A rampaging bull terrier left an 11-year-old boy with serious leg injuries.

The dog leapt over a fence and chased children who were playing in the Parson Street playground in Keighley.

Adults in the area battled to pull the animal off the boy and keep it away from other youngsters.

Taxi driver Sharaz Hussain kicked the dog so it would release its young victim. Surgeons yesterday operated on the boy’s leg wound, following the Tuesday afternoon attack.

A crossbreed animal suspected of causing the injury was taken away by Bradford Council dog wardens. The incident happened at about 2.20pm at a play area near the junction with Back Grouse Street.

Witnesses said the dog had been tied up for two days in the yard of a house overlooking the playground. The dog allegedly broke free, jumped a six-foot-high garden fence and rushed towards the playground.

Asif Hussain, one of the witnesses, said the children scattered when they saw the animal running towards them.

He said: “A lot of kids were playing. The dog got through the park and kept running.”

Sharaz Hussain, 30, from nearby Bradford Road, said he was sitting in his taxi talking to friends when he saw the drama unfold. He said: “I saw these kids running. The dog grabbed one of them and wouldn’t let go.

“I kicked it on its face to kick it off the kid. It left him and went charging for another kid.”

Mr Hussain took the victim to hospital while other adults, including a worker from a nearby stoneworks, secured the dog.

The boy, who is understood to live in Back Grouse Street and attends Eastwood Primary School, had been bitten on his leg and arm.

John Molloy, who was working outside a house in Back Grouse Street, said the dog had been peacefully sitting in its yard for a couple of days.

He said: “It broke out and jumped over the fence. I think what irritated it was a ball coming over a couple of times.”

Another witness, who did not want to be named, said dogs regularly invaded the playground and there had been previous attacks.

Keighley Neighbourhood Policing Team was yesterday trying to trace the owner of the dog.