POLICE are appealing for information after a group of boys were robbed by a teenage gang.

The four boys, who are all aged between 12 and 14, were approached by a group of teenagers in Spider Park, off Chigwell Lane, shortly after 8pm on Friday, April 27.

The gang threatened the boys, and forced them to hand over a mobile telephone and a designer bag.

They also robbed two BMX bicycles from them.

The boys were uninjured and Essex Police have carried out a search of the area and have made enquiries at nearby London Underground stations, but to no avail.

The three members of the gang are described as being in their late teens or early 20s and were all wearing hoodies.

Two of them were black and the white member of the group was wearing a strap-on cast on one arm.

Investigating officer, DC Katherine Clarke, said: "These boys were pretty shaken up by their ordeal while their parents have also been distressed by events. We’re looking for witnesses to this interaction between the two groups at the Spider Park on that Friday evening.”

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Essex Police on 101.