STUDENT Tom Foley (pictured left) enjoyed the New Year for about 30 minutes - before he was bottled by thugs in Minehead.

Tom, aged 16, found himself standing between two fighting youths near the Carlton Plume of Feathers pub in Blenheim Road at about 12.30am on Saturday.

He was savagely attacked and needed immediate treatment, including stitches to the scalp, at Minehead Hospital.

His nose was broken in two places and his cheek bone was so swollen by an injury that it closed up his left eye.

Tom, a former pupil of West Somerset Community College, has since returned to Birmingham where he is studying sciences.

His stepfather Richard Gibson, of The Parks, said: "Although he has gone back to Birmingham, he is not well enough to return to college.

"Tom was home for Christmas and a family reunion. All he was doing was walking by the Carlton, minding his own business, after seeing in the New Year."

Minehead police are investigating the assault and appealed for anyone with information to contact them or the confidential freephone Crimestoppers 0800 555111.