THIEVES beat a man unconscious with a metal rod before making off with his mobile phone.

Thames Valley Police said the violent attack on the 25-year-old took place at 9pm on Friday, February 19, in Northfield Road, Oxford.

He suffered from swelling, cuts and bruising to his face as well as an injury to his hand and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

He has since been discharged. Police have only just revealed the incident took place.

Det Sgt James Senior of St Aldates police station said: “This was a particularly nasty attack and I would urge anyone who has any information at all to contact me via the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 101."

One of the offenders is a white man in believed to be his late twenties, police said. He is around six ft tall and was wearing a grey tracksuit.