A man denied lashing out with a scythe at his neighbour who asked him to turn down his blaring television.

Kenneth Whitear is accused of attacking Clayton Turner with the grass-cutting tool's 12 inch blade, leaving his eyebrow hanging by a thread of skin.

Mr Turner, a train driving instructor, also suffered wounds to his hand and leg, Hove Crown Court heard.

Whitear, 53, of Amundsen Road, Horsham, is accused of inflicting the wounds after Mr Turner complained about noise from his radio and television at 7.30am.

The former forklift truck driver, who has learning difficulties, yesterday told the court he bit Mr Turner but did not attack him with the scythe.

Whitear, who is partially deaf, said he was coming home after shopping at Tesco's and shouted "bully, bully" to Mr Turner, who was in his garage.

When got back into his house to switch on the radio and television, Mr Turner put his head through the kitchen window and said something he could not hear.

Whitear told the court he walked out of the front door with a scythe picked up from underneath the stairs, raising the tool to shoulder height but then dropping it because of arthritis in his finger tips.

He said: "Whether it bounced from the ground upwards or hit the garden wall, I don't know. The next thing I knew, Mr Turner was grabbing me, putting me to the ground, bear-hugging me."

Whitear said he bit Mr Turner and hit Mr Turner's wife Alison in the face before she could attack him and then bit Mr Turner again when he put him to the ground again.

Mr Turner had told the court his 12-year-old daughter was also bitten when she tried to intervene. Whitear denies doing this intentionally, claiming he never saw her.

Whitear said he had confronted Mr Turner because he was fed up with years of aggravation from his neighbour who, he claimed, had thrown things into his garden and smashed his fence and garden window.

He said he had no malice when he picked up the scythe but just wanted to scare Mr Turner off.

He said: "He and his wife would do anything and say anything to get me out of my house. They don't like me sitting day after day while they have to go to work."

The court heard Mr Turner had approached the Benefits Agency about Whitear, who uses a walking stick, but Whitear said the agency agreed he was not putting on an act.

Kim Halsall, prosecuting, told the jury Mr Turner did not deserve a scythe in his face even if they thought he was a snitch.

She said: "Whitear had been bullied as a child, he had been bullied at school. He just lost it. He left the house with the bullhook intending to do something."

Whitear denies grievous bodily harm with intent on January 15. He also denies assaulting Mrs Turner and the couple's daughter.

The trial continues.