THREE 10-year-olds were verbally abused and one had his sweets knocked out of his hand when they were confronted by two adults after school.

The year six pupils were walking along Churchill Road in Parkstone when they were approached by two men, thought to be in their late teens or early 20s, on Friday, November 16.

At first, two of the boys were subjected to foul-mouthed abuse and had cigarettes flicked at them.

The men then targeted the boys’ friend, who had stopped further along the road to pick up some sweets he had dropped. He was sworn at and had his arm slapped so he dropped his sweets.

The incident happened at around 3.55pm after the boys hung around to play football together after school at Branksome Heath Middle.

Head teacher Stuart Fox said: “We do not have many incidents of this kind but always work closely with families to alert them as well as our neighbouring schools to ensure that everyone is as vigilant as possible.

“We do not want to make children frightened but we also want to keep families aware of any possible concerns in the community.”

He said the Police Safer Community Team were presenting an assembly in school and would support the children in staying safe.