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A Derby pensioner could need a skin graft after a dog tore chunks of flesh from his forearm when it attacked him and knocked him into a ditch.

Derbyshire Live has seen photographs of the injury but has decided they are too graphic to publish.

Victim Charles Brown, 82, says the man with the dog, which was on an extended lead, "just walked off" and left him bleeding badly on a lonely track about a mile from home.

Mr Brown, from Shelton Lock, has been left shocked by the incident and says it could have been much worse if the "black, big and powerful Labrador-type dog" had attacked a child or a frailer person.

He said: "I consider myself to be fit and I am 6ft 2ins but this dog, without warning, still managed to knock me over and I have also twisted my back in the process.

"I was walking along the track just off the canal path in Shelton Lock towards the Lowes Lane shooting ground late on Friday morning when I saw a man, aged about 60-70 coming towards me with the dog on a lead.

(Image: Derby Telegraph)

"It was starting to rain and I was about to remark that we were both in shirt sleeves and had no coats, when without warning the dog looked at me and leaped up towards my throat.

"I tried to defend myself and my arm was bitten and then got knocked off my feet. The man took one look at me, said it would be ok "because the dog had had injections" and said it was rescue dog and he was having trouble controlling it.

"Then he just walked off."

He phoned his wife and walked steadily to meet her towards their home in Shelton Lock. Mrs Brown took him to the Royal Derby Hospital.

By this time his arm was bleeding profuselly.

Mr Brown said: "The nurse took a picture of it for the skin grafting team, it was dressed, I had several injections and was told to come back again on Tuesday to speak to the grafting team.

"It couldn't be stitched because there is not enough flesh in places to pull together and blood soon started to soak through the bandage they put on.

"I had a bad night but apart from my back, felt a bit better on Saturday morning."

Mr Brown said he refuses to let the incident put him off his regular walk or make him afraid of dogs.

(Image: Derby Telegraph)

He added: "This attack was completely unprovoked and I cannot understand why this man did not help me but instead walked off, despite seeing the amount of blood I was losing.

"I contacted the police and they have put out an appeal for people to come forward with information to which they have told me they have had a large number of responses.

"That dog should have had a muzzle on at least before it went out and needs to be stopped before anything worse happens or someone is killed."

Chellaston and Shelton Lock Safer Neighbourhood Team has put out an appeal on its Facebook page asking people to get in touch if they have any information relating to the incident.

A description reads: "The dog is described as a large muscular black dog and the owner was an elderly white male who stated that he had recently acquired the dog from a rescue centre."

Anyone with information should contact Derbyshire police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting crime reference number 19000377990.