A Good Samaritan has spoken about stepping in to pull what he describes as ‘feral’ boys off another in a Preston city centre attack.

Brendan Nicholas was making his way to the gym from the Bus Station when he saw the incident unfold.

A 15-year-old boy was set upon by a group of four youths, who were jeered on by a group of teenage girls.

Mr Nicholas went to the boy’s aid and pulled the other boys off him.

He said: “I had seen something happen at the Bus Station as I got off my bus, it was near the 35 stand.

“Anyway I went on towards the JD Gym heading down Old Vicarage. I could hear something happening behind me so I turned round and saw these lads ram this lad off his bike.

“They then started to kick and stamp on him on the floor. I went over and said ‘what do you think you’re doing?’.

“I had my gym kit with me, so I threw it down and called on them to get off him.”

Mr Nicholas said the gang of youths then turned towards him and started to shout abuse and threaten him.

He said: “After one of them was giving it some chat then they ran off, but one of them left his bike.

“I got the lad who had attacked on his own bike and told him to go.

“They were just feral this group. They went back to the Bus Station to get some more of their mates and then came back looking for me.

“But I was meeting my mate to go to the gym, and was on the phone to him and when they saw there was two of us they disappeared.”

The father of the 15-year-old has since been in contact with Mr Nicholas to thank him, after a Facebook appeal was put out to find him.

The schoolboy, who has not been named, was left with bruises to his head and arms.

Mr Nicholas, 29, said: “I stepped in because I’ve got three young kids and if that was my boy then I would want someone to help him.

“He was on the floor. Being kicked. You just don’t do that to someone.

“I was bullied at school and I hate bullies. And when I was growing up, I grew up in Lostock Hall, then Aaron Emery was killed by one punch and that always sticks in my mind. These kids just don’t realise what damage they are doing.

“I hope the police can find these lads before they do it to someone else.”

Read more: Pictures show Longton schoolboy attacked by bullies

The father of the 15-year-old, who asked not to be named, said they had reported the incident which took place around 6pm on Wednesday (2 January) to the police.

He said: “My lad is shaken up. Fortunately he’s not been seriously hurt but if Brendan hadn’t stepped in then we could be sat there next to a hospital bed right now.

“I’ve not been impressed by the police’s response to be honest. They took the details and said they were back on shift in a few days so would look into it then.

“There’s CCTV at the Bus Station and round there. And I’ve managed to find Brendan myself through social media, so why can’t they investigate it?”

A spokesman for Preston Police confirmed they had launched an investigation.

He said: “We were called around 7pm on Wednesday, 2nd January, following reports of an assault in Preston.

“It was reported a 15-year-old boy had been attacked by a group of boys in Tithebarn Street.

“A man stopped the assault, with the group making off from the scene. The victim suffered minor injuries.”

Read more: See the latest news and headlines from across Preston

Anyone with information on the incident can call 101 and log number 1105 of January 2.