Warning as 11-year-old boy attacked in Oswaldtwistle

The 11-year-old was near Rino’s Pizza Bar, in Union Road, Oswaldtwistle when he was set upon by two teenage males at around 4.30pm on Sunday, police said.

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An investigation was launched and Officers visited the boy’s home on Monday evening to take a statement.

He is not believed to have been seriously hurt, but was left shaken.

Gayle Knight, creative director at the Union Road-based Civic Arts Centre, said there had been a number of incidents recently where people had been attacked by two men or teenagers.

She said: “We must insist that parents or carers ensure that they collect their children after sessions.

“We are not comfortable with the idea of young people walking home from the Civic. We would hate it if anyone was attacked after a session at the centre.”

She continued: “It was not anything connected with us. It is a lad who comes here but it was on a Sunday afternoon. He is missing sessions at the minute, which is understandable, and he wants some time off. It’s so sad.

“It’s a bit frightening that this sort of thing can happen in Oswaldtwistle. This is the fourth incident in a couple of weeks, which is a bit of a worry.”

“We will keep advising young people and their parents to pick them up. We will have to be vigilant.”

A police spokeswoman said: “We received a report from one of the boy’s parents to say he was assaulted on Sunday by two teenage males. Officers are investigating.”

Town councillor Peter Britcliffe said: “I want to call on people to be vigilant. Let’s hope the police can find the perpetrators of these incidents.

“I can’t say that Union Road is an area that has had hundreds of problems over the years, but it has a number of pubs on it, and perhaps the police need to make it a hot-spot.

“We hear of these attacks and of the vandalism of the Christmas tree and crib last week. We have elements that are creating these problems and they must be stopped.”