A man has said Hampstead is becoming "more dangerous" after being headlocked by a thief who then stole his watch.

The victim, who asked not to be named, was set upon by three robbers he described as "professionals", in Pilgrim's Lane on April 15.

Following a violent assault they stole his watch, a "prized possession" he said was worth "more than a Rolex" and sped off in a car.

The man told Hampstead's Safer Neighbourhood Meeting on Tuesday (April 18) that he may have been followed from the Easter holidays fun fair on the heath, but wasn't sure.

"I have lived here for 16 years, I lived in New York, in Harlem when I was at graduate school.

"I've never been mugged in my whole life and Saturday I was out walking the dog, 3.30 in the afternoon walking back from Pilgrim's Lane, as I walked back to the car I saw a man behind me and wondered who he was and then he grabbed me by the neck and wrestled me to the ground."

He added: "He was pretty big. They were professionals. It was my prized possession, it was a specific watch and they must have spotted that and he just grabbed it, wrestled with it, and snapped it off and ran.

"I'm shocked, I did resist a bit, I didn't have much choice and they ran back to their car and drove away."

The man said he didn't realise at the time that "three people were working in conjunction".

"They were professionals, they had gloves on, they had balaclavas," he said.

The man attended the meeting because he said he had filed a report with police telling them he had "fantastic footage" of the car, the registration plate - "all the information".

He said: "I thought they would go after them." He called police again on Monday and Tuesday, which he followed up with an email.  

"I'm begging to be contacted and to know what's going on. It's very easy to do this. I don't think the police make it hard enough," he added.

"Everybody's worried about cameras and stuff. 

"You can catch people red-handed. One of the witnesses said they were laughing. We're sitting ducks.

"It's more dangerous living in Hampstead. They take away our police station and think we are all fine. 

"I used to live around Holly Walk, maybe down here it's less safe."

Susan West, chair of the HSN panel highlighted challenges for the police. "Professional bad guys are not going to be driving around in cars that's registered to them," she said. "It's either going to be a pool car or cloned plates."

Hampstead Town councillor Linda Chung (Liberal Democrat) criticised the lack of communication between different police departments. 

"This dangerous crime, communication, the victim's not heard a thing, it's not getting joined up," she said. "That's what concerns me, these hotspots, they get money (for safer neighbourhood projects) but they forget about this violent crime." 

Safer Neighbourhood Constable Jason Vickers, leading the meeting, told the victim he would speak to him in private.

A spokesperson for the Met said: "Police were called at 3.28pm on April 15 to Pilgrims Lane NW3 after a man was reported to have been robbed by at least two suspects who approached him without warning and put him in a headlock before stealing his watch and fleeing in a vehicle.

"Officers attended the victim's home following the incident.

"There have been no arrests at this time. Enquiries continue."