A middle-aged man was assaulted by a group of youths.

Youths who were behaving in an anti-social manner, assaulted a man in his 60s in Granville Road, St Albans on Thursday (January 2) at around 9.20pm.

As the man confronted the youths, he was assaulted and received deep cuts in his head.

Paramedics at the scene treated the man before taking him to hospital, where he received a number of stitches.

He has since been released.

Hertfordshire Constabulary are linking this incident to one earlier in the evening at 7.50pm, where fire services dealt with a blaze inside a bin shed in Newsom Place, off Hatfield Road.

Detective Inspector Alexandra Warwick, from the St Albans Local Crime Unit, said: “The victim has been left shaken and scarred by this vicious attack and I understand this incident may also cause concern in the local community.

“I want to reassure people that we are doing all we can to establish the circumstances around what happened and to trace anyone who may have been involved.

“There will be an increased police presence in the area over the weekend and a section 35 dispersal order has also been put in place, which allows officers to direct people to move on from the area if they feel they may cause harassment, alarm or distress to residents or increase the risk of crime and disorder. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to speak with us.

“I would also encourage anyone with information to assist the investigation to make contact.”

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to email Detective Sergeant Evans at LCUStAlbans@herts.pnn.police.uk

You can also report information online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference 41/607/20.