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A Merseyside Police hunt was underway after a boy as young as 10 hurled homophobic abuse at a Merseyside couple.

The 18-year-old women was leaving Sankey Valley Park, in Newton-le-Willows, with her female partner aged 19-years-old and a male friend aged 21-years-old when they were verbally abused by three youths.

The incident happened in Bradlegh Road and the two boys and one girl were described as being between 10 and 13-years-old.

One of the boys is described as white, aged between 11 and 12 years old, about 4 feet tall, with black cropped hair and wearing a dark blue polo shirt and dark blue denim jeans.

The second boy is aged approximately 10-years-old and described as white, about 4 feet tall, with short dark spiked hair and wearing dark blue denim jeans and a baggy white T-shirt.

The girl is described as white, aged between 12 and 13-years-old, approximately 4ft tall with longer ginger hair that was worn in pigtails. She was wearing a white dress with a floral pattern.

As they walked along Kingsway, near to Tyrer Road, a man approached the group.

As soon as he appeared from the alleyway the youths ran to join him - he also began to verbally abuse the woman and her friends.

Some of the abuse directed at them by the youths and the man is believed to have been homophobic.

The man is described as white, approximately 30-years-old and about 5 ft. 9 inches tall.

He has very short, almost shaven black hair and was wearing a light blue baggy denim jeans, a tight-fitting white Adidas T-shirt and sporting a long silver necklace.

Detective Constable Michelle Cliffe said: “This was a deeply upsetting incident for the woman and her friends as the group of youths began the verbal abuse in the park. When they decided to leave the park and remove themselves from the situation, the youths followed and continued with the abuse.

“When the man approached them from the direction of Tyrer Road, the victim attempted to explain the situation to him. He wasn’t interested in what she was telling him and he continued with the verbal abuse.

“Merseyside Police take any reports of hate crime or racially aggravated incidents extremely seriously and have specially trained officers dedicated to investigating them and bringing those responsible to justice.

“People who carry out these offences should be left in no doubt that their behaviour is totally unacceptable and I want to take this opportunity to reassure the community that we are determined to take robust action against them.”

Police are urging anyone who may have witnessed this incident or recognise the descriptions of the offenders to contact them on 0151 777 6811 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.