A 12-year-old boy was attacked in Littleport yesterday by a gang of youths who pinned him to the ground and began kicking his head.

"What kind of village is this becoming?" asked his mum who posted an angry message on a local Facebook page,

"When your 12 year old son goes out to play and gets set upon by a gang of boys, holding him down and kicking him in the head furious doesn't come close," she wrote.

"Thank the Lord for the man who saw, stopped it and called the police."

The mum added: "The saddest part is that some of these 'little' boys will go home and share their 'achievement' with their parents and receive praise and a high five instead of hard discipline.

"What hope do they have?"

The mother said that "what needs to be taken into consideration is that these little 'boys; will get big and could well take/seriously damage someone's life."

One villager told her: "Littleport has always been like that, it's not new. When I was younger I was chased down, attacked, on many occasions, because I chose to be different. The best move I made was to getting out off there."

Another wrote: "This is such a horrible thing to happen and I hope the little darlings that did this get their comeuppance. But all we ever do is blame the village.

"This is not a bad place to live. It unfortunately is a reflection on the world we live in and is no better or no worse than any other place.

"We as a community need to fight this and shame these children, report them and hopefully this will improve."

One woman wrote: "I hope that the man who helped and your son can identify these thugs. It's a small town … someone must know them. And as a parent you MUST press for a prosecution. If they can be identified, they can be charged; all the best to you and your family."

Another posted: "This is disgraceful. I hate bullies but it's not the village's fault it's the parents. Why don't you see if he will come to the leisure centre on a Monday evening where they have kickboxing classes?

"At least then he would be able to stand up to the bullies -it was the best thing I did for my two."

A woman wrote: "I'm sure this is probably the same group my son and his friends have had problems with leading to them avoiding certain areas of town.

"Please press for prosecution they are all old enough. Their parents also need to be held accountable.

"But for anyone thinking it's just Littleport that has this problem please join some of the other local notice boards- it's no different anywhere unfortunately that's why we need these kids dealt with."

Among other villagers posting their thought was this one too.

"Something definitely needs to be done," wrote a mum. "That behaviour is disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to happen without consequences. I hope your son is ok.

" It's not just boys that are being violent as last weekend my daughter was started on by another 11 year old girl who she didn't even know.

"The girl pushed her off her bike then threatened her for no reason. I did find out who the girl was and I did have words."