A teenager was attacked by a gang of about 15 youths who then turned on a man who intervened as he tried to escape.A major police inquiry was under way last night after trouble flared in Downham Market close to the railway station on Friday night.

A teenager was attacked by a gang of about 15 youths who then turned on a man who intervened as he tried to escape.

A major police inquiry was under way last night after trouble flared in Downham Market close to the railway station on Friday night.

The blood-spattered boy, believed to be in his early teens, was helped by a Network Rail worker who took him into the signal box - but the youths broke in, assaulted both of them and damaged the box itself.

Police said a party in Bennett Street, near the station, got out of hand at about 10.20pm on Friday.

A spokesman said: “The party went out of control and a young man was assaulted. He ran away from it and went to a signal box.

“The youths then caused some damage to the signal box and assaulted the signal worker.”

Officers from Norfolk Police and British Transport Police were yesterday examining CCTV footage from the station. The railway worker, who has not been named, was shaken but not badly hurt.

John Doyle, chairman of the town council, expressed surprise at what happened and said that the town had not seen any groups of youths causing problems for at least six to nine months.

>Anyone with information about the incident or who saw anything on Friday night should contact the BTP on 0800 405040.