A 64-year-old Ilford man was left requiring surgery after he was mauled by a “big and powerful” dog in the town centre.

Terence Hendy, of Kingston Road, had been walking through an alleyway near the corner of Hampton Road and Ilford Lane at around 7pm on November 22 when he was set upon by a dog.

“It happened so quick,” Terence told the Recorder.

“It attacked me from the back and knocked me to the ground.”

“It threw me around like a ragdoll – if it had been a child or a woman instead of me they would have died.”

He added: “The only thing that saved me is that I poked it in the eye with my thumb and twisted it.”

The dog – which he described as looking like a bullmastiff or pitbull - then ran away.

Terence spoke of how he “staggered” into a nearby sweet shop where he passed out from blood loss.

He had been scratched across his chest and bitten on his back and his arms.

The canines’ teeth had even torn through the three layers of clothing he had been wearing to keep warm.

The shopkeeper called paramedics who gave Terence morphine to numb his pain, before taking him to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

Terence is set to remain there until at least December 4.

“I visited him on Sunday (November 25) and he is all bandaged up,” said his brother Keith Hendy, 71.

“He had an operation on Monday to repair the damage.”

“Looking at his bandages, they are all blood soaked.”

Terence did not see the dog owner at the time he was attacked and hopes it will soon be caught by police to prevent others sharing his fate.

A Met Police spokesman said: “Police were called at 5.20am on November 22 by London Ambulance Service after a man had been attacked by a dog.

“Officers attended the hospital where the man was being treated for injuries to his arms and chest.

“A full report of a dog behaving dangerously in a public place was taken.

“The dog was not believed to be with an owner.

“No arrests have been made.”