Police are investigating after a shocking video emerged of a schoolgirl being kicked in the head by another in a vicious assault.

The footage, which has been shared widely on social media, shows an incident involving pupils at Cliff Park Ormiston Academy, in Gorleston, in which one of them wrestles another to the ground.

She strikes the other child repeatedly with her elbow before kicking her in the head.

The incident took place on Monday, directly outside the school premises near a bus stop.

In the footage, other pupils are seen watching the attack.

The incident has sparked outrage, with one local councillor calling it "sickening" and "repellent".

A spokeswoman for Norfolk Constabulary said two teenage girls from Great Yarmouth had been arrested and taken to the town's police station for questioning. 

The school has also confirmed that it is investigating the incident.

A spokesman for the Ormiston Academy Trust, which runs the school, said: "We can confirm that a serious altercation involving two students took place on Monday after school, at the bus stop outside the hospital.

"We are clear that this behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and have been treating the matter extremely seriously.

"We have since responded with immediate action, including liaising with the relevant authorities who are now further investigating the incident, implementing the appropriate sanctions and providing the necessary support to the individual involved.

"This incident goes entirely against our high standards of behaviour and expectations that the vast majority of students uphold."

In its most recent Ofsted report, published in November, inspectors raised concerns about how the school handles incidents of bullying and made recommendations for it to improve.

That same month, another video emerged on social media of a pupil in a Ormiston Academy Trust uniform setting off a firework on a bus.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, called for the school - which is located opposite the James Paget Hospital - to offer more supervision outside of the school gates.

"I live nearby to the school and use the buses around that time at the James Paget - and it is hell," he said.

"You get spitting, pushing, fighting and no respect for adults. The kids are out of control.

"The school needs to realise that hospital staff and patients queue there for buses too. 

"It is not safe and I would not want my family walking past the mob around 3pm Monday to Friday."

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Mike Smith-Clare, Labour county councillor.

Great Yarmouth-based councillor Mike Smith-Clare, who is Labour's education spokesman in Norfolk, said: "It is absolutely sickening that anyone could use such unnecessary violence to hurt another - let alone film it and share it. It is truly repellent.

"We must do everything in our powers to ensure that schools are safe havens for our young people - not cruel and barbaric arenas where many fear to enter."