A greengrocer battered by a gang of marauding thugs had to wait more than an hour for the police to arrive at his shop.

Ishtiaq Ahmed, 42, went out of his Garden of England store in St Dunstan’s Street in Canterbury, after the group began hurling fruit and vegetables around.

When he asked them to stop, two of them struck him around the head. They all ran off along Kirby’s Lane.

The attack left the father-of-four with severe swelling to the side of his face and injuries inside his mouth, which required stitches.

Two weeks on, he is still swollen and has difficulty moving his jaw.

He spent four days in hospital and has a had a metal plate inserted into his head.

Mr Ahmed said: “They were throwing things about outside and all I tried to do was stop it.

“They were being idiots and swearing and then suddenly I felt a punch to the side of the head. They had just attacked me.

"I felt really dizzy and suddenly didn’t know what I was doing. I was bleeding as well.”

The attack took place at just after 4pm in on Saturday, September 27.

Mr Ahmed says officers took more than an hour to come to his aid, adding that an inspector visited him the next day to apologise for the delay.

Mr Ahmed was born in the UK, but moved back to his family’s native Pakistan when he was a baby.

He returned to the UK when he was 19 and has run the greengrocer’s for a decade.

Mr Ahmed does not believe the incident was racially motivated.

He said: “Apparently, they were causing trouble at various places around St Dunstan’s and were swearing at me, but I didn’t hear them say ‘paki’ or anything like that.

"They were being idiots and swearing and then suddenly I felt a punch to the side of the head. They had just attacked me" - Ishtiaq Ahmed

“This was an isolated incident. This is a nice area and I’ve never had anything like this before in 10 years. I’m told the attackers were from out of the area.”

The South East Coast Ambulance service said it was unable to attend to Mr Ahmed for 50 minutes after receiving their first call.

Spokesman Rich Airey said: “We received a call at 4.40pm which said there was a fight in progress.

“We requested police attendance and at 5.10pm we heard the offenders had left. The crew arrived shortly after 5.30pm.

“We would like to have been there sooner, but if there is a fight going on, we cannot place the crew in danger.”

Police say the delay in reaching Mr Ahmed was the result of a busy afternoon for officers which included dealing with a sudden death, a violent shoplifter and a high-risk missing person.

Area commander Ch Supt Jon Sutton said: “We were called at 4.35pm and attended at 5.45pm.

“Having reviewed the events, there was an unacceptable delay for which we have apologised.

“Patrols were dealing with about 20 calls in Canterbury on a very busy Saturday afternoon.

“Officers have visited the victim and his family to keep them updated on the investigation.
“Detectives are following several lines of inquiry including reviewing CCTV.”

Anyone with information can call police on 101.