A south Auckland man says he feared for his life when he was attacked by armed robbers in the driveway of his home.

The 42-year-old was beaten repeatedly about the face, head and body during the robbery in Papakura on February 24.

The two men, one armed with a gun and the other a knife, took him by surprise as he was getting ready to leave his Alfriston home around 7.50am.

He was the last member of his family to leave the house that day - his wife and two children had left minutes before and his parents were holidaying in Australia.

"I was trying to open the door [of my van] and put the things inside and someone came in front of me with a gun. He said, `stop, don't move','' the man, who wished to remain anonymous, told APNZ.

"With my hand, I tried to push the gun away, he was pointing it to my head. But I didn't know someone was hiding around the back of my van as well and all of a sudden I got hit on my head ...

just continuously, and then the closer man started hitting me [too].''

He was beaten repeatedly around the face, head and neck, before falling to the ground, where the men continued their attack.

The knife-wielding attacker then told him to stay on the ground while the other robber ransacked his house, stealing a small amount of foreign currency and a toy BB gun.

"I thought, 'I'll just run away', because I thought they were going to kill me, because it was so private an environment that they could have done anything and nobody could have noticed.''

He was able to escape his attackers and flagged down a passing car for help. Police were called and sniffer dogs tracked the men to the back of a nearby school.

It is believed the robbers made off in a vehicle they had left there, Papakura CIB Detective Sergeant Michele Gillespie said.

Police are still waiting on the results of some forensic tests, and have appealed for information from the public to catch the attackers.

It had not been determined whether the attack was random or whether the robbers targeted the man, Ms Gillespie said.

"It is a nice area and whether or not it's that they've seen it's a nice area and have been thinking the occupants had left for the day and he's just happened to have been there at the wrong time and has stumbled upon them in the process of them committing the burglary, that's a possibility, but it does seem they have come prepared.''

- APNZ