PHILIPSBURG--A businessman was hospitalised for hours Friday after a midday attack at his Philipsburg office.

A masked gunman opened the businessman's door about 11:30am and hit him on the head with a gun-butt. The businessman wrestled with the unidentified attacker before he realised that the man held a gun. The gunman had locked the door behind him before the businessman confronted him.

"I didn't know it was a gun when he hit me," said the businessman, who asked not to have his office's name used. He told the attacker he had no money in his office. "It wasn't until he was running away that I saw [the gun]."

Workers next door heard the scuffle and went to check. The gunman slipped away in the chaos.

The assailant, said to be in his 20s, left the gun, mask and his slippers behind while escaping from the Front Street administrative office and into the bushes behind the building. The businessman received nine stitches to his head and a CT scan after the attack.

He said neighbouring stores had been burglarised often, but it was a first for him. "The problem is that crimes are not being solved," said the businessman. "Those little guys know that."

He plans to install security cameras.