Six people, including two 14-year-olds, have been arrested after a grieving family were attacked while at a ceremony to mark the death of their stillborn baby.

The victims, a man, his three children aged between 11 and 17 and a family friend, were near a lake at Highwoods country park in Colchester, Essex, when the incident took place.

Police said a group of people made comments to the family before an argument ensued and they were assaulted. The father was kicked and punched to the ground, while the female friend was punched in the face and had two fingers broken, Detective Constable Yusseff Rahmani-Manesh said. The man's children suffered minor injuries during the attack at 6.30pm on 23 July, just hours after the family had buried the stillborn baby girl.

Two men, aged 21 and 23, two women, aged 20 and 26, and a boy and girl both aged 14 were arrested on suspicion of assault. Colchester police said the teenagers had been bailed until 19 September.

Rahmani-Manesh said: "This was an appalling incident, where the victims had buried their daughter that morning after she was tragically stillborn. They attended the country park during the early evening in order to hold their own private ceremony, where they intended to release balloons in their daughter's memory.

"This traumatic, emotional and private act was destroyed by a group who took it upon themselves to target a grieving family and deliberately burst the sacred balloons before then going on to assault the family."

Police have appealed for information about the attack.