Two men told today of their terror as they were stabbed and slashed by a gang of youths.

One was stabbed seven times and the other slashed across the face.

The friends said the attack, in Butts Road, Southwick, was unprovoked.

Wayne Leyh , 21, from Portslade, said: "My girlfriend was at a friend's house and these six youths were there. She told me one of them had assaulted her so I went round to pick her up.

"When I arrived one of them who had a Stanley knife came out and cut me.

"He cut me from my mouth outwards towards the back of my ear.

"As I turned to run off, fearing for my life, I was slashed again across the back of the head.

"One of the others had a baseball bat, two were carrying carving knives and one had a weightlifting pole. They were all tooled up."

Mr Leyh said he has lost the feeling in the end of his tongue and has had trouble sleeping since the attack at 10.45pm on Saturday December 7, Tom Potter, 18, of Shoreham, said: "We were running away and they came after us. I ran into a dead end.

"One of them walked up to me with a weightlifting pole and hit me round the arm, then another came up and slashed me round the face and cut me on the ear.

"I turned to run again and got battered round the head and fell to the floor. They were all piling in on me and I got stabbed seven times.

"I needed 19 stitches and couldn't get out of bed for two days afterwards."

A Sussex Police spokesman said officers were still investigating the incident.