An American tourist was left petrified on her dream holiday to London after being harassed by three rickshaw drivers in an ‘organised’ attempt to rob her phone.

Heather Ford, 39, was ‘ambushed’ during a ride on one of the pedal-powered passenger vehicles last Thursday after seeing Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre. 

The mother-of-two had travelled to the UK from Tampa, Florida, on her first solo trip abroad and insists she ‘planned it meticulously’, even buying a strap to deter phone thieves from snatching her device. 

But the American says it was only moments after she agreed to make the five-minute trip to The Clermont Hotel via rickshaw that alarm bells started to ring. 

Rickshaw drivers have become notorious in the capital for swindling tourists out of hundreds of pounds, with one last year charged a staggering £450 for a seven-minute trip. 

Mrs Ford told the Daily Mail: ‘I heard the driver on the phone to someone mention he was heading to The Clermont. But when we got to the hotel and I pointed it out, he pulled off to the right, past the train station and to a little side-walk. 

‘He stopped and told me it was going to be £52 for the ride, which was barely five minutes. He demanded £40 in cash and said he wanted the rest on card. 

‘Then another guy pulled up on a bike next to him and started asking for my phone to take pictures.

American tourist Heather Ford, 39, was harassed by three rickshaw drivers while visiting London last week

Mrs Ford shared an image with the Daily Mail taken just moments before she says she was ‘ambushed’ 

It came after the rickshaw driver deliberately missed a turning for The Clermont Hotel, where the American had been staying in the capital

‘Out of nowhere, a third guy walks up and says: “Give me your phone, don’t you want memories?” The guy that I was riding with then started doing the same thing. 

‘After I refused to hand over the phone, one of them started demanding I hand over my physical card so he could pay for me. I refused again and they all started getting really irritated. “That’s how you need to do it”, they said.

‘I wasn’t having it, started shouting and threw a £10 note at the guy who had picked me up. I just quickly sprinted off because it clicked with me – that wasn’t normal. They were clearly trying to rob me.’ 

Mrs Ford rushed back to her hotel, where she was told by a receptionist that rickshaw riders routinely target tourists near Charing Cross. 

The American had flown from her home in Tampa, on Florida’s west coast, to Edinburgh earlier that week before making the trip south to the capital. 

She described the trip as ‘years in the making’ and ‘the opportunity of a lifetime’, but left full of anxiety following the ordeal after dark in London. 

‘As soon as I got back to the hotel I was literally shaking. I threw up in the bathroom,’ she explained. 

‘It was my first time going abroad by myself and I’d done my research and felt really prepared for it. 

‘It just made me feel really unsafe in London. The next morning I just felt so unsafe and on guard when I left the hotel. I just wanted to get back to America. 

‘That holiday was supposed to be empowering for me, I’d been planning it for years, and I left feeling like I’d screwed up a bit. I really wasn’t doing well – but I had no idea that could happen on one of those rides.’ 

Mrs Ford is only the latest in a list of hundreds, even thousands, of tourists to have been ripped off by rogue drivers who have turned the streets of central London into the ‘Wild West’. 

Mrs Ford said her ‘dream’ trip to London was ‘ruined’ by the ordeal 

One official price list seen by the Daily Mail this week revealed that customers can expect to pay fees of up to £10 per person per minute for a rickshaw ride – meaning a 15-minute journey for one person would cost £150.  

Only months ago, Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a crackdown on drivers in a bid to eliminate extortionate charges, traffic jams and anti-social behaviour. 

Under rules introduced by Transport for London in February, riders now have to pay for a license, pass a safety test and hold at least a driving theory test certificate before charging for rides. 

Fare caps will also be introduced at the end of this month,  which will limit charges to a maximum base fare of up to £5, plus a per-minute rate of up to £1 per minute for the first passenger, so a five-minute trip for one would be priced at £10. A further £3 can be added to the charge for each additional passenger. 

During his announcement of the clampdown, Sir Sadiq said: ‘After years of campaigning, I’m pleased that TfL will be regulating pedicabs across the capital to ensure they meet proper operational standards.

‘Pedicabs should be a fun way to explore London, but too often people face rip-off fares, blaring music and unsafe behaviour.

‘We’re bringing in these new rules so that both customers and drivers can benefit from an industry that is more safe, reliable and professional.

‘This will play an important role in supporting our vital night-time economy and enabling more people to enjoy all that our great city has to offer as we continue building a safer, fairer, greener London for everyone.’