A 24-year-old man was left with a broken jaw after a snowball prank escalated into a violent robbery.

The victim was walking towards Hounslow East Tube station along Kingsley Road at 4.25pm yesterday when a gang of five to six yobs wearing hoodies hurled a snowball at him, hitting his back.

Soon after the gang cornered their victim outside the Microstar newsagents and tried to wrestle his mobile phone out of his hand.

When he resisted the young thugs kicked and punched him in the face before making off towards North Drive with the phone.

One mugger was white, 5ft 7ins, slim and wore a black hooded tracksuit top and black woollen hat with blue trim.

Another was white, 5ft 4ins, slim and also wore a black hoody. The rest of the hoody-wearing gang were all young white men.

Anyone with information should call Hounslow police on 0208 247 6160/5940 or CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

The previous day a snowball fight turned nasty when seven teens, aged between 15 and 16, began pelting a 21 and 24-year-old man with snow and ice - leaving one with a cut lip.

Three teenagers were arrested for assault but subsequently released without charge.

However, Inspector Manpreet Bains warned: “Snowballs can be great fun in this weather, however children must be very careful as snowballs and Ice can cause injury and anxiety, especially to vulnerable people.”