Waiting in a stationary car last Monday (December 1), having just been to the doctor, I was horrified at witnessing the following scene.

A young woman who I recognised as a regular Big Issue seller in North Berwick was begging in the cold outside St Andrew Blackadder Church, with a placard saying she had lost her job.

She was not pestering passers-by, when suddenly she was hit on the head by a missile thrown from the flats on the north side of the road.

She was very shocked and reduced to tears, and a couple of passers-by went to comfort her.

I could hardly believe that such a cruel act could happen in North Berwick. I wished I could have helped her, but I was poorly myself and afterwards regretted not having reported it to the police.

Fidelity Dean North Berwick