A VIOLENT mugging in South Africa might have ended the sporting career of one of West Craven's best known runners.

But Barnoldswick barber Peter Wilkinson is determined to prove the doctors wrong and run again.

Peter, 55, has been running for more than 30 years and is well known in local sporting circles.

Now he has been left hobbling on crutches after muggers fractured the top of his femur (thigh bone) while trying to rip off his running shoes.

He was held at knifepoint during the terrifying ordeal, in which he and a friend were robbed while out for a run. Peter's injury required surgery, with a pin inserted to repair the broken bone, followed by several days in a South African hospital.

Now home again in Earby, he is determined to get back to work and to running.

Peter, of Red Lion Street, travelled to South Africa with a running friend from Altrincham to take part in the famous Two Oceans event at Cape Town. It attracts runners from around the world to compete in an ultra-marathon and a half-marathon.

Peter ran the half-marathon on Easter Saturday, before he and his pal headed off on the "The Garden Route", a well-known tourist trail along the southern tip of Africa. While staying in a town called George the pair went out for a run, but disaster struck on the way back.

"I was a little way ahead of my pal, perhaps a hundred yards," said Peter. "I was running up the track and I saw these four black guys coming down it, but I didn't think anything of it as it was a very affluent suburban area."

But as Peter's friend neared the men they stepped in front of him, barring his way and demanded his watch, jewellery and shoes. They then chased after Peter, who had seen none of what happened behind him.

"I heard footsteps catching me, but I still didn't realise what was happening. The next thing I knew my legs were knocked from under me and I was on the ground."

Startled, Peter struggled to break free, but suddenly there were knives all around him and he was held down.

"My mate was shouting 'give it them, just give them what they want', but as one of them tried to pull off my shoe he twisted my left leg hard and I heard a crack and immediately felt a lot of pain."

The thieves took two rings from his right hand, a gold chain from his neck, his watch and sunglasses. They were still trying to prise a ring from his left hand when suddenly they scattered and fled.

By now Peter had searing pain in his left leg and hip. His friend caught him up and they sat at the roadside in shock after the ordeal. A few minutes later a passer-by stopped to help them, phoning the police and taking them back to their guest house. The owner was a doctor, who examined Peter and gave him a pain killing injection.

"The next morning it didn't feel too bad at first and I was able to walk on it," he said. "We went for breakfast, but when I tried to stand up from the table I just collapsed - the pain was excruciating."

He was rushed first to the doctor's surgery and then to a private hospital, where an X-ray showed he had a fracture to the top of his femur.

"The doctor said 'sorry lad, but your running days have gone'. He told me if I'd been 10 years older it would have meant a new artificial hip, but because I was in good shape they could operate."

The operation was carried out later that day and Peter stayed in the hospital for the following few days. From there he was flown to Cape Town then upgraded to first class for the flight home so he could have a fully reclining seat. Fortunately, Peter's travel insurance will cover all the costs incurred.

Now home, he will need to see an orthopaedic surgeon to check the bone is mending well, but said each day brings a little improvement.

"I'm not sitting and vegetating, I need to get cracking," he said. "I'm hoping to get back to work within the next fortnight or so, but I will just have to see how it goes."

Peter has run his barber's shop in Church Street, Barnoldswick, for 35 years.

"I just want to get back to normal and I hope, in time, that will include running again."

Despite his ordeal, he said he would go abroad again, even to South Africa. "The country itself is superb and the hospitality is excellent," he said. "This was just one incident. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."