A TAXI driver was viciously kicked in the face by thugs after he told them he was too busy to take them to their destination.

Mohammed Amin, who works for Ace Taxis in Chesham, had his nose broken in the attack by two men who also hurled abuse and punched him.

Mr Amin, who is in his twenties, was left on the ground clutching his face in agony after the attack. He was taken by ambulance to Wycombe Hospital.

He had been working on Saturday night in Old Amersham and was driving to the Chequers pub, along London Road West, when the two men asked for a lift into Amersham-on-the-Hill.

Mr Amin said they became abusive when he told them he was on his way to another job but could pick them up in ten minutes.

The men then kicked his car door, opened it and slammed the door shut. He went to drive away but one of them stood in front of the car and put their hands on the bonnet.

Mr Amin said: "I had to get out of the car. I had no choice as they wouldn't move out of the way. I asked them what was wrong again, and one of the men punched me. He held on to my jacket and I fell on the ground.

"As I fell on top of his friend, the other one kicked me in the face.

"I was in lots of pain and knew my nose was badly broken. I just heard someone shout 'ring the police, ring the ambulance.'"

Mr Amin needs an operation on his broken nose but said he had to go back to work at the earliest opportunity.

He added: "I need to earn money to look after my family. It is the only way to earn a decent living to keep us going. I don't know what to do. I have a mortgage and everything is looking grim."

A spokesman for Ace Taxis said: "His face is a state. His nose has been broken and is on the side of his face. He will have to have an operation to correct it.

"It's disgusting, it should be stopped, and something should be done. It looks like he has been smashed in the face with something, and the bloke who attacked him just ran off. He was only doing his job."

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "We received a report of a taxi driver being assaulted by two white males aged about 23 to 24, last seen running towards Tesco's roundabout. The taxi driver was taken to Wycombe Hospital suffering from a facial injury. We are investigating."

If you have any information, call PC James Rendle on (01494) 465888