A RACIALLY motivated assault where a baby was hit in the face by an egg has been condemned by Worcester's current and former mayors.

The two civic leaders have spoken out after a mum and baby were pelted with eggs thrown from a car at the Tallow Hill retail park, close to Pizza Hut.

The nine-month-old baby was left with a red mark to the face.

The mother of the child, a woman in her 30s, was not injured.

Cllr Allah Ditta, who currently heads the city council, said: "I'm very shocked and surprised by this. The people who did this are not representative of Worcester, which is a place where communities live and work together peacefully.

"We must try to eradicate this sort of behaviour, and the way to do that is to open up all sorts of conversations, so people see there are all kinds of ties that connect us."

Cllr Jabba Riaz, who was mayor in 2018/19, said: "This was a cowardly and sickening attack that has no place in a community such as ours.

"The theme during my year in office was love not hate, and the fact that things like this continue to occur shows that we must continue working together to bring the community together.

"I hope that the police find out who did this and they are dealt with appropriately."

During his mayoral term, Cllr Riaz led counter-protestors at an EDL march in the city last September brandishing a placard carrying his message.

Police have appealed for help to find the suspect, who was described as a white male.

Sergeant Paul Smith from West Mercia Police said: "This was a nasty and unprovoked assault on a mother and her baby that has left the victims understandably shaken.

"We're particularly concerned that the motivation for this is believed to be racial - there is no excuse for this type of behaviour and we will not tolerate it.

"While no arrests have been made, investigations are ongoing and we are currently reviewing CCTV footage to try to identify the vehicle involved.

"We realise this incident will cause concern amongst the community and want to reassure the public that we take reports of this nature very seriously and will continue to patrol the area."

Police want to hear from anyone who saw the assault in Worcester.

The incident happened on September 2 at around 11.30am at the Shrub Hill Retail Park on Tallow Hill.

Anyone with any information can contact West Mercia Police on 101 quoting incident number 289s of September 2, 2019.