A BRAVE passerby intervened after seeing a schoolboy being beaten up at a bus stop.

Oliver Chadwick was driving through Holcombe Brook when he noticed the 11-year-old child "having his head bashed against" a bus shelter.

The mother and sister of the victim claim that the boy was "pushed into a corner" and "threatened with a lit lighter."

The victim is a pupil at Woodhey High School in Bury.

Headteacher Brian Roadnight said: "I have spoken to the young boy who was being bullied, and his mother, and he is fine.

"The attacker is not a Woodhey High School pupil.

"I am aware that the incident has been reported to the police."

Mr Chadwick, who lives in Oswaldtwistle but who is originally from Summerseat, said he has informed the school.

He was driving in Bolton Road West when he saw the incident unfold at a bus stop outside the Hare and Hounds pub.

"I saw a young lad being beaten up. I saw his head being banged against the bus stop. There was a lad right up in his face. That was enough for me, I pulled the car over immediately.

"The victim looked defensive. Another young lad was with him. He looked really fearful.

"I intervened. I asked what was happening. I told the older one to get going.

"If I see something bad happening, I try and do what I can to help. I was in the right place at the right time. If it was my child, I would hope that someone would try and intervene."

It is not the first time that Mr Chadwick has been the hero of the day.

He previously helped to restrain an attacker after the manager at his former workplace, the Hare and Hounds pub in Holcombe Brook, was stabbed in the back.

Pub landlord Andrew Grant needed life-saving surgery after he caught two intruders trying to sneak out of the venue in 2002.

The two men were presented with a Provincial Police Award in recognition of their outstanding bravery in 2004.

Their actions led to one of the offenders being sentenced to six years in prison for the attack in September, 2002.

Mr Chadwick's wife, Catherine, said she was really proud of his actions.

She said: "He has no fear. He just goes in and helps. People call him a hero.

"The mother of the boy has thanked him.

"We are all very proud of him."

The victim's mother Belinda Walker posted on Facebook on Wednesday: "Would like to thank the lovely gentleman that stopped an assault at the bus stop outside the Hare and Hounds pub this afternoon when two youths pushed by 11-year-old son into a corner and kept threatening him with a lit lighter."

The Bury Times has approached Greater Manchester Police for comment.