A dog walker repeatedly hit a man with a ball thrower following a disagreement in a Maidstone park on Sunday morning.

The suspect, a man aged between 37 and 43, became abusive after his collie dog jumped on the victim, who asked him to put it on a lead.

Police are now appealing for information following the assault, which happened in Mote Park between 11am and 11.30am.

The victim was walking with his wife towards the park’s toilets when the dog jumped onto his legs.

He managed to push the dog off before asking its owner to put it on a lead.

The suspect then became verbally abusive and repeatedly hit the husband in his upper body with the dog’s ball thrower.

Members of the public reportedly told the suspect to stop hitting the victim and intervened to allow the couple to walk away.

The suspect is white and about 5ft 8ins, with brown hair and stubble.

He is described as strong looking and was wearing a bomber jacket at the time of the alleged assault.

The victim did not need hospital treatment.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Kent Police on 01622 604100 quoting crime reference YY/21552/15.