A QUIET riverside pub is the latest victim of the ruthless gang of robbers who battered the landlord 'senseless'.

Three men armed with baseball bats and a knife forced their way into the King George V pub in London Road, High Wycombe, in the early hours of Monday morning.

When the pub landlord was disturbed by noise downstairs, the masked trio attacked him.

Detective Inspector Philip Chandler, of High Wycombe CID, said: "They beat the man senseless so he could not open the safe."

The victim was taken to hospital and discharged later.

Detective Constable Sue Carter investigating the incident said: "These men are violent and ruthless. They did not give the victim time to defend himself before they attacked him. I am keen to speak to anyone who saw something suspicious at the time."

The gang carried out their first raid at the One Stop store in Wooburn Green on October 30 and since then have hit three other shops and a pub.

On November 3, Threshers in Prestwood was raided and two days later the Spar in Great Missenden Road, Great Kingshill, was robbed while an 11-year-old boy was in the shop. They returned to Wooburn Green on November 13 and robbed the Post Office beating the 54-year-old postmaster with a pistol and threatening his wife.

The attack on the King George V is thought to mark a change in tactics because it is the first time the gang has raided a pub.

In the past four weeks other shops have been hit in what police believe are separate incidents. These included a million-pound raid at a jewellers in Beaconsfield on November 12 and a robbery at Desborough Pets, Warwick Road, Beaconsfield, on Wednesday evening.