A VICIOUS gang battered and nearly blinded a 64-year-old man in a bid to get their hands on a footwear fashion craze.

Five masked men beat Brian McVey with baseball bats and sprayed an ammonia type substance into his eyes.

Detectives this week launched a hunt for the robbers who attacked the security guard before trying to hijack a trailer full of Kickers.

The trailer had been driven from Spain that day.

The haul - worth thousands of pounds - was being stored at Thompson's Haulage in Glazebury.

Brian said: "I heard this mumbling and then the door kicked open. They started hitting me with the bats.

"They pushed me to the ground and sprayed this stuff in my eyes. It started to burn and I couldn't see."

The raiders started bashing Brian with their baseball bats telling him to be quiet and to hand over the keys for the trucks.

They dragged his trousers from him and tied him up in the back of a trailer.

Brian added: "I thought they were going to kill me., throw me in the river or something. They kept asking me why I was struggling?"

Brian, of Fearnhead, has been working as a guard at the Warrington road firm for four years.

The raiders ran across a field and then got into a black BMW car which was later found dumped on the M62.

Information can be passed to DC Lockie or DC Bob Plant on 01244 612645.

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