Police are investigating claims a man was assaulted by a gamekeeeper on a shoot near the Queen's estate.

Engineer Patrick Panks, 43, from Dersingham, claims he was attacked when tempers flared after hunters blocked a road near Sandringham.

He told The Sun: 'I came round the corner doing around 30mph and this toff was stood with his dogs, about six of them.

'I had to stop because they were in the middle of the road. He was waving his stick around and he hit the front of my car.

'I wound down the window and before I could say anything he shouted 'Mind my dogs you peasant.' I couldn't believe it.'

Mr Panks said he got out of the car and an altercation ensued, after which he began walking back to his vehicle.

'The next thing I felt a heavy thud on the back of my head then this excruciating pain,' he said. 'This guy then started going ballistic.

'I turned round and he'd broken his stick on the side of my head. I could feel the blood trickling down my neck.'

Mr Panks says he suffered cuts to his head and neck, along with bruises across both arms and his body.

Norfolk police said: 'Police were called around 3pm on Saturday 19 January 2019 to reports of an incident in Shernborne Road in Dersingham involving two men.

'A crime report has been created and officers have spoken to both parties, however neither has made a formal complaint at this stage.'

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the incident was a police matter.