Men fight off dog mauling woman in Leeds woodland

Police said they were investigating previous incidents where the dog had chased people

A group of men helped fight off a dog which attacked and badly injured a woman in woodland in Leeds.

After hearing screams, they found the 72-year-old lying in a bog with the dog mauling her face and arms.

One of the men, Nick Kemp, likened it to a lion attacking an antelope and said: "The dog wouldn't get off her."

Police said a 22-year-old man arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offences had been released under investigation and the dog has been seized.

Mr Kemp and the other men were working nearby when they heard the woman's cries for help from Engine Fields in Kirk Lane, Yeadon, on Tuesday morning.

He said: "It was an image I will never forget.

"We initially thought the woman was being attacked by a man but as we ran down we saw her lying on her back covered in blood with big puncture marks over her body."

The men who helped work at Westfield Industrial Estate, near to the woodland

Mr Kemp said despite them all trying to force the dog off, it would not stop and only relented when one of them distracted it with a piece of wood.

"The dog was immensely powerful. We must have tried for about five minutes trying to stop it attacking her but it wouldn't give up.

"Kids play down in the fields and as much as that poor woman was injured, if it'd been a child it would have been killed."

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Mr Kemp said the dog went on to bite one of the men and also chased another who only managed to escape by jumping over a fence.

Police said the woman had been taken to Leeds General Infirmary with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Det Insp James Entwistle said "We understand there may have been previous incidents in the same area where people have been chased by the same dog and we are particularly keen to hear from anyone who has been involved in those."