A youngster was pinned down and viciously burned with a cigarette lighter in a kids' play area.

Police at Witney said they were "appalled" by the attack, carried out by three teenagers who picked on the nine-year-old as he was playing on a roundabout.

Insp Michael Carrick said: "They did not know the boy. The attack just came out of the blue. It is appalling that this sort of thing can happen at a children's playground."

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Oxford Mail, the attack happened at The Leys recreation ground on Wednesday, between 3pm and 4pm.

The youngster, who has not been named by police, was with a ten-year-old cousin in the playground area.

Insp Carrick said: "Three boys came up and just picked on him as he was playing. One grabbed his right hand and another the left hand, holding him down.

"He was then burned with a yellow cigarette lighter, first between the fingers of his right hand and then on the palm of his left hand.

"There was no reason for the attack."

A woman with a pushchair, whom police are desperate to trace, came by and shouted at the thugs and they ran off. The boy was taken to Witney's Nuffield Health Centre in Welch Way and treated for burns.

The three teenagers are all described as about 14-years-old. One had a skull ring on the small finger of his left hand and another was wearing trousers with buttons up the sides.

The third had a lip sore on the left of his mouth and was wearing white jeans and a black T-shirt.

Anyone with information should contact Witney Police on 01993 703913.

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