A THURROCK woman has told of her terror after being attacked and bitten by an unleashed dog while walking in a South Essex woodland area with her family.

Penny, 39, (who has asked for her family details not to be published) was walking with husband – and their 14-year-old daughter, together with friends Rosie and James from Braintree yesterday (Sunday, 20 September) when the dramatic incident took place.

They are now hoping that the owner of the unleashed dog will come forward and speak to the police – or be tracked down – but in the meantime have told any other walkers or dog owners in the area to be wary.

Penny, from Orsett, talked Thurrock Nub News through what happened, saying: "We had decided to go for a walk to meet our friends and their dog, so we met them at the Bull pub in Hockley which is adjacent to the woods.

"We hadn't been there before but knew it to be a popular place for walking dogs so we left the pub car park as a group with Ollie, our Jack Russell.

"Our dogs were on leashes. We hadn't gone too far into the woods when we heard a man shouting after a dog and seemingly becoming more exasperated and loud, calling his dog to come back.

"Then, out of almost nowhere, we saw the dog, a short, stocky Staffy/Bullmastiff type running towards us. Ollie is a terrier, he's typical of his breed and isn't going to back off – he's almost got little man syndrome – so I picked him up but it made no difference to the other dog which came straight for him and jumped up. I was holding Ollie above my head by now and had my back turned but the dog barged me and I fell over. The dog then turned its attention to me, having got me on the ground and began to bite my side.

"It was horrific, I was so scared I thought I would die. The feeling of the dog biting into my flesh was horrible. I screamed at my daughter to grab Ollie and run while My husband and James tried to get the dog off me.

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"The dog's owner then appeared, shouting 'Oh my god, Oh my god – what have you done?' And he took tried to grab his dog.

"At that point we decided it was better to take flight rather than fight and we ran away after Sam. We came to the end of the woods at a road called Woodside Road where my husband called on a man who was in his garden for help. I was laid out, spread-eagled actually, on his drive and in pain. He was very kind and helpful and brought me some water and helped to clean up the wound.

"The house owner called an ambulance but was told one wasn't available so James ran back through the wood to his car and brought it round and we went straight to Basildon Hospital where the wounds were dressed and treated. I was there for a few hours and discharged last evening.

"The ambulance service had contacted the police, who called my husband and said they would send a car round to try and find the man and his dog, but we don't know what has happened. We just wanted to get away.

"I am incredibly sore today and I hardly slept last night, it kept going through my mind. My main thought was what if it had been my daughter who had held the dog? What would have happened to her. It's awful to contemplate that.

"We would hope that this man is found and prosecuted but we also want to warn people who use the woods. The dog has white and sandy colouring and was wearing a camouflage fabric harness. The man with it was in his forties, of sticky build and wearing a bright yellow t-shirt."

Penny is due to re-attend hospital to have her wounds redressed tomorrow and adds that though the wounds may heal, the horrific memory of the attack will linger a lot longer.