Detectives are appealing for information following an assault on the Wirral Way earlier this month.

At around 10am on Wednesday 1 September, a man is his 50s was walking his dogs on the Wirral Way near to Melloncroft Drive West in Caldy, in the direction of Thurstaston.

A male cyclist rode past at speed, almost hitting his dogs. The victim asked the cyclist to slow down, and the cyclist stopped, got off his bike and punched the victim twice to the face, pushed him to the ground and kicked him in the head. He then rode off towards Thurstaston.

Passers-by came to the assistance of the victim, who sustained facial bruising and swelling, cuts to the head and multiple bruises and grazes across his body. Enquiries are ongoing.

The suspect is described as white, mid to late 20s, 5ft 8in tall, of slim muscular build. He has light ginger, short hair with a short ginger stubble beard. He did not have a local accent but was well spoken, and was wearing all black lycra cycling gear which included black three quarter length lycra shorts and a black lycra top and black cycling shoes. He was not wearing a helmet. The bike was a black coloured road bike, possible a Boardman model.

Detective Constable Lyndsey Shone said: "This was a completely unprovoked and disturbing attack on a man who was simply walking his dogs in the area. We're grateful to all of those passing by who assisting the victim, and would like to speak to all of those people to establish what they saw, so if you haven't come forward yet, please do so.

"Our enquiries are ongoing but if you recognise the suspect from this description, witnessed the incident or have any dashcam, CCTV or doorbell footage locally which might identify him, please let us know and we will take action.

"Such despicable behaviour has no place in Merseyside and we'll do all we can to put the person responsible before the courts."

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre' on Facebook with reference 21000607986.

You can also pass information via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or their online form - [L]https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously[L+]which can be accessed by clicking or tapping here.