A pub landlord has spoken of the terrifying moment three masked men stormed into his pub and sprayed him with suspected ammonia before striking him with a hatchet.

In the "vicious and brazen" attack, customers in the Marsh Hotel, in Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, were told to lie down and to give the suspects their wallets.

Neil Barker has run the premises for 17 years and said he and wife Karen had never had any trouble before Monday night’s attack.

Recalling what happened, he told the Telegraph & Argus: “I’d seen a man acting strangely outside the window at about 11pm but he seemed to walk off so I went back inside.

“We have a poker night on Mondays and one of the players had just left for the night when the men grabbed him, sprayed him with the substance and pushed him back inside the pub.

“Because I was stood up by the poker table, and everyone else was sat down, they sprayed me in the face with the ammonia too and I stumbled backwards.

“One was behind the bar trying to get money out of the tills, while the other two told everyone to get down. One had a small hatchet and another had a hammer. The third had another object in his hand but I couldn’t tell what it was. I was on my knees with the spray in my face and I’d told the barmaid to open the tills. She did that straightaway but then the man behind the bar threatened her.

“I asked what more he wanted and he demanded to know where the safe was. I told him it was upstairs but he’d have to get past two angry dogs first.

“I tried to protect my member of staff and I got up but I got sprayed again, struck from behind and hit in the face with the blunt side of the hatchet.

“I’ve had 22 stitches and I’ll need two teeth removing because of that.

“The man ran from behind the bar upstairs to get the safe but the dogs went crazy and warned him off. That allowed the barmaid to escape to one of the neighbouring houses.”

Amazingly, everyone in the pub at the time except Mr Barker managed to escape unharmed.

The pub reopened yesterday barely 36 hours after the shocking incident and Mr Barker added: “The local community have been fantastic and we’ve been sent so many flowers and best wishes."

Cllr Kath Pinnock (Liberal Democrat, Cleckheaton), said: “This was a vicious, sickening and brazen attack. It’s a popular pub and very highly rated in Cleckheaton so I can’t believe someone has done this to them."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Three suspects entered the pub and demanded money. People inside the pub were told to lie down and to give the suspects their wallets. They then took an unknown amount of money from the wallets and from the till.

“During the incident a man had an unknown substance thrown over him which caused him to fall to the floor and suffer breathing difficulties.

“He then got back to his feet but was then attacked with a weapon – believed to be an axe – causing him to fall to the floor again. When on the floor he was again sprayed with the unknown substance. He suffered injuries to his lip and irritation to the skin “A second man who had just left the pub was also sprayed in the face with an unknown substance and forced back inside."

One suspected is described as white, wearing a black top with the hood up. A second male was white, wearing a light coloured hooded top with black clothing. A third male is described as wearing a balaclava.

Detective Inspector Alex Bacon of Kirklees CID, said: “This was a serious incident which has traumatised the victims.

“Two people have been sprayed with a substance which has caused them great distress and one person attacked with what is believed to be an axe.

“Thankfully at this stage we don’t believe anyone was seriously injured but the pub was still open at the time and with it being a bank holiday weekend there will have been a lot of people around the area. I want to appeal directly to anyone who saw anything suspicious."

Call police on 101 quoting crime reference 13190231642.