POLICE are investigating after a young woman was racially abused and had drink thrown over her while walking in York city centre.

The York woman, who is of mixed race and in her 20s, told today how she was left in tears after being abused by five people in a car which pulled up alongside her in Micklegate.

She said: “It happened in daylight, just before 7pm on Sunday. I was walking along listening to my iPod near The Parish pub when this car stopped near the traffic lights.

“It was a red Vauxhall, an Astra or a Corsa. They wound down the window and started shouting at me and laughing. They were shouting some highly offensive and racist comments.

“Then the man in the passenger seat started shaking a bottle of red drink – something like Tizer – and squirted it all over me. Then he did the same thing again and I was covered in it. I just shouted: “You idiot. What did you do that for?”

“They shouted two more highly offensive words at me and then drove off.”

She said she had been fairly calm during the incident, but then broke down in tears before deciding to phone the police.

She had now made a detailed statement, giving officers the car’s registration number, which she had noted, and a couple who had witnessed the incident had also offered to help police with their inquiries.

The woman, who does not wish to be identified, said it was not the first time she had suffered racist abuse from strangers while in the city. She said a woman had come up to her on one occasion and shouted abuse in her face and men had shouted at her from a van during a York race meeting.

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said the weekend incident was being investigated.

“This was a nasty incident which won’t be tolerated, and if anyone has any information which could help with inquiries they should contact York police on 0845 60 60 247,” she said.