A stunned student is feeling hissed-off after being mugged... by geese.

Shocked Sam Rozati, 23, was attacked by the gang of ganders as he walked home from Essex University.

The bully birds viciously pecked him until he dropped his mobile. Then they chased him away and made off with the phone.

"I was walking home past the university lakes and a goose started squawking at me. I didn't know what was going on," said Mr Rozati, of Colchester.

"It called over two or three of its friends and they flew over and started pecking my arm and biting my hand until I dropped my phone.

"You can't really hit a goose so I had to move away. They weren't particularly huge, but they were big enough!"

Mr Rozati believed the geese were trying to protect an injured friend when they went for him.

He waited until the coast was clear before returning to search for his missing phone but it had vanished.

"It's still ringing but it's on silent and I can't get close enough to the nest to see if it's there," said Mr Rozati.

The only thing hurt in the bizarre attack was his pride.

"I've been made fun of quite a bit," admitted the final-year law student.

"I've never been mugged by anyone before but now I've been mugged by geese!"