A MAN had his head smashed into a bus during a "savage attack" which brought a busy town centre to a standstill.

Three men are said to have attacked two men for about ten minutes outside Waterstone's book store, in Prebend Row, Darlington, at about 4.45pm on Friday.

One of the injured men had his head smashed into a bus before being kicked when he fell to the ground.

Shopper Adrian Green saw the fight and made the 999 call.

He said: "It was absolutely awful - people were just standing still, petrified.

"I thought the police would have been there immediately as there is CCTV all over that part of town, but I couldn't see them anywhere.

"When I did call, I said that afight was taking place in High Row. The operator asked me if that was in Warwick Square so I said 'Look, just get someone down here now'.

"She hung up so I had to call back. When they did arrive, it was about sevenminutes later and the three main offenders had made off."

Darlington police confirmed they were called at about 4.45pm. A spokesman said the two men at the scene, who appeared to be the innocent parties, refused to give officers any further details about the incident and said they would not be pressing charges.

"The driver of the number 12 bus to Ferryhill sorted the whole situation, " added Mr Green.

"It looked like the three lads were following the others onto the bus to keep the fight going, but that was when he had had enough.

"He got out of his compartment and chased them all off the bus.

"It kind of diffused after that. I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't calmed it down. It was a very busy period and people were just stood at the sides - they looked terrified.

"It really was a savage attack and the two victims did all they could to defend themselves, but it wasn't enough.

"Nobody really got involved - people were just terrified."