A 10-YEAR-OLD boy was hit in the face by a drunk man while out shopping in York city centre yesterday afternoon - prompting his mum to call for action to tackle drunken misbehaviour.

Sara Newson told The Press that she was with her son Sebastian in Lendal, returning to their home in Bootham at just before 5.30pm after visiting shops in Coney Street, when he was accidentally struck.

She said she saw groups of men and women, who were clearly drunk, ahead of them, exchanging harmless banter about the pizza the women were holding.

She said she tried to move towards a shop to avoid getting near them but then, without any warning, one of the men suddenly swung round with his arm outstretched and accidentally hit Sebastian full in the face, with the blow catching his lower lip.

She said the man said 'sorry,' but was 'laughing and clearly didn't mean it' and, after she led her son away and stopped to examine his lip, she saw it was bleeding after being pushed into his front teeth.

"I got him home and washed it down and it will be OK, but he was in shock for about three hours," she said.

"I spoke to a friend who said there had been drunken people already around at 2pm and this has got me thinking that it just isn't safe for families to be out in the city centre any more on a Saturday afternoon.

"I saw police go by in a van but I think there needs to be a very visible police presence on the streets to make people feel safer.

"It felt quite frightening, to be honest. I really think it's time for something to be done about it.

"This isn't going to be good for tourism in the long run, as visitors will avoid the city centre when they realise what it's like. The cheaper bars will do OK but cafes and shops will suffer."

*What do readers think? Should more be done to tackle drunken misbehaviour on Saturday afternoons in York?