BY his own admission, Mad Mac - Kidderminster's globetrotting binman - is from "the school of hard knocks" so when muggers picked on him they were not going to get away with easy pickings.

The 59-year-old - famed for his global travels - was assaulted by two youths in the central section of Kidderminster's Comberton underpass late on Thursday night.

Mac, real name John McBride, said two men tried to grab his trusty rucksack at about 11.25pm but, having made his way through some of the world's most fearsome troublespots, he was not about to give in easily.

He said: "I noticed a man behind me but thought nothing of it. I then noticed a second man coming towards me. I felt something was not quite right. At this point I felt a hand on my rucksack. I turned and the man behind me was making a grab for it.

"I defended myself, he staggered back and ran the same way he had come. The other man tried to attack me. I again defended myself and he ran away."

Mr McBride received a swollen hand during the attack and, although he said he could take care of himself, he said he feared for others using the underpass during the evenings.

He explained: "That underpass is getting a bad reputation at the moment. Someone else could not only get robbed but injured. Someone less agile would have gone under."

Also known as "Bindiana Jones", Mr McBride has gone through six passports in the last 27 years, travelling to countries including Iraq and Haiti.

Anyone with information on the assault should call Kidderminster police on 08457 444888.