DOCTORS in St Helens are now considering stopping non-urgent home visits in Clinkham Wood unless protected by an escort, after an incident in which a doctor and his driver were subjected to appalling physical and verbal abuse at the hands of a gang of violent youngsters.

The incident, which a GP representative described as the worst he had ever seen, happened at around 9pm on Monday, August 21 in the Wythburn Crescent area of Clinkham Wood. The doctor was responding to a call from an 80 year old woman who was very poorly. The driver remained outside the house in the car.

A gang of children, aged between eight and 12 who were near the house, came over and shouted racist abuse at the doctor. They then began throwing large stones at the car and hurled more abuse at the driver when he shouted at them to stop. Tom Kenny, the general manager of the St Helens Rota GP Co-operative, which is in charge of the town's out of hours GP service, told the Star: "It got so bad for him that he was forced to run to the house and interrupt the doctor to ask if they could leave. However, the patient's condition was so serious that she required hospital treatment and the doctor had to stay. The driver called the police but it wasn't until 35 minutes later that an officer arrived and during this time, this gang had smashed one of the car's side windows and made numerous dents. We have now been informed that the damage is estimated at about £500."

He added: "We have had incidents of racial abuse in the past but this is the worst one I have come across. The racist abuse this doctor had to deal with was sickening -- no one should have to face that or the physical abuse. If the ambulance had arrived before the police, what might they have done to that? "As a result of this, we will no longer be supplying an out of hours GP service to certain areas unless the case is an emergency or our doctors have escorts for their own safety. I would also like to say that we know the vast majority of people living in the Clinkham Wood area are decent and law-abiding and the problems are caused by a small minority. But at the end of the day, the incident happened in this neighbourhood and we have no choice but to act upon it. Perhaps the parents of the children involved will make them understand that the out of hours GP service is for their benefit."

A spokesperson for St Helens and Knowsley Health Authority added: "Violence against any NHS staff will not be tolerated. The action of a few individuals is endangering the service offered to all residents of St Helens. Not only is the safety of our doctors being threatened but also the lives of the individuals they are treating.

"We would urge local people to help us maintain an effective 24-hour family doctor service by reporting to the police any incidents of violent or aggressive behaviour towards doctors and their staff."