A MAN has been assaulted during an attempted robbery near Beacon Hill in Rednal over the weekend.

The incident occurred just before 8.30pm as the man was walking in the woods with his partner on the Lickey Hills near Beacon Lane, after parking his car in a car park off Monument Lane.

Two men approached him from behind, striking him over the head with what is thought to have been an imitation handgun, before demanding his car keys.

The two offenders didn’t manage to take his keys, and they left the area in an unknown vehicle, while the man had to be taken to hospital for treatment to his head injury.

The first of the two men is described as Asian, approximately 25 years old, and 5’11” tall, with a stocky build. He may have had a beard or worn a scarf over his face, and he was wearing a hooded top and tracksuit bottoms.

The second man is also described as Asian, and somewhere between 16 and 25 years old. He had a skinny, petite build and was about 5’8” tall. He is described as being younger looking than the first man, with no facial hair, and was wearing a beanie-style hat or hooded top, with dark coloured tracksuit bottoms.

The two men are thought to have been kicking a football between them on the field close to where the victim parked his car, just before the incident.

DC Rebecca Wittin of West Mercia Police, said: "This is a particularly nasty attempted robbery that has left the victim in need of hospital treatment.

"We would like to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time as they may have important information. This includes passing motorists in the Beacon Lane area and anyone who may have seen a suspicious vehicle leaving the scene at this time.

"I would like to reassure the local community that this appears to be an opportunistic attack and that officers were quickly deployed to the scene."

Anyone who witnessed the incident, believes they might recognise the men described, should contact West Mercia Police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting incident number 728s of July 10.

Alternatively people can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or via crimestoppers.org.uk.

The attempted robbery follows on from another incident on Warren Lane in the Lickey Hills Country Park on July 1, when two women were robbed while out walking with their children.