POLICE have applauded a Calne pensioner who fought off a mugger by hitting him on the head with a torch.

Police are now asking Calne residents to be on the look-out for a man with lumps, cuts and bruises on his head, and to tell detectives at Chippenham Police Station who he is.

The pensioner, who did not want to be named, said the attack happened at about 8.20pm on Tuesday, October 17, after he finished selling raffle tickets for Calne Town Football Club in North Street.

He said: "I was on my way to a friend's house in North End when I took my hankerchief out my pocket and dropped a £1. As I was using my torch to look for the £1, someone grabbed me around the neck from behind and demanded my money.

"I shrugged him off and hit him several times with my torch and shouted for help. He didn't have a chance to hurt me because I kept him at a distance. Eventually he went away empty-handed," he said.

WPC Debra Smorthit, said although police did not generally advise members of the public to fight with attackers, they had to applaud the pensioner for his actions.

She said the suspect undoubtedly sustained bumps and bruises on his head given the pensioner's description of the incident.

She said: "The offending male is almost certainly a local man, and I ask anyone aware of similar, recent injuries to a male of their acquaintance to contact police."

The pensioner said he had whacked his attacker hard. He said: "Put it this way, I intended him to go away."

The pensioner said his glasses had been knocked off in the scuffle, preventing him from seeing the man's face. But he could say the suspect was white, about 6ft 2in, young, and was wearing a yellow top and light trousers.

Anyone with information about the suspect should contact DC Jim Cochrane on (01249) 654455.