A DOG viciously attacked an 11-year-old boy when he cycled along the path behind Tregoze Primary School.

Bailey Skull, from Freshbrook, had to have four stitches on his lower forearm to repair the top puncture wound and a further four butterfly stitches to suture the lower puncture wound of the bite.

He also suffered bruising and cuts along the rest of his forearm in the attack on Tuesday evening.

His mum, Louise, was horrified and hopes that the dogwalker is found and prosecuted.

She said: "He was with his friends but they got separated, then he cycled by a woman with four dogs, all on leads, and a large brown dog attacked him.

"It jumped up and grabbed his arm and locked on it, then when the woman saw what happened she did a runner and just left him there bleeding.

"A witness who had been chatting to the woman about her Spaniel puppy before the attack happened said she was in her late 30's with short, bobbed blonde hair and also had two little girls with her wearing a pale blue school uniform."

Louise recalls the moment she first heard the terrible news that her son had been mauled.

She added: "The attack happened around 6.40pm, then at 6.45 my husband got a call from the witness and we went to pick him up.

"There was a lot of blood, it bit a hole straight through his jacket, it was horrific, so we took him to A&E.

"Thank you so much to the lady who saw the whole thing and stayed with Bailey until we arrived."

Despite his harrowing experience, Bailey was determined to go to school the very next day.

Louise said: "He'd been looking forward to the leaver's party at school for ages and didn't want to miss it, though he was quite shaken up about the attack and the teachers said they'd ring me if he wasn't feeling well.

"He didn't sleep well at all that night and I hope it doesn't make him afraid of dogs forever but it probably will stay with him for a while.

"My main concerns are that it might happen to someone else and it could have been a lot worse.

"If he hadn't been on his bike or if it had been my daughter or someone of her height it could've hit the throat instead of the arm.

"There were plenty of people walking in that area as it was a nice evening, I'm hoping someone saw this woman."

Wiltshire Police are currently investigating and are appealing for witnesses to the incident.

Anyone who can help should call police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on