A Morden shopkeeper is scared to do business at night after he was punched in the face following the latest in a long line of thefts.

Samir Patel runs the Kings Off Licence in St Helier Avenue and says that for the past few months, a group of teenagers have been running riot around town.

"One months ago there were about 15 children, all about 12 years old and all wearing masks," Mr Patel told the Wimbledon Times.

"They took stuff from my store and just ran away. Police couldn't find anything."

Then on Wednesday last week, Mr Patel said members from the same group came back again.

"After they ran off this time, i chased after them and caught one boy and said 'you are not allowed in my shop anymore'," he said.

"He then pushed me and another of the boys punched me in the face.

"I went to hospital but I was very lucky this time."

Police confirmed that they received a report of a theft from the store at about 7pm on February 6.

"Two males, aged 14-16 entered the store and took sweets worth £2.00," a Met spokesman said.

"When the 41-year-old shopkeeper challenged the suspects, one of them punched him in the face causing a cut to the area around his eye.

"The victim was taken to a west London hospital for treatment. His injury is not life threatening.

Officers from Merton are investigating but no arrests have been made as of yet.

Mr Patel says something needs to be done around the area to keep himself and other shopkeepers safe.

"The last three or four months has been horrible," he said.

"I am very scared to do business late at night and we as a community are scared.

"These kids are going around all the shops in the area because they want to cause trouble.

"How are we meant to do business like this?"