asked the Panther Group drivers if they were carrying his mattressCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

The mattress was delivered by logistics company Panther Group after it was purchased by Dean's partner last week.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson confirmed officers were called to deal with the incident but that no further action was required.

Amazon and Panther Group have both been approached for comment.

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