A PENSIONER who was viciously assaulted during a bus trip to care for his ill granddaughter in Germany has returned home.

John Bell, 73, says the mugging has left him bruised and frightened.

Police say Mr Bell, from Gilling West, near Richmond, is lucky to be alive after he was dragged down a flight of stairs by two men.

The attack happened when a bus ticket mix up left the pensioner stranded in Brussels, Belgium, late on Sunday night.

Mr Bell was travelling to care for his granddaughter, Kaylee Morris, at Osnabruck Army base, in Germany.

Mrs Morris is due to have an operation and her husband is serving in Iraq.

The pensioner, a former security guard at an oil rig yard in Hartlepool, said: "I'm now scared to death and always looking over my shoulder.

"I wasn't frightened of anything before.

"I was looking for somewhere to get something to eat. A taxi driver warned me to be careful - the next thing I knew I was being attacked.

"I don't know where they came from."

The thieves stole 900 in Euros, his medication, passport and travel documents.

Mr Bell, who needed 13 stitches to a head wound, has praised the Army for sending a car to pick him up from the hospital, giving him further medical treatment and taking him to the airport to fly home.

He said: "If it wasn't for the Army I would still be there.

"Nothing was too much for them."

Mr Bell's daughter is furious her father was sold a ticket by Darlington Tourist Information Centre which meant he had to change coaches in Brussels - resulting in the six hour wait - rather than being placed on a direct service.

She said: "He should never have been put in that situation in the first place."

Army spokesman James Gaskin said: "The Army puts great store by ensuring that welfare help is at hand to minimise distress, particularly when wives are alone because their husbands are away on operations - as in this case."

Coach firm Eurolines has launched an investigation into the incident.

The firm has promised to look at difficulties the family had with the insurance company and speak to the ticket agent at the tourist information centre. Darlington TIC has declined to comment.

The company has also agreed to reimburse the cost of the bus ticket.