A FATHER was dragged from his van and attacked by a gang of youths in front of his wife and son.

James Hiorns, 46, was punched and suffered bruising and cuts to his face when he was assaulted in Asda car park at 10.30pm on Friday.

His wife Julie was sitting in the passenger seat and thought her husband was going to die.

She said: "I thought I was going to lose him and I can honestly say it's the most terrifying moment of my life.

"I thought they were going to kill him right there in front of me.

"They were like a pack of wolves surrounding the car and egging each other on."

The couple, of Gladstone Street, went to Asda car park after their 16-year-old son, James, told them someone had punched his friend, who was staying at the family home, earlier in the night.

She said: "We went there with them so we could identify who it was that had punched him.

"But they opened the door, dragged James out of the car and hit him over the head with something glass.

"There must have been 25 to 30 youths gathered in the car park and most of them had alcohol in their hands."

He said there had been a number of incidents have taken place recently, where people had approached groups of youths and been killed. Julie said: "It makes you realise that it isn't safe to go up to people anymore because you don't know what they are capable of. "People have been killed recently for doing the same thing and when they dragged James from the car I feared the worst. "James said he knew if he went to ground that would have been it and he thought they would kill him." A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and is awaiting a hearing with the Youth Offending Team.