Christmas elves beaten up and threatened with air gun at Formby lights switch-on

Elves threatened with being shot by gang of yobs

Elves were threatened and beaten up by yobs at a Christmas lights switch-on.

They were sworn at and intimidated by a gang of fifteen teenagers as they tried to bring a bit of festive fun to Formby.

Southport company StarKidz, which sent the elves, said they suffered an onslaught of abuse and were threatened with an air gun.

Starkidz manager, Jan Hayes, said: “A few of our elves got absolutely abused by a group of teenagers – it wasn’t very nice.

“One of the elves was punched.

“They were sworn at and intimidated, to the point where they were scared to walk alone to their cars at the end of the night in case they got cornered by the gang.”

As well as punching one of the elves, Ms Hayes said the gang of around 15 teens “grabbed hold” of them and held a BB gun to their heads, threatening to shoot them with pellets.

They also stole their hats from their heads.

Ms Hayes said: “It was happening while the elves were doing their job. It is just awful.

“There were a few people who saw what happened, and were also affected by them.

“The elves were there for the children.

“We weren’t being paid for being there - we were just there to give Formby a bit of Christmas magic.

“I don’t know if we will be back.”

Ms Hayes’ team told the event security who were manning the lights switch-on and she has since reported the incident to police.

The elves had played a starring role at the Southport Christmas lights switch on the day before, where they shared a stage with stars including X Factor singer Sam Bailey, soul singer Jaki Graham and CBeebies entertainer Mr Bloom.