A man was today recovering from major surgery to rebuild his face after it was smashed in a vicious assault after a row over a taxi.

Steve Flesher, 31, was trying to get home after a works Christmas celebration in Bradford city centre when he was brutally attacked.

He suffered fractures to his forehead, eye sockets, cheekbones and jaw.

Yesterday he had four hours of surgery to have plates and pins inserted in his face.

His girlfriend, teacher Felicity Jones, 29, last night urged anyone who knows who was responsible for the assault to tell police. She said: “His injuries were horrendous. I just burst into tears when I saw him.

“Another kick to the head, one more punch in the wrong place, and he could have been brain damaged, or even dead. I don’t want the thugs who have done this to him to do it to anybody else.”

Mr Flesher, a security fitter with a Bradford company, had been celebrating Christmas with colleagues.

The attack happened between 5am and 5.30am last Sunday as Mr Flesher, of Guiseley, tried to get a taxi home.

Miss Jones said: “He rang me and I told him to get a taxi. He rang back a few minutes later and said he had been beaten up.”

She said he had been asking a taxi driver in Morley Street how much the fare home would be when two people got in and a third pushed past him.

“There was an exchange of words and Steve was mocked. He was angry and threw a punch, which missed. He realised he was in the wrong and went to apologise and offer to pay their fare.

“They said no and the two men got out of the car and walked towards him. That’s all he can remember, but he must have been knocked to the ground and, while he was unconscious, either repeatedly punched or kicked in the head and face. It’s absolutely disgusting. There is no justification for what they did. They went over the top.”

Miss Jones said when her boyfriend got home he was covered in blood, his face was swollen as if he had been pumped up with air and his mouth “resembled the Elephant Man”.

The operation was to fit a titanium plate round the eye socket, pin his jaw and put plates in his cheeks. It is hoped there has been no permanent damage but it is expected it will take six weeks for Mr Flesher to recover.

Detective Sergeant Craig Lord, of Bradford South CID, said the assault took place outside the Tequila bar in front a number of witnesses. They include a woman who is thought to have said: “He didn’t deserve that.”

Detectives are studying CCTV for clues to the identity of the attackers.

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.