XL bully attack on woman 'stopped with machete'

Witnesses described hearing screams as the woman was seriously injured

Desperate neighbours including a man with a machete intervened to help stop an XL bully dog mauling a woman, eyewitnesses have said.

The woman, in her 40s, was being treated in hospital for serious injuries after the attack in Fleetwood, Lancashire, which happened at about 16:45 BST on Thursday.

Witnesses said a number of people went to help after the dog escaped from a back door and bit the woman, who is believed to be related to its owner.

The BBC understands the dog was severely wounded at the scene on Wingrove Road before being destroyed by Lancashire Police officers.

Eyewitness Georgina Thomas, 39, described the man "hacking" at the dog with the machete while it was "hanging off" the woman's arm.

She said she spoke to him afterwards and he said he was upset about wounding the dog, but she said she believed he had "saved lives".

Georgina Thomas, 39, saw the man's attempts to stop the dog

"There was a hell of a lot of kids playing in the street at the time," she said.

"With that dog being on the run he's only done what anyone would have done."

Ms Thomas, who works as a carer, said she and other neighbours got the heavily bleeding woman away from the house and reassured her until paramedics arrived.

She continued: "I think it's put me off dogs forever, to be honest.

"It was just devastating. I've never seen anything like that in my life before and it traumatised me and my kids."

Ms Thomas said the dog never usually left the address without a muzzle, and the BBC understands it was legally owned.

Melissa Taylor said she heard screams as neighbours went to help

The woman's family released a statement thanking the man with the machete for doing "what needed to be done", as well as other residents who intervened.

They said: "It was both courageous and heartbreaking for him to have to do what he did.

They said the dog was named Kilo and "was very loved by all who knew him and we are all shocked and devastated by this whole ordeal".

Melissa Taylor, 31, who lives near the scene, said she heard "gut-wrenching screams".

She said: "All the neighbours proper chipped-in to help the woman out, and there was a lot of guys trying to get the dog and people were rushing around.

"Prior to even the police arriving it was all the neighbours that helped, like people from down the road."

An XL bully is the largest kind of American bully dog.

Since 1 February 2024, it has been a criminal offence to own one without an exemption certificate.