A Moray taxi driver has spoken of being beaten and robbed by a masked passenger on a late-night country fare.
Independent Elgin driver Murray Grant was left in need of hospital treatment for a bruised face and cuts to his forehead following the attack.
Police are hunting for the man picked up by Mr Grant at around 11.10pm in the Langstane area.
The passenger – who wore a scarf over his face – was asked to be taken to Lhanbryde, four miles east of Elgin on the A96 Inverness to Aberdeen road.
Just a mile into the journey, near Linkwood Distillery, the man yanked the handbrake from the front passenger seat and stopped the car before punching the 44-year-old in the face.
Before fleeing the scene, the masked man — described as being aged between 20-30 and about 5ft 6in tall — then stole Mr Grant’s car keys, phone and around £100.
Last night, Mr Grant said: “It was just a normal night and I got this phone call, which I thought was genuine enough because it was a land line.
“Just past the distillery, he started acting suspiciously.
“Then he grabbed the handbrake, stopped the car and punched me face-on.
“I didn’t see much because it was so dark, but I’m alright.”
Officers traced the call to a public phonebox on Linkwood Road beside the Moray College’s technical centre.
Police described the man as wearing a light brown coloured jacket with a hood, a dark scarf around his face and dark coloured gloves.
Detective Inspector Norman Stevenson said: “This was a serious incident which resulted in a taxi driver being treated at hospital for facial injuries.
“While he has not been seriously injured he has been left shaken by what happened.
“It is an unusual type of incident for the area and we are appealing for anyone who saw a man matching the description given in the Langstane area, Reikit Lane or Linkwood
Road areas to contact us.”
Mr Grant said the incident would not stop him driving but added that taxi owners must be afforded more protection.
He said: “The council is going to have to do something about putting cameras in cars.”
A fellow Elgin driver Hugh Stewart added: “Murray was just trying to do his job.
“You get the odd one that does a runner, but what happened here is just not on.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously.