A WOMAN has been left permanently disfigured after a pair of bull mastiff dogs attacked her as she walked in the park.

The horrific attack left 20-year-old Abigail Finch, of Darlington, with a severed finger, while her dog, Marley, had to be rushed to the vets for life-saving treatment.

Miss Finch was walking Marley with her boyfriend, David Prior, in South Park, Darlington, at 2pm on Sunday.

But their peaceful stroll was interrupted when two white bull mastiffs bounded over and attacked Marley, clamping onto his neck and wrestling him to the ground.

Miss Finch said she feared the worst for her dog.

"They were dragging him around and he looked like he had given up. He must have thought he was going to die," she said.

Mr Prior, 23, grappled desperately with the bull mastiffs to free Marley, helped by the owner of the dogs and several passers-by.

But as the dogs were not on a lead and had no collars, they could not be restrained, and when Miss Finch tried to intervene, one dog turned on her and ripped off her finger, before Marley was eventually freed.

Miss Finch said: "The people who helped had to take their T-shirts off to soak up the blood pouring from my hand.

"If you see the damage it has done to me and my dog, then you will realise that, had a child been involved, it could have been much, much worse."

"The dogs should be put down and something done to the owner to prevent this from happening again."

Following the incident, the owner of the dogs fled, leaving the couple facing vets' bills of at least £400 and with memories that Mr Prior admitted would be hard to forget.

"They were going mad, it was awful," he said. "They were basically trying to kill Marley and he was just about dead. The vets said he was lucky to be alive. It was totally unprovoked."

Miss Finch's father, Colin, said the attack could have had far more devastating consequences.

He said: "I just want something to be done about these animals because next time we could be talking about manslaughter. A child would have absolutely no chance with those animals."

Police will interview Miss Finch tomorrow morning.