A TAXI driver has been left “very shaken up” after he was robbed by a passenger in Colchester.

The driver picked up man from outside the Dog and Pheasant sports bar in Nayland Road who asked to be taken to the Greenstead Estate.

As the taxi pulled up to Scarfe Way he was attacked and robbed by the man.

PC Trevor Clark, of Colchester police, said: "The passenger grabbed hold of the taxi driver and demanded money.

“When no money was handed over the man attacked the driver.

“Having managed to escape out of his own vehicle, the taxi driver saw the man removed a handheld PDA style phone from its cradle on the front dash of the vehicle.

"The man continued to threaten the taxi driver until another man came and pulled him away and dragged him off away from the scene. The taxi driver is very shaken up.”

The attacker is described as around 5ft 3ins, of medium build, aged in his early twenties, with short light brown hair with a small amount of stubble on his face.

He was wearing a light brown jacket with jeans and a light-coloured polo-style T-shirt.

Anyone who saw the man get into the taxi, a silver Skoda Octavia, in Nayland Road, or saw the attack, is asked to call PC Clark.

“The man who pulled the man off the taxi driver is a key witness who we need to speak to,” he added.

Anyone with information about the attack, which happened at 5.25pm on Saturday, is asked to call Colchester CID on 0300 333 4444.