A TEENAGE girl has spoken about the moment she was racially abused before being punched in the face by another girl in Springfield Park.

The 17-year-old victim was hit with such force that the pendant from her attacker’s bracelet was left embedded in her face, an inch from her eye.

She sustained a fractured eye socket, a deep cut and severe bruising in the attack, which took place at about 7.20pm last Tuesday.

The victim had taken her three young sisters to play on the swings, together with her sister-in-law, who was with her 12-month-old baby daughter.

The group were confronted by two girls already on the swings and told they could not use them, before being racially abused.

A short time later, a third girl and a boy joined in the abuse, before the victim was punched in the face by one of the girls, the pendant from her bracelet narrowly missing her eye.

She was taken by ambulance to Rochdale Infirmary with it still embedded in her face, where doctors then removed it.

Three girls, two aged 16 and one aged 14, were arrested in connection with the incident and bailed until 16 July pending further inquiries.

A man was arrested and released without charge.

Police are keen to trace a man who was wearing a red T-shirt, possibly a Manchester United top, who intervened during the verbal abuse and before the attack took place.

Speaking exclusively to the Observer, the victim, who has asked to remain anonymous, says the pain of being hit was so severe she thought the pendant had gone into her eye.

She said: "My eye was really swollen. It felt like my eyeball had come out."

The 17-year-old, who is training to be a hairdresser, says this is the first time she has ever encountered anything like this, either in the park or elsewhere. She added: "A guy started saying stuff about the BNP. He told me he was more British than I was and that I didn’t belong here.

"I wasn’t happy about the racist comments. At the end of the day, we’re all human beings it doesn’t matter what race we are."

Police Constable Lee Worswick, of the hate crime unit based at Rochdale, said: "This was a particularly savage attack on a young teenage girl who had simply gone out with her three younger sisters to play on the swings. If the pendant had gone into her eyeball, she could have suffered permanent damage and lost her eyesight. If that had happened, this senseless and needless attack would have ended in tragedy.

"Racism in any form is totally abhorrent and shows a complete lack of education and understanding for other cultures. We are working very hard through the hate crime unit to send out the message that we will not tolerate this sort of behaviour and we will punish racists.

"Extra officers were brought in over the weekend to deal with this job and we understand it will cause concern in the community. This has enabled us to make arrests but we will not be complacent. We are very keen to speak to the man who intervened during the verbal abuse so we can move this investigation forward."

The victim’s 22-year-old sister-in-law says she believes the full severity of the attack has yet to sink in.

She said: "I think she’s still in shock about what happened and will be for a while."

The attack has been condemned by the Friends of Springfield Park group, which has pledged to invite a GMP representative to their next meeting to discuss how to prevent any similar incidents happening in future.

Chairman Dave Logan said: "Everyone, regardless of age, creed, religion, colour, race, politics or anything else, has a right to feel and be safe in our parks.

"Perhaps it is time to consider adopting a zero tolerance policy and nipping any sort of racist crime, and all other crimes, in the bud."

Anyone with information should call the hate crime unit on 0161 856 8511 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.