A MAN was robbed of several thousand pounds worth of property as he walked along the River Thames towpath near Oxford.

The man was approached by two men as he reached the bridge carrying the Southern Bypass over the river at 10.30am on Sunday.

One drew a Stanley knife and demanded he gave them his rucksack, his Breitling Blackbird watch with a velcro strap and his wedding ring.

The man is a keen photographer and in the bag was a laptop and £3,500 worth of Nikon photographic equipment, including a Nikon D1X digital SLR camera worth £700 and a Nikon 300mm f28 Lens worth £800.

In all the value of the goods stolen comes to about £7,000.

The two men made off along the footpath that leads up on to the bypass and may have ridden away towards the Heyford Hill roundabout on bicycles.

The man carrying the knife is white, in his early to mid twenties, 5ft 9in tall, medium build, with a round, pale face. His hair is mousy brown, straight, two to three inches long and brushed back, and he has a well-trimmed goatee beard. He was wearing a dark blue denim jacket with a black T-shirt and white trainers.

The second man is mixed-race, mid to late twenties, 6ft tall, stocky with afro hair and small eyes. He was wearing a black baseball cap, a black fleece, light blue denim jeans and had a gold hoop earring in his left ear.

PC Jo Downer said: "This is an unusually high-value robbery where a large amount of distinctive professional standard photographic equipment was stolen. If anyone has come across or been offered these items we would like to hear from them or anyone who may have witnessed the robbery."

PC Jo Downer can be contacted via the Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505.

If you do not want to speak to police and do not want to leave your name, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.