A NEWPORT couple were attacked by a gang who pelted them with stones and bricks as they walked along a lane.

Twenty-year-old Victoria Wilshaw, of Walmer Road, said she was hit in the face with half a house brick and had a stone thrown at her stomach as she and Wayne Jones walked along The Potteries, off Conway Road, Maindee, Newport, on Saturday.

Mr Jones, 21, tried to carry his girlfriend home before another couple helped and called the emergency services.

Miss Wilshaw said: "We always have people shouting at us because of the way we dress.

"We like rock music and I wear baggy jeans and hooded tops. My boyfriend's got a lot of piercings and we both wear dark clothes."

She said they encountered the gang of ten youths - thought to be aged between 14 and 18 - at about 6pm.

"We were walking towards them and they started throwing stones and shouting abuse.

"I felt something hit me in the face and saw the brick, then I felt something in my eyes and it was my glasses which had cracked.

"My boyfriend was shouting at them 'Which one was it?' but quite a few of them had run away by then."

Miss Wilshaw, who has epilepsy, was treated at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, for a gash above her right eye. She also suffered a bruised stomach.

Her mum, Anne Wilshaw, said: "She hardly ever walks there. I won't go down there because it's lethal.

"I've lived here 16 years and you used to be able to cut through there easily, but for the past couple of months it's been getting unbearable."

Yesterday the Argus reported how concerned locals were calling for the lane to be closed.

And one resident, Georgina Flynn, said the latest attack added weight to the argument.

She said: "People are using it as a short cut to the Maindee pubs and then we get the backlash when they go home."

Sergeant Chris Garrett, of Maindee police, appealed for any witnesses to come forward. He said the gang members were said to be wearing baseball caps, but there was little other description.

* Anyone with information should contact Maindee police on 01633 244999.