THE mother of teenager Alex Davis, beaten up by thugs, has criticised police for acting too slowly.

The 17-year-old had his jaw broken in two places, his eyes were so badly swollen he could hardly see, and his nose streaming with blood in the attack.

He and two friends were walking on The Rye at around 4pm on June 2 when a gang of around 15 Asian youths began attacking him after he said he had not got a cigarette. His mother, Beverley, claimed it took police five weeks to take witness statements from his two friends.

She said: "My son had to be taken to the hospital after he was kicked and beaten and left on the floor. His jaw was broken, his lips were so swollen that he couldn't even drink a cup of tea and he had lumps all over his head as big as eggs.

"Then, on top of that, his two friends were told that someone would take a witness statement twice, but no one turned up. It has been five weeks now and it has only just been done"

Her son has had to go to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford four times and faces the prospect of having his jaw wired.

Mother-of-two Mrs Davis, of High Wycombe, said: "I asked for the police to seize the CCTV footage from the town centre when it happened because I am sure the gang would have been on that."

But she said that the tapes were not taken by police and instead she was told that they would be taped over in 28 days. I told them it had nearly been 28 days and was told 'what do you want me to do?' and I replied that of course I wanted them to seize the tapes. It's ridiculous."

Thames Valley Police spokesman Kate Spark said: "We are sorry Mrs Davis was unhappy with the response she and her son received.

"Unfortunately it was necessary for us to cancel two appointments we had made with witnesses to take statements. These appointments had to be cancelled due to operational commitments but we made sure we called those witnesses to apologise. The statements were taken at a later date.

"Investigations are ongoing and the CCTV footage has been reviewed. If Mrs Davis has further concerns we will be happy to look into them."

Any witnesses should call PC Matt Langridge of High Wycombe police on 01494 465888.