A staff member of a coffee van in Twickenham is seeking donations to support his loss of income following a robbery over the weekend.

Thirst of all, which is located in Twickenham's Crane Park, has set up a GoFundMe page after its staff member, Diaco was mugged on Sunday, 4 January.

In an exclusive interview with Nub News, Diaco, who has worked at the van for a year and a half, explained that he had stayed a "little later" (just after 4.30pm) at the van on Sunday evening as it was his birthday and he had some friends visiting him but was mugged by five men.

He said: "I usually take the first exit from the park as I have an electric bike, but on that day, I decided to use the next exit near the bridge, which is close to the road I live on.

"And as I was riding, I saw some people walking there. Then they saw me, and I realised something was going to happen.

"I tried to turn back, but they came inside the park and pushed my bike, so I decided to give them some money so they would leave me alone."

Diaco says that he offered the men £20 but they saw the rest of Diacos earnings from that day (around £180) and took it all.

Diaco added: "They tried to take my bike, but they couldn't turn it on because one of the batteries wasn't working.

"Then some cars passed that way and started beeping, but before that they [the men] were hitting me."

The muggers cracked one of Diaco's teeth and broke his ribs.

"It was a bad experience," he said.

The following day (Monday, 5 January), Diaco told his colleague Mandy about what had happened.

Mandy says that she called the police but they "were not helpful", so she has now also contacted local MP, Munira Wilson, and Richmond Council who will be contacting the police.

Diaco explained that he has had lots of support from customers and locals to the park.

"They've given me a support and love," he said.

"And it was very lovely and I realised so many people know I'm here and they love me. So that was really lovely."

Mandy added that after telling customers about the incident, many of them were "petrified" that Diaco may stop working at Thirst of All.

"It might be an experience that he would decide he would leave because he's not an aggressive type of human being," she said.

However, Diaco has decided to continue working at the van.

The team's GoFundMe campaign has already raised £870 of its £1.4k target, with all donations helping to support Diaco's loss of earnings from Sunday and to help fund him having his tooth fixed from a dentist.

Mandy said: "The dentistry is going to cost a fortune to get his tooth repaired."

However, Mandy explained, while it is important for the team to raise these funds, she believes it is more important to raise awareness of what happened, especially as a similar incident, involving an attempted bike robbery and machetes, occurred in Crane Park last year.

You can donate to Diaco's GoFundMe page here.

Nub News has contacted the Met Police for more information.