An elderly poppy seller said he was “punched and kicked” as pro-Palestine protesters staged a sit-in at Edinburgh Waverley train station at the weekend.

Jim Henderson, an Army veteran, left with the help of colleagues after being surrounded by people displaying “Freedom for Palestine” posters.

The 78-year-old said he had “never known anything like it”.

“I was getting shoved backwards, in danger of falling, and one of them stood on my foot and split my toe,” he told the Daily Mail.

“So I thought I had got to get the money out of here. So I went down, and as I bent down someone punched me in the back. And then I got another punch in my side.”

Mr Henderson, who told the Mail he served in the Royal Corps of Signals, 32 Signal Regiment in Northern Ireland, said he managed to get up and leave the station.

“I’ve never known anything like it,’ he said.

“Chanting. Saying it’s all about the British Government, British people, Jews.”

It comes as Scotland Yard on Monday pleaded with the organisers of a pro-Palestinian march planned for Armistice Day to call off the rally amid growing fears of violence.

More than 70,000 people are set to attend the demonstration in London on Saturday to protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, on the same day as veterans plan to gather at the Cenotaph.