FOUR Russians kidnapped a man by bundling him into the back of a car in Southend, a court heard.

Anthony Kaminsky, 39, Vadim Sugaipov, 36, Aleksandrs Ananjevs, 40, and Jevgnenijs Ivanos, 31, are accused of keeping Vitalijus Koltakovas prisoner in the back on a Volkswagen Passat.

Passers-by are said to have witnessed Mr Koltakovas screaming for help and calling for the police as the men forced him into the car as he walked along Kursaal Way during the evening of Monday, November 2, last year.

The court heard how all the men, including Mr Koltakovas, had worked together at a car breakers yard in Rayleigh.

Mr Koltakovas had recently arrived in the country from Lithuania and Kaminsky gave him a job dismantling cars.

But, on the day in question, Ananjevs and Ivanos suspected that Mr Koltakovas had stolen their wallets and car parts from the yard.

So all four men drove to his home on the Kursaal estate to confront him.

Mr Koltakovas tried to run away when Kaminsky told him he had to come back to the yard to watch some CCTV footage.

But the men caught him, forced him into the back of the car, and then restrained him as they drove off, the court heard.

The police had been called by witnesses, and three of the men were arrested at traffic lights on the A127. Kaminsky, who had driven away in another car, was arrested the following day.

Richard Scott, prosecuting, said: "The crown says that these four men unlawfully took Mr Koltakovas away and used force to take him against his will."

Kaminsky, of Cowdray Way, Hornchurch, Sugaipov, of Udall Gardens, Romford, Ananjevs, of Tennyson Road, Chelmsford, and Ivanos, of Cornflower Drive, Chelmsford, all deny a charge of kidnapping.

The trial continues.