A 69-YEAR-OLD man was attacked in a town centre park by a group of youths.

The incident happened at around 1.20pm on Monday at the bowling club in Blackburn’s Corporation Park.

Colin Walsh had been playing bowls at the club and was on his way home when a group of young men set upon him.

Mr Walsh was punched and suffered cuts to his eye, face and head. His friend, Nora Austin was also attacked.

Mr Walsh said: “We’d been playing a game of bowls and a group of lads were on the top green drinking and smoking. I asked them to come off the green and to leave.

“We managed to get them out to the gate but then they started getting abusive. One of them came at me and before I knew it there were five of them on me, punching and kicking me.

“They punched Nora too, and some of them were even filming it on their phones.”

The police were called and Mr Walsh was advised to go to the hospital as officers were concerned about the cuts to his eye. Luckily, his injuries were not deemed to be serious.

Mr Walsh’s friend, Nora Austin, who also suffered a couple of knocks, said: “I’m very shaken up by the incident and it’s shaken Colin up too.”

Chairman of Corporation Park Bowling Club, Ian Cronshaw, said that groups of youths often congregate at the green and they can be quite intimidating for the elderly members.

He said: “They drink vodka and will leave smashed bottles all over the place. When the police come obviously they run off but it can be very intimidating for people.

“Mr Walsh was involved in a fire when he was younger and as a result has been left with a disability and visible burn scars. To attack anyone is awful but to attack an elderly disabled person is terrible. He said he didn’t want to make a fuss of it but this isn’t on and we want the police to do something about it.”

Mr Walsh added: “It’s not the first time we’ve been abused by groups of youths, as they’ve threatened us before, and have been really threatening to a lot of the female members of the club. Sometimes there’s 20 or 30 of them. But this is the first time anyone has been hit.”

A spokesperson for the police said: “We were called to reports that a man had been assaulted at the park on Brantfell Road, Blackburn, by a group of around six boys, who were described as Asian. The man suffered cuts to his face.

“The boys made off from the scene. At this time no arrests have been made although our enquiries are ongoing.”

Anyone with any information should contact the police on 101 quoting log number 641 of February 25.