POLICE were last night hunting a group of men following an axe attack which left a man in his 20s with a fractured skull.

The targeted attack took place at the Brown Cow pub, Town Gate, Wyke, where the victim was attacked with an axe before a gang of men left the scene in a white Nissan Qashqai car.

The victim sustained serious injuries in the assault, which took place at just before 11pm on Sunday.

His injuries are not believed to be life threatening and the victim remains in hospital.

The assault is believed to be a targeted and there is no risk to the wider public, a West Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed.

Police yesterday cordoned off a car park at the back of the Brown Cow pub in Oakenshaw Court, Wyke.

The police tape extended to a triple garage next to a house. Two police community support officers were guarding the scene at either end of the tape.

An Oakenshaw Court resident, who did not wish to be named, said she heard a man screaming on the floor and she was woken up by flashing lights from police cars and an ambulance at the scene, at just after 11.20pm yesterday.

She said: “It’s frightening that it’s on your doorstep.

“I had only just got to sleep.

“I heard a man screaming on the floor and he looked in a bad way in the back of an ambulance. He was in the ambulance for a long time and was taken on a board.

“My partner saw the flashing lights first. It’s a nice street.”

Wyke councillors; Sarah Ferriby, Rosie Watson and David Warburton, visited the scene yesterday to reassure residents and spoke of their shock.

Cllr Ferriby said: “I’m shocked, like everyone else. It’s a quiet residential street.

“Wyke is not somewhere we regularly see incidents like this. This is why it’s particularly shocking.

“I understand it’s possible a targeted attack. I’m really, really shocked.”

Cllr Watson hoped residents would be reassured that it was a targeted attack.

She said: “It’s a shocking thing.

“It is not something that happens every day. It is an awful thing to happen.

“It is a targeted attack. There is no further threat to people in the area.

“There is a police presence there and we are going up there to speak to people.

“It will put people’s minds at rest that it was a targeted incident.”

Cllr Warburton added: “It is worrying that they are using an axe.

“The group seem to have done their homework to find out where the man would be.

“We have been reassured by the police that these people were not residents of Wyke. We will be talking to the community.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting crime reference 13170430703, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.