MULTI-millionaire George Reynolds told a court yesterday of the terrifying moment when he was attacked by a gang of vicious Rolex robbers.

The Darlington Football Club chairman described how his frail 80-year-old mother-in-law joined in as he tried desperately to fight off the muggers.

Mr Reynolds, 64, was giving evidence at Snaresbrook Crown Court, in London, at the start of the trial of two men accused of taking part in the robbery.

He told how he was pounced on by three thugs as he left a restaurant in North London with his wife, Susan, 40, and mother-in-law, May Firth.

Two of the men bundled him to the ground and tried to prize a diamond ring from his finger before yanking off his £41,000 Rolex watch.

Meanwhile, the third man demanded that Mrs Reynolds hand over her watch as well.

But she began screaming and a hero dustbin man who was working nearby picked up a pole and chased the gang off.

They drove away in a waiting Vauxhall Astra. The refuse collector jumped on to the back of the car, but was eventually thrown off.

Mr Reynolds, of Witton le Wear, County Durham, told the jury he had just left a Chinese Restaurant in Hampstead, when the yobs pounced shortly before midnight on May 10.

"We passed an opening and there were three black youths standing there," he said. "My wife said, 'I have got a feeling we are going to be mugged.'

"No sooner had she said it than I turned round and saw the black lads coming towards me.

"I saw them run towards me and I knew it was going to happen. I was expecting them to jump on me.

"I tried to make my way to the middle of the road. As they got on top of me I grabbed one by the lapel. He wanted my Rolex off me. He grabbed me and as I grabbed him, I went over backwards."

Mr Reynolds said that as he fought with the robber on the ground, another member of the gang joined in and put his knee on his chest.

His mother-in-law then "jumped in" and tried to pull one of the attackers off as the third mugger went after Mr Reynolds' wife.

"I had a very expensive watch on and a very big diamond ring," he said. "They were trying to turn me over.

"He was going for my ring but he couldn't get it because I had my fingers clenched.

"Eventually he turned round and said, 'Just go for the watch and leave the rest'.

"He was very softly spoken. He struggled to get up because I was still hanging on to him but he was too strong for me.

"Then I felt his fingers go behind my wrist and I heard a click and he took the watch. The strap had broken.

"I was very badly hurt, my back had gone. Then they both jumped up and ran off."

Prosecutor Helen McCormack told how two men, Leoul Belete, 22, and Tayo Aladesuyi, 23, were arrested about three hours later in Hampstead.

A police search of Aladesuyi's house the following morning recovered the stolen Rolex hidden inside an encyclopaedia.

Belete, of Sheriff Road, and Aladesuyi, of Linstead Street, both west Hampstead, deny robbing Mr Reynolds and attempting to steal from Mrs Reynolds.

Mr Reynolds sold Direct Worktops factory in Shildon, County Durham, in 1998 for more than £40m and is rumoured to have a £235m fortune.