DRINK-FUELLED thugs in Ilkley have marred the town's festive celebrations, according to police.

They say an unprecedented number of violent attacks has taken place this Christmas in pubs in Ilkley. And they believe a gang of youths - aged between 14 and 19 - could be to blame.

"There have been umpteen assaults that we have been involved with," said a spokesman for Ilkley Police.

He said police were still investigating a number of incidents which have taken place in the town centre during the last week. "We are not certain whether they are all connected," he said. "But we think they involve a group of youngsters aged between 14 and 19. We are not sure whether the younger members have been going into the pubs."

A fight broke out in one central pub after a girl was attacked. A man who stepped in to help her apparently ended up with a broken nose.

And shortly after midnight on Friday, a man was ejected from Johnson's, on Brook Street, for alleged rowdy behaviour. Shortly afterwards an empty bottle was hurled at the pub, causing £800 worth of damage to a curved glass window.

An Ilkley man has since been arrested and charged in connection with the incident.

l CAN THEY STEAL IT? Bob the Builder's chart-topping Christmas hit was at the top of one shoplifter's wish list this week. Eight copies of the CD - worth £32 - were stolen by a man in Woolworth's on Brook Street, Ilkley, on Boxing Day between 1pm and 2pm.

l Merry Christmas: An Ilkley car owner awoke on Boxing Day morning to find that vandals had smashed half the windows of his Audi.

l SHORTSIGHTED IDIOCY: Vandals kicked in the glass panel of an optician's on The Grove, in Ilkley, on Christmas Eve, causing £500 worth of damage. Police are not yet sure if anything was stolen.

n More crime on Page 2.