The Hungarian driver who filmed himself deliberately swerving his lorry at people walking from Calais refugee camps has become an overnight celebrity in his home country, with a dedicated fan page of far-right supporters.

A police complaint has also been filed against the driver, identified by Hungarian media as Arpad Levente Jeddi, who has posted lengthy defences of his actions on social media, and accused his critics of trying to ruin his livelihood.

Jeddi now has a Facebook page dedicated to his regular postings and videos attracting more than 18,000 likes since last week. The page regularly shares far-right content, including a screenshot of the controversial video which says: “Become a national hero, step on the gas!”

The film, titled Calais Emigrants vs drivers and EUROPA, shows dozens of men filling the road in front of the driver, who then lurches towards the men near the side of the road. He straightens up, then swerves again at another group of men, veering on to the hard shoulder.

“On what grounds does he [the person who reported the incident] want to ruin the life of a man who was trying to protect his own life from the criminals?” Jeddi wrote in a Facebook post which has over 1,000 shares. “I’m going to prove – through the opinion of a road traffic investigator if need be – that there was no dangerous driving. If anything we were being endangered by the mob there.”

“Whom I endanger on the road is not an issue. No one. That place is more like a war zone,” he added.

Jeddi is understood to be still driving a lorry for Slovakian transport company Dabeda, based in Bratislava. The company’s owner told the Guardian he would be investigating the incident when the driver returned to the base. “I know that this was posted on a private account, and I have to talk to the driver first, I have to find out when the video was taken and if it was inside my truck, I don’t know all the details,” he said.

“But of course, I cannot allow this to happen. If he is using my truck to offend people, he is not allowed to be doing that.”

The police complaint was filed by Hungarian political activist and schoolteacher Tényi István. Local media said Tényi, a member of the ruling rightwing Fidesz party, had come to prominence in the past 18 months for making other police complaints against opponents of his party, including against the media and other political groups.

Tényi wrote in a statement on Facebook: “The criminal code is clear on the offence. The situation – that can be seen on the video recording – is unclear, however.

“Obviously the local authorities are responsible for the safety of people on their motorway, but on the other hand Hungarian authorities are responsible for any offence committed by a driver who is a Hungarian citizen. If a criminal offence has been committed, then this complaint will trigger an investigation, if not then the case will be closed, instead of hanging in the air.

“There is a possibility that this was rightful self-defence: the Curia [Hungarian high court] ruling 4/2013 clarifies this. To give in to emotions in this case would be highly mistaken. We can only look at what happened here from an objective point of view.”

A spokesman for the Hungarian national police confirmed they had received a complaint. “The police are looking into it, before deciding on any further action,” he told the Guardian.

Andrea Szekely, a Hungarian lawyer specialising in traffic violations, told Hungarian website Origo.hu that the video recording clearly shows people jumping out of the lorry’s way to avoid physical injury, which proves lives were endangered by the driver’s actions, though he said a jury would consider extenuating circumstances.

Authorities are poised to take legal action, the website reports, calling a court case highly likely.

Drivers and medics have warned of escalating violence on the roads around Calais. Jean-François Corty from Doctors of the World, which coordinate volunteer doctors for the refugee camps, said tensions had increased because of heightened security around the ports and Channel tunnel terminal, leaving refugees with no option but to attempt to board lorries.