A MEMBER of the 'Mad Max' film crew had to get out of the way of the tour bus of Tommy Collard's Tommy's Tours and Safaris last week after trying to stop Collard from driving along one of his tour routes in the Namib dune belt.

According to Collard, he was on a tour on Wednesday when, "to his horror", he found 'Mad Max' crew in one of his tour areas.

Tommy's Tours and Safaris is one of the operators that specialise in the smaller animals of the Namib Desert. Special routes are designed to take tourists to see lizards, snakes, chameleons, spiders and insects of the desert.

"I saw these people set up on the route that I have worked on for years. I created these routes and they are also in a sensitive and protected area of the dune belt - in a red zone in the Dorob National Park," Collard said.

No one from the film company had apparently informed Collard that they were going to work in the area.

According to Collard, last Thursday he again drove tourists to the area and found the film crew there. This time they blocked his route to wait for a big truck and trailer.

"They told me I had to wait for the rig to leave. On this I answered that I have a time schedule and can't wait for the rig. I told them to get out and they demanded that I wait. I told them that I would drive, so when I drove they first tried to stop me, jumping in front of my vehicle, and putting his hands on the bull-bar of my vehicle. He saw I was not going to stop so he jumped out of the way," according to Collard.

Allegations of someone having broken his hand in the process was denied.

"No one of the film came back to me after the incident, so it could not have been so serious for them," he said.