POLICE are hunting a happy slap teenage thug who kicked a lamb to near death for fun.

Cricketers reported seeing the boy attack the lamb as it was grazing close to playing fields at Ormsby Hall, near Middlesbrough.

He kicked the animal so hard it was paralysed and had to be destroyed.

Camera-phone footage of the depraved attack has been seized and is being studied by detectives.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said the sickening attack happened at 8.30pm last Thursday.

She said the teenager may have been part of a group of youths who have plagued the area surrounding the National Trust property.

She said: "The attack involved the male kicking the lamb and the incident was recorded on a mobile telephone.

"As a result the lamb was paralysed and despite care over the weekend has had to be destroyed.

"Images of the incident are being circulated by mobile telephone."

The area of the cricket pitch at Ormsby Hall is historically plagued with problem youths drinking and damaging property, particularly in the summer months, with this sickening incident being the latest and most disturbing.

The teenager was wearing a blue jacket top, three-quarter length camouflage shorts and blue plimsolls.

Police are appealing for witnesses.