Puppet Man is back busking again after being beaten up in an apparently unprovoked attack in Great Yarmouth.

David Perry, 67, was attacked by two men in St Peter’s Plain while walking to his usual pitch outside McDonald’s on Regent Road and says he now regrets moving to Yarmouth.

Mr Perry is well known for his act which consists of dancing with puppets to music playing from a stereo system, which he transports in a pram.

He said: “I was walking to work when a bloke came up to me and said I had grassed him up. He called to his mate, who held my arms back while he kicked me in the face. Then he said ‘Get back to Norwich where your sort belongs’.

“I don’t know what he was talking about because I’d never even seen him before. I think he was just looking for an argument.”

Mr Perry sustained cuts and bruises to his face in the attack. He said the two men then drove away in a red car.

“The bloke who kicked me must have known kung fu. I did some self-defence training when I was younger, and if I hadn’t moved back as he kicked me he could have broken my nose and my glasses,” he said.

“I couldn’t fight back because I was pushing my pram and trying to protect my money and my property. It was quite scary and it’s sad that it’s happened.”

Mr Perry said he was then taken to Yarmouth police station where he was attended to by a medic and given a cup of tea and a custard cream biscuit.

Mr Perry, who has a worldwide following thanks to the web and has even appeared in a range of greetings cards, said he had received some abuse since he began performing in Yarmouth.

“Some people want me to carry on, but others chuck rotten eggs and stink bombs at me. Some people in Yarmouth don’t seem to like anyone from Norwich,” he said.

Mr Perry said he had also been the victim of false rumours about his personal life. He said he now regretted moving to the town and would prefer to busk in Norwich, but was not allowed on buses with his busking equipment.

“They won’t let me on because there is no baby in my pram,” he said.

Police are appealing for information about the attack, which happened between 9.55am and 10.05am on Sunday, August 15.

Officers would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the incident or who may know any more about it.

? Contact PC Sally Morris at Yarmouth police station on 0845 456 4567 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.