ASSAULTED football referee Don Distin, from Ashburton, has called for jail sentences to be imposed on players who attack match officials.

He is backing growing calls for tougher punishments for offenders after he became yet another victim of on-pitch violence at the weekend.

The town councillor and former mayor was punched and knocked over during a game between Ashburton Reserves and Torre at the Chuley Road ground on Saturday afternoon.

The self-employed electrician, made redundant with last year's collapse of Axminster Carpets at Buckfast, was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw after the incident.