THE supermodel Caprice was robbed and her male companion attacked by a gang of hooded youths in the street, it was disclosed last night.

The attack on the former Wonderbra woman comes just weeks after she was threatened by a phone pest.

Neighbours raised the alarm after hearing screams as three teenagers in dark hooded jackets waylaid the 24-year-old model and hit her companion over the head with a bottle.

The couple were targeted as they returned home from a friend's house in Stormont Road, Hampstead, north London, on Sunday night. The youths grabbed a watch, mobile phone and her handbag.

The model's friend, thought to be 35-year-old London property developer Robert Tchenguiz, was treated in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead for a cut to the back of his head and bruising and swelling to the right temple.

A neighbour in Stormont Road said: ''We heard screams and notified the police. It was about 9.30 on Sunday evening.

''It was Caprice and her boyfriend. The attackers had run off when we got outside.''

A woman in the road confirmed the attack happened after the couple visited her house. The woman, speaking through an entryphone, said: ''Caprice is all right. She wasn't hurt.''

A police spokesman said: ''A man and a woman who were walking home were attacked by three men wearing dark hooded jackets. The man was beaten with a bottle and they were forced to hand over a watch, mobile phone and the lady's handbag. They were taken to the Royal Free Hospital and released.''

Caprice's empty handbag was sent yesterday to a Chelsea health club to which she belongs, after being found in Queen's Gate, Knightsbridge.

Caprice's companion was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and one theory is that the robbers spotted his expensive wristwatch and followed them.

Similar victims have been Mr Michael Heseltine's daughter, Alexandra, and Liz Hurley.

Caprice, who moved to London from California three years ago, earns an estimated #1m a year from modelling and personal appearances.