Violent thugs who target foreign students are bringing shame on their own town and country.

Language students who visit Britain to study have fallen victim to "random, senseless violence" in a spate of attacks by local yobs.

There have been 60 thefts and assaults on language pupils in Eastbourne since April 1, including a sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl.

Attacks are often carried out by local youths of a similar age to their victims.

The most recent incidents in Eastbourne were on Saturday, when two 14-year-old German boys were punched in the face in separate unprovoked assaults.

Mayor of Eastbourne, Councillor Colin Belsey said: "These offenders are bringing shame on the town and I hope the police stamp on them thoroughly.

"We don't want the victims going home telling how they were mistreated in Britain.

"We are a tolerant nation and we want to stay that way.

"We have been working with the police and language schools to try to eliminate this problem.

"We have had more foreign students visiting Eastbourne this year than we have ever had.

"We are trying to make the town safer but they must remember to be safe and perhaps 13 and 14-year-olds should not be out alone late at night."

Graham White, principle at Eastbourne School of English, said: "It's random, senseless violence. We advise our students to look after themselves.

"It seems the problems are in the suburbs of Eastbourne where police patrols are less frequent."

Last year, police launched crackdowns in Worthing and Lancing following attacks on foreign students.

A crackdown by Sussex Police has cut the number of attacks in Eastbourne since last year by about 25 per cent.

The first of Saturday's attacks happened at 8pm, when a German student was punched in the face while waiting for a bus at Langney Shopping Centre in Eastbourne.

A 14-year-old local youth was arrested and released on bail.

At 10pm, another 14-year-old German student was assaulted after taking a bus to Langney Shopping Centre.

A 16-year-old local youth was arrested and released on bail.

Inspector Nick Wainwright, of Eastbourne Neighbourhood Policing team, said: "There were a lot of attacks in the town centre which Operation Columbus has targeted.

"As a result the attacks have moved to the suburbs.

"We have been pro-actively targeting the area and contacted a lot of offenders from last year and told them we were watching them. But it's a large town.

"We advise students not to stay out too late and stay in groups. We would have to query why 14-year-olds are out after 10pm."

The police, the council and language organisations are preparing a code of practice which will set out behaviour guidelines for students visiting the town.