DETECTIVES are appealing for witnesses after a foreign student was robbed at knifepoint in the Charminster area of Bournemouth.

The victim, a 19-year-old Spanish man, was walking along Bennett Road with a female friend when he was approached by three youths aged between 16 and 18.

One threatened him with a knife and demanded his mobile phone before running off.

DC James Taylor said: “This was a very upsetting incident for the victim. Unusually, the robber was holding a large wooden statuette of a bird with a long beak and long legs which, he said, had recently been stolen.”

The attacker is white, around 5ft 10in tall with a slim build and medium-length wavy blond hair.

He was wearing a light grey sweater with a bird logo on the chest, blue jeans and light coloured Adidas trainers.

Details of the robbery at around 1am on Saturday June 12 have just been released by Dorset police who can be contacted on 01202 222222.