POLICE are appealing for witnesses to an assault in the city centre which saw a man verbally abuse then punch a young woman in the face.

The victim, aged 18 and from Whitleigh, told police she had left the Walkabout public house in Union Street at around 3.20pm on April 17, following the match between Manchester United and Manchester City.

She told The Herald — on condition of anonymity — that she soon noticed she was being closely followed by three men as she walked up Royal Parade, one of whom repeatedly made obnoxious comments about her figure.

She said: "He started off saying 'Venus' which I'm not sure what he meant. Then he started calling out 'she's fat'. I turned around and asked him what did he say and he said it again to my face.

"I hit him with my handbag and he punched me in the side of my face. He was about to punch me again when a passerby stepped in and stopped him, but he then pushed the man out of the way."

The assault took place outside the Poundland store where a large number of people were passing by. The victim said she broke down crying after being attacked and was briefly asked by the man who came to her aid if she was OK.

When she said she was he continued on his journey, but a female came to escort the teenage girl to the nearby Tesco store for assistance.

All three men were said to be black, and the victim believes they spoke with a Portuguese accent. The man who punched her wore a blue top, jeans and white trainers with a pair of sunglasses pushed up on to his head.

Police are keen to speak to any witnesses, particularly the man and woman who came to the victim's aid. Contact police on 08452 777444 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference EC/10/3829.