A pensioner was taken to hospital after being assaulted just a few hundred yards from his home.

Colin North, 79, of Stockbridge, Keighley, suffered injuries to his face and hands during the attack on Bradford Road, Riddlesden, Keighley.

Police are investigating the assault, which happened in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr North was walking the three miles back to his house in Florist Street after a night out in Bingley.

He was passing the Co-op minimarket when the attackers struck. He was treated by paramedics following the incident, which happened just before 6am, and taken to Airedale General Hospital. Mr North, who has lived in Florist Street for 35 years, suspects his attackers were two young men he encountered while on his journey.

He said he had been at the Locks pub, in Bingley, on Saturday evening and left at about 3am the next morning.

He said: “I missed the bus so I walked from Bingley on the main road.”

When Mr North reached Riddlesden, near the Grange Road junction, he saw two young men he had never seen before. He said: “I don’t know where they came from. I think I just said ‘evening’ and they attacked me.

“I don’t know what they did. They must have hit me in the face and I fell to the ground. I couldn’t get up.

“I don’t know whether they tried to get money off me or not. They didn’t get my bank book and I was thankful for that.

“It’s my fault, I should have caught a bus. I shouldn’t have left it so late.”

Mr North, who was born in Hull, has two sisters living in Wetherby and Skipton.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed the incident was being treated as an assault, and that enquiries were ongoing.

Police were called to the scene of the alleged attack by paramedics, at 5.55am on Sunday.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information should call the police non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.