PASSENGERS broke up an attack on board a bus - but the thugs escaped before police arrived.

A 19-year-old woman was sitting on the bus on Town End in Golcar when a couple confronted her at 2pm last Friday.

The youth punched her in the face and banged her head against a rail. A teenage girl with him joined the attack and bus passengers intervened to stop it.

The bus driver detained the attacker while police were called, but the youth then fled.

The victim suffered slight eye and head injuries.

The attacker is aged around 15, 5ft 7ins tall and slim with pointed features and short light brown hair.

He wore a blue tracksuit with white stripes down the sleeves and white writing on the front. He also wore a baseball cap.

His accomplice is a mixed race girl aged 15 or 16.

She is 5ft 7ins tall and slim with long, straight dark brown hair and wore tight black trousers and a dark jacket.