IT HAS been heartening to see the decline in attacks on foreign students and the smaller number of incidents has helped our reputation as a tourist resort where parents from around the globe can send their teenagers to brush up on their English.

This fact has probably eased the fears of the many families who host the students throughout the year.

The most caring of those host families will treat the visiting students as if they were their own youngsters and, in a busy resort, their safe return each evening is a welcome end to any nagging doubts.

The attacks by Thomas Williams and Stuart Westwood were cowardly and fuelled by drink and the so-called “emotional turmoil” brought on by an attack on one of them earlier in the evening.

That they should take their muddled revenge out on innocent young people simply increases the level of cowardice.

We can’t expect these idiots to understand the importance of the many thousands of students to our economy, or to care a damn about the impact such hateful crime has on the young visitors and their families.

But even one victim vowing never to set foot in our town again is one victim too many.

OUR new book Dorset: A Photographic Journey is a labour of love that involves the skill and dedication of many people. But I doubt any of them is as proud as I am.