A man was assaulted, threatened with a knife and subjected to homophobic abuse by four men in a small grey Audi during a traumatic two-hour spell in Petersfield.

Hampshire Police are appealing for witnesses following an extremely upsetting string of incidents on Friday, May 16, when the victim was subjected to physical and verbal abuse after being followed from the town centre between 9.40pm and 11.55pm.

The first incident took place near the M&S Food Hall on the High Street when the driver became verbally abusive after asking the victim for directions.

The driver then produced a box-cutter style knife after following the man to Cranford Road while the three male passengers made violent threats and subjected the victim to homophobic abuse after blocking a footpath.

The victim was later confronted again by the quartet near Siward House on Borough Road. He tried running as one of the men had an object that looked like a pole or bat, but was struck on the head and back.

Thankfully he was not seriously injured and managed to leave the area after calling a taxi.

The first suspect is a slim brown haired 5ft 9ins male aged 16 to 17 who was wearing a navy blue tracksuit with stripes.

The other two are thought to be 20 with the first being a slim 6ft tall male with dark brown hair who was wearing a black tracksuit with white accents, black baseball cap, and black and white trainers with widened soles.

The second was slim, had dark brown hair, and was wearing a dark coloured zip-up tracksuit and a white t-shirt.

Witnesses or anyone with information, dashcam or doorbell footage from the High Street, Cranford Road or Borough Road area is urged to call 101 quoting reference 4425021456.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.