A YOUTH put this man in hospital for complaining about his car being scratched.

Rolf Watson, 34, of Green Lane, Acomb, York, was left bleeding and in shock after being punched in the face in last night's attack, the latest in a string of incidents involving youths in the area.

Rolf remonstrated with about 20 teenagers after one of them scratched the paintwork of his car, which was parked outside his house, with a bike.

One of the boys, believed to be aged between 13 and 15, punched him just below the eye, leaving blood pouring down his face.

Rolf told the Evening Press today he thought his assailant was wearing a ring which had cut his cheek.

He said: "When he punched me I just blanked out. I knew I couldn't do anything back because I'd have got into trouble."

The teenager, wearing a black baseball cap and striped T-shirt, made off towards nearby Kingsway West. An ambulance crew took the shocked householder and his wife, Victoria, to hospital, where he was kept in for observation for the evening.

Rolf said his children, Bethany, six, and Owen, five, were "terrified" by the attack, which Owen saw from the house.

Victoria's sister, hairdresser Gemma Lane, 23, and friend Jeanette Wood, 38, were last night baby-sitting for the Watsons.

They said the teenage gang "terrorised" the area every night.

"It's awful," Gemma said. "They are only kids, but look at what they have done to a grown man.

"They terrorise every night down here - it's absolutely terrible. The phone box gets kicked in twice a week. It's ridiculous that it's come to this."

She said the antics of the gang, some of whom are as young as ten, included abusing passers-by and throwing eggs.

In February, a packed public meeting in Acomb discussed "yob rule" in the area. It came after father-of-two Doug Unwin was left scarred for life after being struck on the head in Kingswood Grove, Acomb, and another incident in Beckfield Lane left Chris Gregory fighting for life.

Mr Unwin said today: "We're eight months down the line since my attack and an almost copycat incident has taken place."

Police said they had arrested a teenage boy and girl the night before in connection with disorder in the Green Lane area, and they were investigating the attack on Mr Watson.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, June 23, 2004