TWO women who were punched and kicked during what is believed to be an unprovoked, homophobic attack by up to three men, have said they were "overwhelmed" with the support they've received.

Lauren Heeks, 22, and partner Jade Vernalls, 25, were set upon outside the entrance to Asda in Worcester at around 1am on Saturday morning.

They hope by appealing for witnesses it will help police identify their attackers and result in their arrests. Miss Heeks of Brickfields and Miss Vernalls of St John's believe at least two girls witnessed the assault and hope they will now come forward.

The couple also hopes others could have information about the attack which left Miss Heeks needing hospital treatment at Worcestershire Royal Hospital's A&E department.

Referring to the attack, she said “it all happened so fast”.

“They started hitting me and then my partner stood in front of me, trying to defend me. She got kicked in the face and I also got kicked two or three times in the face and punched four times as well.”

Miss Heeks said the main aggressor was not English and was possibly Polish, of stocky build and aged in his late 20s and early 30s. She believes he may be trained in karate or a martial art or combat sport because of the height of his kicks.

Miss Heeks suffered bruising to the left hand side of her face and her chest from where she was kicked. The attackers even left a footprint on her t-shirt. Miss Vernalls suffered a swollen eye.

Miss Heeks said: “We believe this was a homophobic attack. We’re clearly a lesbian couple. There was no other reason for them to come out of nowhere and attack us in that way.

“My partner said ‘what are you doing?’ so they kicked her as well and carried on attacking me. My partner started to call the police and as soon as they heard that the police were being called they legged it towards Lowesmoor.

“I wasn’t so bothered they did it to me. It was more that they did it to her. We believe it was an unprovoked, homophobic assault.”

“We didn’t expect the reaction,” said Miss Heeks, after the story was shared on Facebook on Sunday. “It’s been very overwhelming, with so many shares.

“People we don’t even know have sent us messages in support – people are really feeling it, it’s just gone crazy.”

The 22-year-old suffered what doctors have said maybe a fractured cheek bone in the attack, in which she was punched and kicked, with further X-rays required.

She said homophobic abuse is not common in Worcester and has called for others in the LGBT community to show their resilience against discrimination.

“I felt a bit low today,” she said, speaking on Monday. “It’s kind of all hit me, but it’s okay – there’s always the odd person who just tries to bring us down. It won’t affect me as a person.”

The couple plan to attend Worcestershire Pride next weekend “to show our strength” and Miss Heeks has said gay and transgender people should “not be scared”.

“Don’t let a small number of people try to change who you are,” she added.

The couple has already reported the attack to West Mercia Police and Miss Heeks, who was the more badly injured of the two, was scheduled to be interviewed by police on Friday.

Photographs have already been taken of her injuries by West Mercia Police she told the Worcester News.

Miss Heeks declined the services of an ambulance at the time but decided to go to A&E on Sunday because she was in such pain.

She has been given painkillers while she is checked over by medics.

Those with information can call West Mercia Police on 101, quoting incident reference 22-81837-18.