Mr Hussain said he is the victim of 'extreme

Nissar Hussain, from Bradford, suffered a broken kneecap, a fractured forearm and a concussion in the attack in November

A man has been forced to flee his home for the second time amid fears for his safety after suffering 'seven years of persecution' for converting from Islam to Christianity.

Dad-of-six Nissar Hussain, who appeared in a 2008 Channel 4 TV documentary about mistreatment of Muslim converts, was hospitalised last year after a brutal attack caught on CCTV in November.

Two hooded men, one armed with a pick-axe handle, assaulted him - leaving him with a smashed kneecap and a broken hand.

The 50-year-old and his family had been planning to leave their home in Bradford, West Yorks., for the past year, but this week armed police arrived and moved them to a safe place.

Mr Hussain said the culmination of the 'extreme persecution' had devastated his family and the dramatic arrival of armed police was a complete surprise.

He said: 'My family are distraught and extremely traumatised to be leaving.

'But when your life is at stake there is no other choice.'

Mr Hussain converted to Christianity 20 years ago, but says in recent years he has been subjected to harassment and violence by sections of the Islamic community, particularly after the documentary aired.

He said: 'This extreme persecution by certain people in the Muslim community because we are converts has broken us as a family.

Nissar Hussain, 49, with his wife Kubra, 45, pictured at their home in Bradford. He and his family have been targeted by thugs because he converted from Islam to Christianity, he claims

Police are pictured outside the home of Nissar Hussain following the attack in November

'We are fragmented and I do not know how we will recover from this. We haven't functioned properly for years.'

He said 'serious questions' needed to be answered.

At the time of the attack last year, Mr Hussain said he and his family were being driven out of the city and he was making plans to leave.

This week he had started packing up his belongings when the police arrived on Thursday.

He briefly returned home on Friday to collect more items, with police guarding, before leaving Bradford for good.

Mr Hussain, who was a nurse before leaving work due to post-traumatic stress disorder, said his six children, aged eight to 24, and wife would never see their friends again.

He had been expecting an attack for some months, but when the police arrived he was 'none the wiser' that he was at such serious risk.

The Hussain family were denounced as 'apostates' - a term used for those who renounce a religion for another - which in some hardline Islamic countries is punishable with death

In 2015, Mr Hussain has had his car windscreen (pictured) smashed six times at a cost of £5,000

The 50-year-old and his family had been planning to leave their home in Bradford, West Yorks., for the past year and have suffered years of abuse including their property being smashed (pictured)

He said: 'The armed police arrived at about 3pm on Thursday.

'I had been loading a van up with our belongings for eight hours, having to stealthily check no-one could see what I was doing, before they arrived.

'It took me completely by surprise, but their [the police] professionalism was deeply reassuring, and they escorted my family and I to a safe haven outside Yorkshire.'

The Daily Mail first reported the family's ordeal in 2005 when they accused Muslims of a campaign of ethnic cleansing against them.

A year later they moved to a different part of Bradford to start again.

Neighbours welcomed them into the community and all was well until Mr Hussain took part in the Channel 4 Dispatches TV documentary, which was screened in 2008.

They were recognised by a large Muslim family of seven brothers and four sisters living on the same street and were immediately ostracised.

The assault on Mr Hussain was caught on CCTV. West Yorkshire Police confirmed they were treating this as a religious hate crime

Mr Hussain went outside at around 5pm to move his car outside Lawcroft House Police Station. He was attacked by two men, who suddenly stopped their car on the other side of the road

The younger children from both families attended the local Church of England primary school, where a majority of pupils were Muslims of Pakistani heritage, but car sharing trips were soon stopped by the other family.

Mr Hussain said 'word was spread around the playground' about them being Christian converts and their youngest daughter was bullied.

Youngest daughter Leena was told by her friends 'our parents say we mustn't mix with you because you are a convert.' Mr Hussain said: 'She was heartbroken and made to feel like a second class citizen.'

The family were denounced as 'apostates' – a term used for those who renounce a religion for another – which in some hardline Islamic countries is punishable with death.

The 50-year-old was hospitalised in Bradford Royal Infirmary following surgery after the unprovoked assault outside his home in Manningham

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said hate crime would not be tolerated and officers had been working with the family.

He said: 'Our priority has always been to work effectively with our partners to minimise the risk to Mr Hussain and ensure that we maximise opportunities to put control measures in place to safeguard him, his family and consider any wider impact upon the communities across West Yorkshire.

'We are disappointed that Mr Hussain and his family have decided to leave Bradford, particularly as police and partners have been working together for some time to try and resolve the situation to the benefit of all parties concerned.'

He added that an investigation is continuing.

The spokesman continued: 'Police and partners would like to stress that there are a number of other people living in the Bradford district who have not experienced any issues based on their faith, conversion to another faith or choosing not to have a faith.