A teenager was left with injuries to his face after trying to break up an argument in a Hitchin town centre pub in the early hours of Friday morning – and police have appealed for witnesses.

Police said the incident happened at the Rose & Crown pub in Market Place just after midnight, when the man in his late teens tried to break up the argument between what officers called “approximately four men”.

Another man then punched him in the face, in what police said was “an unprovoked attack”.

Officers said the other men were white and had Irish accents. Police said they left shortly afterwards and were thought to have got into a taxi outside Starbucks.

Det Sgt Will Ainsworth from Hitchin’s local crime unit said: “I am appealing to anyone who was in the pub at the time of the offence and saw the incident happen to please get in touch as soon as possible.

“This was an unprovoked attack and we are doing everything we can to identify those responsible. Any information you provide, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could prove to be crucial to our investigation.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting crime reference G1/18/1156, or get in touch at herts.police.uk/report.

Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information cannot be traced or recorded and you will never need to go to court.