A gym owner is preparing to give up his business after being viciously battered with one of his own weight-lifting bars.

David Roberts told how a thug 'went totally berserk' at Bradford's Forge Gymnasium, smashing up a CCTV camera before clubbing him over the head.

Mr Roberts, who has run the Sunbridge Road fitness centre for eight years, today said he had "had enough of the hassle" and was in talks to sell the firm.

He has been forced to shut down the fitness centre temporarily while repairs are carried out and police hunt for evidence at the scene.

Mr Roberts, 34, said: "I was working on reception when an Asian man came up to the counter and asked for a glass for a drink of water but I didn't have a glass to serve him with.

"He totally lost it and started shouting and swearing. I turned around to see if I could find a glass and he punched me in the side of the head.

"I turned around and said 'That's a stupid thing to do' and pointed to the CCTV camera on the wall."

The attacker then ran back into the gym, grabbed a weight training bar and returned to the reception. "He went totally berserk," said Mr Roberts, "He started smashing up the camera and anything else that was near it.

"Then he ran at me and hit me on the side of the leg and then on the forehead. I had recently had an operation on my jaw so I was trying to protect that."

Mr Roberts is now thinking of selling the gym, adding: "I have never had any trouble in all the time I have been here."

But he said there had recently been instances of abuse being aimed at him or his girlfriend and said: "I can do without the hassle."

"I am a big lad but if that bar had hit someone smaller it could have killed them. It is just not worth it."

A police spokesman confirmed they were investigating the incident and were examining CCTV footage.

e-mail: drew.kendell

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