ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

A boy aged six is likely to be scarred for life after being savaged by a vicious dog as he walked home from school.

Arjun Grewal was wrestled free from the jaws of the pitbull-type animal by a neighbour who rushed to his rescue.

He suffered bites to his face, head, back and stomach as well as two broken ribs. He was unable to see out of his swollen left eye for three days.

His father Harpal Singh Grewal said today: “He is only alive because our hero stepped in.”

Arjun was with his mother Sandeep and sister, aged two, when the dog pounced in Ilchester Road, Dagenham.

Supermarket worker Artan Mahmood, 29, was alerted to the drama by his wife Manthura banging frantically on the front window of their home.

He said: “I just ran out. I was in my Tesco uniform and didn’t even have my shoes on. I managed to scoop the boy up and ran towards my door but the dog kept coming.

"It was fixated on that boy and wanted to kill him. There was so much blood, I thought for a minute he was going to die.”

The father-of-four leapt on the animal and managed to prise the boy away.

But as he tried to get back inside the house with the child in his arms, the dog pounced, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

It clamped its mouth on the boy’s cheek as Mr Mahmood shielded him with his body.

Another neighbour tossed him a shovel, which he used to fend the dog off before the pair finally escaped. he said: “We could hear it scratching at the door… The boy was so scared.”

Arjun collapsed in the Mahmoods’ sitting room before paramedics arrived. Mr Grewal said: “We cannot thank our hero enough. Our son would probably be dead if this man had not risked his own life to save him.

"Arjun has been scarred for life and it will take him a long time to recover… But we know it could have been much, much worse.”

Armed police swooped on the street after the attack on November 19 and caught the animal.

The Met confirmed today it had been examined and declared “a pitbull-type dog”, a breed banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act, and will be destroyed.

Three people have been arrested and released under investigation.

The Grewal family brought round gifts and cash for Mr Mahmood to say thanks to him, but he would only accept the card.

“Anyone would have done what I did,” he said. “I couldn’t accept gifts, it’s enough to know I helped that family.”