Beachgoers seriously injured in suspected racially-motivated assault

Three men in their 30s have been seriously injured following a suspected racially-motivated assault.

At 21:00 BST on Monday, police received a report that the men were assaulted by three others on the beach at Helen's Bay, County Down, following an earlier verbal altercation.

A short time later, three men - aged 28, 23 and 21 - were stopped in their vehicle and arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a quantity of drugs, and the 23-year-old was further arrested on suspicion of possession of class A and class B drugs.

The assaulted men sustained a number of "serious, but non-life threatening injuries", said Ards and North Down District Ch Insp Hutchinson.

"This matter is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime. We know that this was shocking for those enjoying the evening sunshine on the beach and want to reassure the local community that our investigation is progressing at pace," he said.

"We had an increased police presence in the area to ensure that everyone left the beach safely, and were on the scene quickly - but want to commend members of the public who helped to prevent the altercation escalating further."

The three men remain in custody.

Police have appealed for anyone who witnessed the incident, or may have video footage, to contact them.