Tia Latham relives terrifying moment thugs chase her and friend in Hazlemere

Tia Latham, who appeared in ITV show Survival of the Fittest, was returning from a trip to pick up food for a movie night with her friend Charley Grabczak when the pair were set upon by a pair of thugs outside his house in Beechlands.

The horrifying attack, which happened on January 17, was caught on CCTV - and a hooded man can be seen chasing Tia and Charley after they got out of their car late that night.

Tia (pictured above) and her friend Charley (pictured below)

Fortunately the pair managed to get inside Charley’s house but the man – and his accomplice – turn their attention to Tia’s BMW which is parked outside.

While one attempted to smash the window with the pole, the other kicks and dents the door before kicking off the left wing mirror.

The 29-year-old, who lives in London but was born and grew up in High Wycombe, where her family still live, said her anxiety has “gone through the roof” since the attack.

Describing the frightening events of that night, she said: “As we pulled up in the car I saw someone smoking at the side of one of the houses – I thought it was a bit suspicious because he was standing there in the dark.

“We started to walk into my friend’s house and then all of a sudden a guy was behind me. My friend ushered me inside his house and when we looked back, we realised actually how serious this was and how much worse it could have been.

“The man was chasing us with a metal pole and when they couldn’t get to us they started vandalising my BMW.

“It was crazy. My friend has had a couple of homophobic incidents in the past and he’s had to call the police about 12 times. I don’t know if traumatised is too strong a word but it was actually quite sickening. It was obvious he wanted to hurt us – my anxiety has gone up.”

Tia said she “100 per cent” thinks it was a transphobic attack and her friend said he heard the term “tranny” shouted out.

She added: “I still go to a lot of celebrity events and things like that – even going out of my house to go get some milk I’m thinking about it. It is going to take a lot for me to go out without having to look over my shoulder. It is 2019, you would think that we wouldn’t have to deal with stuff like this anymore.”

The model and reality star now wants to raise awareness about hate crimes. She said; “I want to actually show people that this is what we have to go through – it is not some kind of joke, it’s very serious. This is not something we ever want to go through but these kind of things are still going on.

“I really hope 2019 is the year this kind of thing stops and we can all live in peace, no matter what gender, religion or race you are.”In a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “Thames Valley Police were called at around 10.20pm on Thursday (January 17) to reports of criminal damage in, Beechlands, Hazlemere near High Wycombe.

“A vehicle was damaged by up to three men, they were seen with a baseball bat. This criminal damage is also being investigated as a hate crime.“If you have information that could help us with the investigation, please contact police on the non-emergency number 101 quoting reference 43190017835, or make a report online.”