Irate cyclist attacks Shifnal pensioner with his own stick

Shropshire pensioner Vic Wards ended up in hospital needing stitches after being attacked with his own stick – when a cyclist took exception to a polite request to use his bell in an altercation on The Wrekin.

The 66-year-old, from Shifnal, was on his regular early Saturday morning walk when a cyclist, described by police as aged between 50 and 60, whizzed past him on a narrow footpath.

Mr Wards said: "As he passed me I said 'ring your bell'. He started mouthing off, there was a bit of an altercation and he carried on.

"Then he got off the bike about 50 yards ahead of me, and charged at me like a raging bull.

"I held my trek pole up but he grabbed hold of it and snapped it in half.

"It threw me off balance and into the undergrowth, then he started thrashing at me with my own stick and cut me at the top of my leg."

The incident happened just before 8am on Saturday on a path known locally as Cuckoos Pit and Mr Wards needed six stitches for a three-inch gash on his leg.

Mr Wards, who raised more than £1,000 for charity about five years ago when he climbed the hill three times a day for a year, said: "I went back up the next day, you can't let things put you off but I felt more unsettled."

He is calling for cyclists to use bells to warn walkers on narrower sections of The Wrekin's paths.

"There are a lot of walkers who have had issues with some of the mountain bikers," he added.

"The young lads push their bikes up and then hurtle down at a high speeds. Someone will get seriously injured or even killed.

"Then there are the others that are a bit gung ho who think it's not cool to give you an audible warning on the narrow paths.

"They just come up behind you, a number of times I have almost been knocked over."

Police are investigating and said the offender is described as a white man, aged between 50-60, of average build, approximately 5ft 7 to 5ft 9 tall, wearing basic style prescription glasses.

He was also described as having a weathered look about him and was wearing a red tight Lycra top and black Lycra trousers. Anyone with information should call police on 0300 3333000.

By Paul Mannion