A DOG attack victim said he thought he was going to be killed as he was mauled by two banned American Pit Bulls in a "terrifying" incident on a Bradford street.

Lee Flatt, 35, from Buttershaw, said he was only saved by the actions of a brave neighbour who beat the dogs off with a plastic wheelie bin, giving him a split-second chance to get away.

He managed to wriggle free from his shredded jacket, which was still in the powerful grip of one of the dogs.

"I was screaming for help. I thought my life was over. The dogs had me in their mouths,they were biting me all over then someone was there ramming a wheelie bin at them. It got one of them off for me just long enough for me to get out of my jacket even though the other dog still had it in its teeth," he said.

Mr Flatt, speaking from Bradford Royal Infirmary, where he is likely to face plastic surgery on his arm, said he had just left his house for work at 7.30am yesterday when he turned a corner on the street and came face to face with one of the snarling dogs on the pavement.

"I tried to walk away from it round the side of a bin but it pounced on me and got me on the floor, then out of the corner of my eye I saw another one coming for me out of the garden. I was trying to wrestle them off."

Commotion broke out as people heard his screams. A terrified paper boy banged on a door to be let in and a woman carrying a baby had to jump over a garden fence to get to safety.

Others grabbed sticks, banged on cars and blared car horns to try and distract the dogs, who were ragging Mr Flatt with such force they dragged him into the road.

When he got free, he managed to run across the street into a garden, chased by the dogs, which then stalked up and down the street until armed police arrived.

Officers finally managed to corner them in a garden, using long grab poles before putting them in a van.

Sergeant Richard Sheard, from Bradford Neighbourhood Policing Team, confirmed the dogs were American Pit Bulls - a banned breed in the UK. The animals were taken away by specialist officers along with a third dog - a Red Nosed Pit Bull. "Two men have been questioned in connection with this incident," he said.

Paul Goddard posted a comment on the Telegraph & Argus website identifying himself as the man with the wheelie bin.

He said: "I started trying to ram the dogs off with a wheelie bin and then someone handed me a stick, which I started poking them with. I shouted for the guy to stand up but he couldn't. I managed to agitate the dogs enough so he could slip out of his jacket and get away. "Then one of the dogs started going towards a woman. So I screamed to get its attention and it then chased me into the house."

Mr Flatt's best friend, Gary Longfellow, 47, had been walking up the road to meet his pal when he saw him being mauled.

"I grabbed a stick and was shouting at him to keep his head down because they were trying to go for his throat. They were ragging him about on the floor, they weren't going to give up. They had him in their mouths, his arms and his head. Other people came and started chucking things at the dogs.

"There was a lot of blood, he almost passed out. I just kept him talking until paramedics got here."

Grandma Lilian Ramsey, 71, recounting how a paper boy banged on her door, said: "He was terrified and was begging to be let in. Just then a woman carrying a little boy came down the snicket, saw the dogs and ran in to next door's garden.

"I went out into my garden and got her to pass the baby over the fence to me, then she jumped over and I took them in."

Ronette Harney, 27, said: "The street just cleared. The dogs were stalking up and down, sniffing for people. If it had been a kid they got it would have been killed, they wouldn't have stood a chance."

Dawn Wilton, 36, said: "I heard papping on car horns and banging and shouting so I opened the window and saw the fellow on the ground, he was being dragged about by these two dogs.

"People were there with sticks,throwing wheelie bins and banging on cars to try and get the dogs off him. It was terrifying. The man was in a bad way. He was covered in blood."

Miss Wilton praised the people who tried to beat off the ferocious dogs, she said: "They were brave, they saved him."

Anyone with any information on the incident should call Bradford neighbourhood Policing Team on 101.

Read yesterday's report of the attack