The Reform UK candidate for the Truro and Falmouth constituency says an alleged assault during the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival on Saturday won’t put him off campaigning.

Steve Rubidge said he was treated in hospital for “bad ligament damage” to his ankle after being kicked and punched by the man, who had taken his bag containing his wallet and car key as well as election leaflets.

The incident, which is being investigated by police, happened at 1.15pm at Grove Place near Events Square.

The candidate, a GWR train driver who lives near St Austell, said: “I thought I’d do a bit of campaigning at the festival – hand out a few leaflets to get my name out there.”

Mr Rubidge claimed the man approached him after five minutes, and lured him away from supporters before turning nasty. “He seemed a little bit on edge, he wasn’t drunk or high. I think he was just an angry individual.

“He said ‘What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, I think you should **** off’. I thought, this has taken a bit of a turn. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion - I tried to keep it nice and open. He wasn’t prepared to listen.”

The man was allegedly joined by two friends. “They all started telling me where to go, swearing at me. I said, ‘I’m sorry we can’t agree on anything, have a nice day’, at which point he … ran in front of me and grabbed all of my stuff.

“I suppose he thought he was going to get my campaigning material and would stop me handing out leaflets, but my possessions were in that bag.”

Mr Rubidge, 50, said a “400m dash” ensued, and that when he made a grab for his bag, the man started kicking and punching him.

He claimed he has since been accused via social media of racism and of assaulting his assailant. We saw one post, which has since been deleted, which said: “Racist Reform candidate assaults teenager”.

“That’s people interpreting Reform’s policy on immigration as racist,” said Mr Rubidge. “It’s crazy – they don’t know the facts.

“This is a worrying trend that some people, especially youngsters, think that’s the way to resolve things rather than talking about them. Later on, other young people came up and we had a good debate – that’s what democracy is.”

The incident happened a few days after rocks were thrown at Reform’s leader Nigel Farage. Party chairman Richard Tice said via X/Twitter: “I’m appalled to hear about the attack and assault on our candidate.

“We will ensure the police pursue a prosecution. This has got to stop. It’s completely unacceptable.”

Witnesses are asked to contact Devon and Cornwall Police quoting 50240146510.