A Cardigan man has spoken of his shock after fighting off a mugger outside a town centre bank late at night.

Paul Hancock, a 38-year-old Tesco employee, was attacked after withdrawing cash from an ATM outside Lloyds Bank at around midnight last Tuesday.

But a suspect was arrested by police officers who had been sitting in a patrol car parked outside the Factory Shop a short distance away.

Reliving his ordeal, Mr Hancock said that on arriving at the cashpoint he had noticed a stranger leaning against a wall a short distance away.

He added that after he had withdrawn some cash and placed it in his wallet the stranger approached, grabbed him around the neck and tried to seize the wallet.

Mr Hancock fought back and after a brief scuffle the attacker ran off towards the Guildhall.

“It all happened so quickly and was quite a frightening experience,” said Mr Hancock. “You don’t expect that sort of thing to happen in Cardigan.”