A dog owner turned his back and walked away after his pet bit a Mid Sussex pensioner.

Elizabeth Turrell, 72, was left in severe pain from the bleeding wound on her right leg after she was attacked.

She was bitten while walking her four-year-old miniature poodle Benji in Sidney West playing fields, behind her home in Packham Way, Burgess Hill.

A dark-coloured dog, which was off the lead, tried to go for Benji so Mrs Turrell pulled her dog away. The dog then lunged at her, biting her leg.

Mrs Turrell said: "I shouted to the man, 'Your dog is biting me'.

"I don't know whether he came and got the dog or whether it went of by itself. He then had it on the lead.

"By that time I could feel the blood running into my shoe. I said I will have to get to hospital or see a doctor as I have been bitten badly. He said he couldn't see anything but my stockings were black with blood."

Mrs Turrell said the man, who was well spoken, asked her where she lived and she had pointed to her flat.

When she asked for his name and address, the man ignored her. She asked him again and he turned round and walked away.

Mrs Turrell stumbled home alone to call her daughter, Ann, who called the police and took her mother to hospital.

Mrs Turrell said: "I was in a lot of pain and I was frightened as well.

"He was a very well-spoken man. He didn't look like the kind of person you would be afraid of."

Mrs Turrell said Benji, who she got from a rescue home three weeks ago, now refused to go far on walks.

Her daughter Ann Duke, 37, was horrified someone left a pensioner injured outside at night.

She said: "I am very angry. I just hope he has his conscience pricked because next time it could be a child.

"I have always been worried about muggers and people attacking mum. I never dreamed it would be a dog."

PC Martin Gander, who is investigating the incident, said: "We are concerned someone could walk away from an elderly lady in distress. She was distressed and she was injured."

The man was in his 40s and about 5ft 10in tall.

Anyone with information about the incident, which took place at around 9.15pm on Thursday, should contact PC Gander at Burgess Hill police station on 0845 6070999.