A pedestrian was left with a suspected broken nose after a "nasty" street robbery.

The man was walking from Brook Street across a railway bridge towards Magdalen Street in Colchester.

He was followed across the bridge by three "scruffy looking" men who suddenly attacked him as he neared Magdalen Street.

The victim was hit in the face and robbed of £55 cash and a pair of prescription sunglasses.

Det Sgt Roy Clark, of Colchester police, said: "The victim had an injury to his nose which he believed was broken. Any street robbery is a nasty incident particularly where people get hurt."

One of the robbers is described as a being "very scruffy and smelling of alcohol". He was a"skinny" white man, 5ft 11ins, aged about 25, with long dark brown hair.

He had a nose ring, was wearing black jeans and a black studded biker jacket.

The other two robbers were about the same age and one was also wearing a black leather jacket.

If you have any information about the attack, which happened at about 2pm on Wednesday, contact police on 01206 762212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.