Witnesses were today being sought to a frightening gang attack on a teenager that forced police to evacuate a train.

The 18-year-old from Southend was today recovering at home after taking a beating at the hands of the vicious group.

The student, who suffered a broken nose and cheekbone, and a deep cut to his forehead, was assaulted on the 7.05pm train from Shoebury to Fenchurch Street on Sunday.

He was attacked by four men as the train travelled from Southend East to Westcliff station.

When it arrived at Westcliff, British Transport Police took the victim and passengers off the train and arrested four men, all aged between 18 and 21, from east London.

The victim was taken to Southend Hospital but was released after treatment the same night.

The train had to be taken out of service due to the amount of blood spilled in the assault. Passengers were forced to wait for the next train.

Transport police today appealed for any witnesses to the attack to contact them.

Det Con Trudy Shephard said: "There is no doubt that passengers would have been frightened by this attack and may have been reluctant to come forward at the time.

"We know there were passengers on board the train that night who would have seen the assault. They may have vital information and we would urge them to contact us in confidence."

A spokesman for LTS Rail, which runs the Shoebury to Fenchurch Street service, today said: "We regret any act of violence has taken place on the network. We would like to praise the actions of one of our train drivers who spotted the four suspects.

"As a result of his actions they were quickly arrested. We are assisting police with the investigation and we have provided video tapes from our security cameras."

Anyone with information should call the transport police in Southend on 01702 466730 or the London information room on 0171 380 1400

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