A young man needed four stitches to a three-inch throat wound after being slashed as he walked up a dimly-lit footpath near a railway station.

The 23-year-old victim managed to escape from his two attackers to dial 999.

He was walking up an alleyway behind Ocean House in Warrior Square, St Leonards, in the early hours of Saturday.

He was confronted by two people before one pulled out what is believed to be a knife and cut him across his throat.

The victim staggered up to London Road, where he called an ambulance. Police last night said he had not been seriously injured.

However, detectives said it was a motiveless attack and called on witnesses to come forward with information.

The officer leading the inquiry said the victim has been unable to give any description of his attackers.

Detective Constable Rob Morland, of Hastings CID, said the young man was lucky not to have suffered a more serious injury.

He said: "This appears to have been an attack with no motive and, had the wound been any closer to a major artery, the victim could have been seriously injured.

"We are asking for the public's help to catch these attackers."

The attack took place close to where Andrew Wynd, 37, was stabbed to death as he walked home from a pub in July 2002.

Anyone with information should call Hastings CID on 0845 6070999 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.