AN ANGLER who was robbed at knifepoint said the incident had shaken his faith in the youth of today.

Jason Bannister, a Sgt Major in the Royal Artillery, was robbed of £2,500 worth of equipment while he was fishing at Richworth Linear Fisheries, near Stanton Harcourt.

The father-of-two was approached by two youths who began asking him about his equipment while he was fishing for carp at about 1.30am on Sunday, June 8.

Two hours later, the youths returned, and when Mr Bannister opened his tent because of the noise one of the robbers brandished a knife at him.

The other ransacked his equipment before the pair ran off to a nearby van which drove off.

Mr Bannister, 40, said yesterday: "I thought I like my fishing, I enjoy my fishing, but it is not worth dying for.

"It was scary but not debilitatingly so. I knew I had to think rationally or something worse might have happened."

Mr Bannister, who has served in both Gulf wars, Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, lost equipment including reels, his rod and rod pod in the robbery.

Thames Valley Police said there had been three thefts in four months at the same site.

Mr Bannister, who is based in Blandford, Dorset, said: "It has shaken my faith in the youth of today. They are antisocial elements who do not belong in society. They do not want to work for anything. They just want to take."

Both youths were in their late teens and about 6ft tall. Witnesses can contact Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505.