TWO teenagers have been arrested following an alleged assault in a North Yorkshire car park which left the victim with injuries to his face, arms and ribs.

The first suspect was arrested last Saturday, the day after a 22-year-old man was allegedly attacked in Eastgate car park, in Pickering, when his mobile phone was also stolen.

Detective Sergeant Ian Fieldsend, of Pickering Police, arrested a second youth yesterday morning, also on suspicion of assault.

He said they were both male, aged 16 and 17, and from Pickering. They had been interviewed and released on bail until Friday.

The alleged incident took place at 11.40pm, last Friday, in Eastgate car park when the victim was walking past a group of people on his way to collect a pizza. They were making a noise and causing a disturbance.

After speaking to them, two members of the group allegedly became violent towards him and stole his mobile phone.

He had to be taken to Scarborough Hospital for treatment for his injuries.

Det Sgt Fieldsend said: "The mobile phone has been recovered and will be returned to its owner."

He said the victim was a 22-year-old man from Pickering.

He said: "He has a one-inch cut to his nose and needed nine stitches, and a one-and-a-half inch cut to his right elbow with six stitches along with bruised ribs, and grazing and bruising about his arms.

"He is quite shocked. Thankfully, in this area such attacks don't happen that often."

He acknowledged many people were intimidated when walking past a group of youngsters, even though there might be no reason to feel threatened.

He said: "The fear of crime is heightened. The fact that someone has been assaulted only serves to justify those fears. It is unfortunate. We don't want it to happen. We want people to be able to walk about and mind our own business."

Sergeant Roy Brown, of Pickering Police, sought to reassure residents that the incident was "a one-off" in the town.

"We have had trouble with antisocial behaviour in Pickering, but we don't normally get violent offences," he said.

Mayor of Pickering Julie Hepworth said: "We desperately hope this is a one-off. It is such a small minority that ever cause us any trouble. It's such a pity when this happens, and we know that the police are doing everything they can with the resource they have. We just don't want it to happen again."