A FORMER magistrate suffered head injuries when he was dragged along the roadside trying to stop a man from stealing his car from outside his home.

Fred Bowles, 91, from Totteridge Lane, High Wycombe, had been to the Royal British Legion in Hazlemere with his wife Connie, 84, on Thursday.

But as he went to open the gates to back his car on to his drive a man appeared from nowhere and jumped into his red Vauxhall Astra.

Mr Bowles clung to the door handle of his car and was dragged up the road before he banged his head on the pavement. The car then sped off towards Terriers leaving Mr Bowles for dead.

A group of teenagers who were passing by found Mr Bowles on the ground and raised the alarm. He was rushed to Wycombe Hospital for treatment for a gash to the head.

The great-grandfather, who was at one time the deputy mayor of High Wycombe and a district councillor from 1956 to 1968, said: "I did what I have done a thousand times before. I got out of the car to open the gates and my wife came straight indoors to get a meal. When I turned round from opening the gates I saw this fellow getting in my car.

"I don't know where he came from. I shouted something stupid like 'what are you doing?' and I tried to grab hold of the handle but he was already in the car.

"I am a bit shaky. It is all a bit of a blur. I was concussed. There was so much blood they thought my skull was fractured but it was a huge graze with a bump as big as an orange. "

Speaking of the perpetrator he said: "I would call him a swine."

PC Omar Abu-Rish, who was at the scene following the incident, said: "Cars are stolen everyday but it is rare for someone to assault a vulnerable and elderly person."

The thief is described as a white man, in his mid 20s, 5ft 10ins, of medium build.

Witnesses should call DC Paul Whiteman on (01494) 465888