Man from Totnes smashed over the head with a concrete block

A man well-known around Totnes was struck over the head with what witnesses have described as a concrete block.

Police say the victim, a man is his 20s, was seriously assaulted and taken to hospital.

People in the town of Totnes in Devon where the attack happened at 3:30 on Sunday 3 July say the beggar is always friendly and polite to people passing by.

He has been regularly seen outside 'The Happy Apple' shop in the High Street.

Staff there have told ITV News that they know the victim as 'Ben' and he's always a very gentle guy.

Shop worker Kelly Rodwell regularly speaks to the victim outside the shop.

She said: "It was quite horrific. It was not what you expect to see outside your own kind of place of work.

"Everyone that was around came to help him. It was quite shocking that somebody could do that to somebody else and be that violent."