Youths attack taxi driver

The Tyldesley father-of-four was driving his Astley Cab at 10pm last Friday night when he was jumped by a group of five or six youths.

He was waiting to turn onto Manchester Road, Tyldesley, by the Gate House pub after dropping a fare off, when he felt his Nissan Primera being kicked and pushed.

He got out and confronted the youths, who are thought to have been aged around 16 or 17, only to become the victim of a brutal attack. He was kicked, punched and pushed to the ground numerous times.

He said: "On hindsight I shouldn't have got out, but at the time I wasn't standing for that and I really didn't expect them to turn on me. They didn't even rob me -- it was completely unprovoked."

The victim saw several cars during the attack, but nobody came to help him and nobody called the police.

"I'm disgusted that no one lifted a finger to help me. I dragged one lad across the main road at one point, which meant cars had to stop and must have seen, yet the police weren't called. That's the most annoying thing. One man followed me back to headquarters to check I was okay, he said he had thought it was just kids messing about."

Covered in blood, the driver managed to make it back to the Astley Cab headquarters a mile away in Elliott Street, Tyldesley, where the police were called and he was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital.

The victim's wife said: "I'm extremely angry that these people have got away with such a nasty attack. We have four children, aged between seven and 14, who were very upset when they saw their dad's face the next morning."

A police spokesman said: "Unfortunately violent crime is increasing. Youths seem small and unthreatening on their own, but when they are in packs after a few beers they become a problem, which we are trying to address.

"If anyone does witness such an incident they should contact the police immediately. Even if they are mistaken it's better to get a patrol car out there to be sure."