TWO masked thieves battered a man in the head while raiding his rural home.

The 57-year-old answered the door of his flat in Airdrie to be confronted with a man wearing a balaclava.

He tried to close the door but the masked man forced it open and went inside followed by a second balaclava-clad thug.

The pair beat the man in the head and face, before leaving the flat on Dervaig Gardens, Upperton, with a three-figure sun of money.

The incident took place on Wednesday September 27, between 8.30 and 9pm.

Coatbridge police have now appealed for witnesses to the "brutal" attack to contact them.

Detective Constable Thomas Kiernan at Coatbridge CID said: “This was a very sustained and brutal attack which has left this man with various facial and head injuries that required medical treatment.

“The area where this robbery occurred is quite rural therefore I appeal to residents in the local area to think back to whether they saw the two suspects hanging around the area or saw anything else a bit out of the ordinary on the evening of Wednesday 27 September.”

Anyone with information can contact police via 101, quoting reference 0214 of September 28.

Anonymous information can be given via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.