A charity worker who was “punched, kicked and scratched” by six teenage girls and two boys as she waited for a bus in Neasden has thanked three Good Samaritans who saved her.

The woman, who asked not to be named, was sitting at a bus stop in Neasden Lane on November 8 when the eight teenagers launched their unprovoked attack.

It took the efforts of three adult passers-by to tear the group off their victim.

The woman said it began when one of the girls began to elbow her in her side as she waited for a bus.

She added: “In the beginning I decided to ignore it, so I let it be. After a while I asked her whether she would mind moving a bit so that there is enough space for all of us to sit.

“Her colleague jumped at me and said ‘you are rude’ and after that all hell broke loose.

“I was punched in my jaw by one girl – the rest then jumped at me.”

The woman managed to get up and walk a few steps on to the pavement. “They were already at my back, kicking, punching, scratching me.”

As she screamed for help three men arrived to help her. She said: “It took them a while to get these youths off me. Three grown up men. If it wasn’t for them, I guess it would have ended differently.”

One of the men, David Stevens, said: “I was walking with my son past the bus stop when I saw a commotion, school kids throwing punches, shouting and grabbing her [the victim]. I thought it was a row amongst friends but there’s still no need to do that.

“Two other blokes came to help me but the girls ignored us and carried on punching her. One who was as tall as me did a Kung Fu kick to my head.

“We knew instinctively we couldn’t hit them and they were clever enough not to hit us.”

He added: “It suddenly stopped as quickly as it had started and they jumped laughing onto a bus.”

A police spokesperson said: “We received a report of an assault a bus stop near to Neasden Shopping Centre on November 8 shortly before 6pm.

“It was reported that a woman had been assaulted by a group of teenagers, believed to be six girls and two boys.

Members of the public intervened and the suspects left the area.”

There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.