An elderly dementia sufferer was left looking like he had been in a "punch up" after he wandered unnoticed out of a day centre and fell in the street.

Julio Marin, 74, fell near Starbucks in Wimbledon town centre on Wednesday, July 11, after he walked out of the Wimbledon Guild unbeknown to staff.

Staff only became aware of his disappearance when an ambulance crew arrived to inform them.

His son Alan Marin, of Morden, reacted with shock that his vulnerable father had been able to slip past staff at the day centre he has attended for the last two years.

Mr Marin has taken care of this father since he had a stroke in 2008 which brought on his dementia. He said: "What is really more frightening is not the injuries he has now but the possibility of what could have happened.

"He could have wandered anywhere.

"It would be worse for him to be missing because you just don’t know what’s happened.

"But even worse than that, he could have been killed."

The Wimbledon Guild said they do not operate a locked door policy and that customers were free to come and go as they pleased, but that in light of the incident that would be speaking to Mr Marin’s family about his "changing needs".

A spokeswoman said: "We are very sorry to hear about what happened to Julio and we are very grateful to the people who called the emergency services to help him.

"He was brought back to the Guild where a member of our staff accompanied him to St George’s Hospital and stayed with him until a family member arrived.

"Our customers are free to come and go when they visit the Guild as we do not operate a locked door policy.

"We have spoken to Mr Marin’s family and in light of his changing needs we will work with them to understand if he needs more specialist care."