POLICE are appealing for witnesses following an attempted robbery in which a 64-year-old man was assaulted.

On Thursday 29 March between 3am and 3.30am a man broke into a house in Brierfield Close, Barnsley, by throwing a brick through a downstairs window, before reaching through and unlocking the door.

The occupant of the house, a 64-year-old man, went downstairs after hearing the noise and confronted the offender, who assaulted him, punching and kicking him.

The man demanded cash from the victim before conducting a brief search of the house and leaving empty handed. He is described as being nearly 6ft tall and of a large build. It is reported he was wearing a dirty white clown mask, a brown/grey three-quarter length jacket and dark jeans/trousers.

Officers investigating want to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the early hours of that morning.

If you can help, please call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting incident number 97 of 30 March 2018.