POLICE are appealing for information after a man was burned with a cigarette, forced onto a train and robbed.

The 21-year-old from Plumstead was travelling home from Deptford on January 16 at around 8am after a night shift at work.

As he waited for a train a man approached him making several aggressive demands for money.

When the victim’s train pulled into the station the man forcefully grabbed hold of his arm and stopped him from boarding.

He then burned a cigarette into one of the victim’s cheeks before punching him in the face and on his arms.

As another train arrived at the platform the man pushed the victim on board and threatened to “knife” him.

The man left the train at Maze Hill taking a pair of Sony earphones and £5 from the victim’s pockets.

Police were called at around 9.30am when the victim returned home.

The suspect is described as black, 6ft tall, clean shaven and of slim build.

He was aged between 25 and 28 and was wearing a black jacket, a dark coloured scarf and jeans.

Detective Constable Simon Evans, from the British Transport Police robbery squad, said: “Although rare, we treat incidents like this extremely seriously and we won’t rest until we have made an arrest.

“This was a horrific ordeal for the victim, who was simply trying to make his way home after a night’s work.

“Sadly there is a minority who believe it is acceptable to behave in a criminal and threatening manner and we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice.”

Anyone with any information should call British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 quoting incident 120 of 16/01/10 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.