A man had to have emergency surgery after being slashed in the face with a machete in an apparently motiveless attack.

Steven Hirst, 43, was walking in Talbot Street, Listerhills, at about 10pm last Sunday night when he was set upon by two men armed with a machete-style large knife. He suffered slash wounds to his face which needed 40 stitches at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Mr Hirst, a tool distributor, is now recovering from his injuries at the home of his sister in Ladbroke Grove, Holme Wood. He said: "I was walking on my own when two men jumped out of a car. One had what looked like a machete or meat cleaver. One of them went for me but I managed to hit him first. But the second one hit me in the face with the weapon.

"I panicked. I was in a lot of pain and there was blood everywhere. I ran off and banged on the door of a house to get in and escape. I must have passed out because the next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance."

He was taken to BRI and released the next day after emergency surgery to his wounds, which included a four-inch cut to his jaw.

Steven added: "After the attack my lips swelled up to five times their normal size and I couldn't even put a straw in my mouth. I had a three-inch cut under my chin - a fraction lower and I could have been a gonner."

His attackers did not steal anything but Mr Hirst believes they might have intended to mug him of jewellery he was wearing until he fought back.

Detective Inspector Noel Devine, of Bradford North CID, said police were treating the attack as a wounding. He said: "He was confronted by two men who chased him down an alley and attacked him with a large knife. It appears to be a motiveless attack."

Det Insp Devine said Mr Hirst had been drinking in the city centre during the evening and it is possible he had been followed from there. "We would appeal to anyone who was in the Talbot Street or Lumb Lane areas around 9pm to 10pm who saw anything to come forward."

Mr Hirst said the men were white and aged between 25 and 30, thin and about 5ft 8ins tall. They wore dark clothing. Anyone who has any information should contact Bradford North Police on (01274) 376259, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.