Police patrols in troubled Blagdon Park are a "waste of time" as they stop before 11pm, a resident has said.

Another vicious assault in Blagdon Park left a man with a lacerated face after a gang of 15 young people kicked and punched him, the Surrey Comet reported yesterday.

The man, who was in his 30s, was kicked and punched by up to 15 youths as he was exercising his pet late on June 30, after he had asked the group to stop calling out to his dog.

Despite the severity of the attack, the victim escaped with only a deep cut to his face after managing to alert police on his mobile phone.

The assault is the latest in a string of violent incidents which have hit the park in the past three months, with residents labelling the green space a "no-go area" after it became a sinister hotspot for gangs of drunken, aggressive youths.

A 16-year-old Wimbledon College student is still recovering from brain damage inflicted by a gang of up to 20 youths during a shocking daylight assault in April, while a 34-year-old woman was left traumatised after she was grabbed from behind and robbed of her handbag and phone three weeks later.

Despite the use of high-visibility police patrols and mobile CCTV in the park, the trouble has continued, causing Kingston police’s Chief Superintendent Paul McGregor to name the area one of his top priorities during a meeting with community leaders on July 13.

Although neglecting to mention the most recent attack during the meeting, Chief Sup McGregor assured members of the Kingston Community Policing Partnership the police were doing everything they could to prevent another serious assault, although he admitted he could not provide 24-hour security.

One Blagdon Road resident, whose home overlooks the trouble spot, said the police stopped patrols at 11pm which made the whole scheme a "waste of time".

He said: "At the moment the park is a no-go area at night.

"We get our son’s girlfriend to walk home down the High Street rather than cut through the park, because for the sake of five minutes’ walk it’s just not worth the danger.

"Up to 150 kids used to congregate there two or three years ago, fighting and setting light to things, and it’s getting like that again.

"Only once did someone in the street go outside to speak to these kids, and he had a knife pulled on him. It’s just not worth the risk."

Police are still appealing for witnesses to the attack on the dog walker, which happened between 9.40pm and 10pm on June 30.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kingston CID on 020 8247 4909, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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