A taxi driver has described how he was repeatedly punched in the face by a passenger wearing 'a metal fist' during a seven-minute attack.

Joseph de Celis posted on social media photos of his bludgeoned face following the attack that he said happened while he was strapped into his car with a seatbelt.

Police confirmed the driver suffered serious injuries and that they plan to charge a 19-year-old man from the UK later on Thursday over the attack. 

According to de Celis, the incident happened at about 4am on Wednesday morning, when he was called to pick up a client from the Valletta police station and take him to Mellieħa.

“During the trip he started smoking and put his feet on the dashboard. I did not tell him anything as he was very drunk and I felt it would lead to trouble," he wrote on Facebook.

He said that when they arrived Mellieħa, the man began to give him directions, when the unprovoked attack began. 

"While I was driving, with my seatbelt on, he removed his seatbelt and started punching me with a metal fist… I was still strapped into my seatbelt. He beat me for about seven minutes and I could not do anything apart from honk the horn so people would come out while he was beating me for no reason,” de Celis wrote.

A police spokesman confirmed that de Celis filed a police report and the case was being investigated. He explained that earlier that evening, at about 2am, Valletta police had spotted the 19-year-old walk around Valletta looking drunk. They took him to the police station until he sobered up to ensure he would be safe.

He was never under arrest so police had no reason to search him, the spokesman said. About two hours later the young man booked a taxi home using a mobile app and de Celis picked him up.