A HOLIDAYMAKER has described how his girlfriend stepped in to save him from being “kicked to a pulp” by a gang of “rampaging youths”.

Luis Hill, 20, said he and girlfriend Colette, 22, were set upon by a group of more than ten teenagers in a brutal unprovoked attack.

The couple, from Dorset, were on holiday in Sussex with Luis’s family and went out to the Cinque Ports pub in Seaford on Saturday night with his sister and her boyfriend.

When they left, they were confronted by a “big group of young lads”.

Luis said he was chased, punched and kicked as he fell to the ground, before his girlfriend stepped in and acted as a “human shield” to protect him.

The Argus:

“It all happened so fast,” he said. “It was completely unprovoked and they just came for us.

“I remember saying ‘calm down, there’s nothing wrong here’ – before I was beaten around the head several times.

“I was on the floor and coming to terms with the fact I was going to get seriously kicked in, but my girlfriend waded in and threw herself on top of me. She was really brave.

“I couldn’t believe it when I realised what she was doing,” he said. “I thought ‘God I love you’.”

The Argus:

Luis’s head was bleeding and he suffered cuts, grazes and a painful jaw from a blow to the face.

Others in the group say they were also attacked – Luis’s 17-year-old sister Eleni Hill was hurt and her boyfriend Jamie Wylie, 18, took a punch to the back of the head.

Police and paramedics arrived quickly.

Luis’s mother Paula was shocked when her son came home bleeding.

She said: “There was no reason for it. Gangs have motives but this was just pointless.”

Luis said he was “really angry” about the attack. “I don’t feel aggressive, it’s just so unjust,” he said.

“I didn’t even want to go out that night. I wanted to stay home with my family and have dinner.”

Since the attack, Luis has vowed to take up jiu-jitsu.

He said: “I’m not a big bloke and it would be useful to have a way to defend myself.

"No matter how level-headed you are, there will always be nutters out there.”

The visitors were stunned that violence broke out during what they thought would be a quiet stay in Sussex.

“It was a great visit, apart from the end of it,” Luis said.

He and his mother want to warn people the suspects are still at large and “could strike again”.

Sussex Police are appealing for information.

A spokeswoman said: “Police were called at 1.13am on Sunday August 23 to reports of a fight in Church Street, Seaford.

“Officers attended and spoke to a group of people at the scene, who said they had been assaulted in an unprovoked attack by another group of people.

“One man suffered minor injuries in the incident.

“Anyone who saw what happened is asked to contact police online or by calling 101 quoting serial 79 of 23/08.”