A pensioner who was battered in broad daylight in an unprovoked road rage attack has slammed police who were “too busy” to investigate.
Royston Tippin, 79, was left with horrific facial injuries when he was punched in the face by a huge man who was “like a gorilla”.
The pensioner, who suffered a near fatal heart attack four years ago, was attacked after getting boxed in by another driver on Father’s Day.
He dialled 999 minutes after Sunday’s attack but police said they were “too busy” and told him to report the incident the next day.
Mr Tippin has accused West Mercia Police of “neglecting” him following the attack in Warndon, Worcester.
He said: “I was behind a man who was trying to back out of a space but because two other cars were behind me I was unable to move out the way.
“He wound his window down and shouted abuse at me, so I shouted back and then he got out of his car.
“I tried to wind my window up, but he just opened my car door instead and punched me in the face.
“He was a big guy. He was like a gorilla.
“I might be about 5ft 3ins but I don’t back down to anyone. I backed down to this one though because he was a monster. I had my seat belt on, so I had no chance.
“My face looks ridiculous. It has got worse. The bruising has spread to my chin and left side of my nose. I’ve also got a slight headache now too.
“I’ve been really neglected in terms of the police.
“I know they’re short-handed, but I called 999 right after the attack and they told me they were too busy to attend and for me to go down the station the next day to report it.”
Mr Tippin, a retired engineer from Worcester, was attacked in Ambleside Drive, in the Warndon area of the city, at 2.30pm on Sunday.
His daughter Claire, 34, said: “He is almost 80 and he has a dodgy ticker. I am feeling all the emotions you can think of.
“You can tell my dad is no spring chicken – I’m so angry that anyone could do such a thing.
“He has a haematoma under the skin. Bruising has spread from his mouth to his eyebrow – his face looks black from the bruising.
“My dad couldn’t sleep, he keeps relaying what happened. He had to force his eye open.
“My kids are shocked to see their granddad in this state. He could have broken his cheek bone or damaged his eye socket.”
Mr Tippin’s son Kevin added: “He [the attacker] could have killed my dad with that one punch.
“My dad looks like Rocky Balboa. His eye is massive and his face looks awful. It looks like it needs to be cut to let the blood out.
“I’m fuming. My dad is an old man. He called me when it happened as he was alone. I drove around the area for three hours trying to find his car.
“I called the police but they just told me to take him to hospital and comeback a day later to report what happened.”
Police are hunting the thug, who is described as in his late 50s or early 60s.
PC Debbie Threadgold, of West Mercia Police, said: “A thorough investigation is currently underway in relation to the assault and a number of enquiries are ongoing.
“We would like to reassure Mr Tippin and the community that we take all incidents of this nature extremely seriously, and we are looking into his concerns and the circumstances surrounding them.”