Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was assaulted in Ellistown - leaving him hospitalised with serious facial injuries.

The incident happened at around 5am on Friday (January 29) when the man, 27, was walking in Penny Wakefield Community Woodland, off Beveridge Lane.

The victim was approached by a man who asked for directions before hitting the victim in the face with an unknown object.

The victim and the suspect struggled and both fell to the ground where the suspect continued to assault him before finally running off in to the park.

The victim sustained serious injuries to his face requiring hospital treatment – he has since been discharged.

The suspect has been described as black, around 6ft tall with an athletic build and wearing a black T-shirt, black jogging bottoms and black trainers.

Detective Constable Natasha Perkins, of Leicestershire Police, is investigating.

She said: "A man has been seriously assaulted as he walked home and we are determined to find who was responsible.

"We would like to speak to anyone who may have been in the area and saw a man matching this description.

"If you were driving nearby and have a dashcam installed in your vehicle please check your footage.

"If you have any information about what happened or who might be responsible we would like to hear from you – your information no matter how insignificant you think it might be could help with our investigation."

Call 101 if you can help quoting crime reference number 21*60744.