A man is still receiving hospital treatment after he was subjected to a homophobic attack which saw him "punched hard in the face" in Worcester Park.

As previously reported, emergency services were called to Central Road in the early hours of Sunday morning ( June 20).

Met Police confirmed today (June 23) that the man was targeted for his sexuality.

The victim, aged in his 40s, reported that on Saturday evening he had been with his partner at a pub on Central Road when a group of men approached and invited them to sit outside with them.

At first the men were friendly but later started to make homophobic comments and the pair moved away. Later that evening the victim left the pub alone and started walking down Central Road.

Your Local Guardian: Credit: Richard JohnsonCredit: Richard Johnson

He then remembers a man making homophobic comments before punching him in the face - which left the victim with serious facial injuries.

Acting Detective Sergeant Herdeep Jugdev said: “This was an extremely violent attack which left the victim with head and facial injuries for which he is still receiving hospital treatment.

"It also appears that the assault was motivated by the victim’s sexuality.

Hate crime of whatever kind is something we will never tolerate and we are doing all we can to find the person or people responsible.

“We would ask anyone who was on Central Road on Saturday evening, particularly anyone in Centrals Bar and who may have seen any interaction between the victim and other people, to come forward and speak to us.

“Similarly we are encouraging anyone driving along the road between 01:10hrs and 02:00hrs and who may have dashcam footage to please review it in case you inadvertently captured something that could help our investigation.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101 with CAD reference 2214/20JUN

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.