A STUDENT who lost an eye in a nightclub glass attack has spoken of his horror.

Surgeons removed the right eye of Paul Gibson, 33, after he was injured in a clash in a crowded club.

The trainee teacher was disfigured after being hit in the face with a bottle inside Hartlepool's 42nd Street nightclub, in the early hours of Sunday.

Emergency surgery by doctors at Middlesbrough's North Riding Infirmary failed to save his eye and he faces further operations to minimise damage to the eye socket.

Speaking from his home in Peterlee, County Durham, Mr Gibson described how the attack came out of nowhere.

He said: "I was looking for my wife, Helen, at the bar because we were about to go home.

"Someone tripped up next to me, so I just muttered that he should be careful. A few seconds later and 'bang', that was it.

"My eyes went black and I had so much blood in my eyes that I could not see.

"I tried to find the toilets but a couple of girls, one of whom was a nurse, stopped me and said I was seriously injured.

"They helped me to the door, where bouncers called an ambulance. I never knew what hit me."

He was taken to the University Hospital of Hartlepool and was immediately transferred to North Riding Infirmary, where doctors tried to save his eye.

He was told on Monday that he would lose the eye, and surgeons removed it the following day after fears that the infection could spread to his left eye.

He has since had 40 stitches in the wound and will soon be fitted with a glass eye.

Mr Gibson said: "I am not going to let it ruin my life. I will carry on with my studies, but I do not know if I will play football or golf again.

"You need both eyes to focus and see in 3D.

"What makes this doubly bad is that we are the type of people who walk away from trouble.

"I do not know what this man was thinking, there was no reason for it."

Detective Sergeant Matt Mason, of Hartlepool police, said: "There were hundreds of people in the nightclub at the time of the attack, 12.30am.

"We need to hear from anyone who may have witnessed it. The altercation took place inside the club, and may have spilled out on to the street."

Anyone with information is asked to call Det Sgt Mason on (01642) 302133.