A British resident has been ambushed, beaten and robbed by a gang of five men while walking home in La Cala de Mijas.

Ben Cole, 29, was returning to Jardin Botanico from the town’s feria on Friday morning when two men began following him before apparently signalling to accomplices.

Speaking to the Spanish Eye, Ben said the attack happened within seconds.

‘I was walking home from the feria when two men behind me kept closing in,’ he said.

‘One was shouting from a distance, maybe to let the others know where I was.

‘Then, in a matter of seconds, five appeared, stole my bag, gave me a beating and ran off in different directions.’

Ben has lived on the coast all of his life and said nothing like this has ever happened to him before.

He said the attack happened close to the Lidl supermarket, an area that has featured in a number of recent reports of thefts.

He said the stolen bag was a fake Louis Vuitton shoulder bag with a broken strap, but it contained his driving licence, TIE residency card, bank cards and his car keys.

‘The keys are the worst part because now I have to pay for a locksmith for the car,’ he said.

He immediately reported the robbery to the Guardia Civil, who searched nearby bins and the feria area in an attempt to recover his belongings.

‘They suggested the bins could have the items, so we checked them and then went back to the feria with them. They searched all over the place,’ he said.

Asked about the suspects, Ben said they ‘sounded Spanish with an accent’, but he was unable to identify them.

The attack sparked hundreds of comments after Ben shared his ordeal in a local Facebook group, with several residents claiming they had seen a number of similar incidents reported around the Lidl in recent days.

One resident wrote: ‘This is the third post I’ve seen about Lidl La Cala this week.’

Ben said the ordeal also highlights how criminals may target victims regardless of whether expensive-looking items are genuine.

‘The bag was fake,’ he said. ‘They probably just saw it as a lucky dip.’

Police have not announced any arrests.