A man who claims he was punched in the face while in a betting shop fears the alleged offender might attack again.

Leslie Wise was in Ladbrokes at The Glebe in Stevenage when the alleged assault occurred between 4.45pm and 5pm last Wednesday.

“I was going to the counter to put my bet on and there was a gentleman in front of me also heading there,” said the 59-year-old, who lives in Columbus Close, Stevenage.

“For some reason he stopped so I had to manoeuvre around him. He turned to me and said ‘are you going to apologise?’ And I thought ‘for what’ as I hadn’t done anything.

“He then walked behind me and the next thing I knew there was this severe pain in my chin before I went down. I was out for three seconds.

“Someone else asked if I was alright and I said I had been hit harder over the years. The man who did it said he would ‘have to hit me harder next time’. If he can do that to someone minding his own business what is he going to do to someone that upsets him? If he had a weapon I could’ve been killed.”

Mr Wise has since been to a doctor, who said he was suffering from whiplash, while a dentist told him he will have to have at least two teeth taken out.

He has also criticised the police for not taking the incident seriously after he reported it last Thursday, and said he will be raising his concerns at a victim support meeting on Tuesday. Among Mr Wise’s complaints is that the CCTV footage from Ladbrokes is still yet to be seen by police.

A police spokesman, who described the alleged offender as a white man in his 60s, said: “The assault is being investigated. We are not aware of a formal complaint being made about our handling of the case.”