A marathon runner says he was manhandled by the owner of a dog that chased him while he was out training.
Biochemist Les Gillot, 63, of Wood End Green Road, Hayes, says the incident happened when an off-leash dog started to chase him while he was running along the Grand Union Canal near Botwell Common Road in Hayes.
He said: "I thought the dog was going to bite my leg and I thought: 'If it does, I'll need to kick it'.
"I just looked at the owner and said: 'Shall I kick it?'
"He (the owner) ran up to me and grabbed me, gripping me around the collar, as if he was going to give me a punch.
"I really didn't know how far he was going to go.
"He just started swearing at me and said his dog was innocent and wouldn't have done anything. Thankfully, though, he calmed down."
Mr Gillot said the dog looked like a small Collie and was light brown in colour.
He described the owner as being about 6ft tall, broadly built and white.
Mr Gillot said: "When I walked about another 100 yards down the road, another man approached me, asking me if I'd had any trouble with that dog owner, and when I told him I had, he said he too had a similar experience.
"I just wanted to alert people's attention to the fact that it's not always dogs that are aggressive but sometimes it's their owners."
Mr Gillot explained he runs along the canal almost every weekend to train for the London Marathon in April.
He is aiming to raise £1,700 for the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity.
Mr Gillot chose not to report the incident to the police.
**To support Les visit www.justgiving.com/lesliegillot
