Police have launched an attempted murder inquiry after a man was beaten with a metal bar, then shot as he limped away.

The victim's left leg was broken when he was attacked with the bar.

Amazingly, he grappled with the attacker, wrested the weapon from him and used it as a crutch as he hobbled away.

A police spokesman said: "When the victim was ten metres away from the offender he was shot at a number of times by the attacker, who used a small handgun."

The man was taken to Conquest Hospital, Hastings, and treated for what police have called a small flesh wound in the back of his head.

A man is helping police with their inquiries.

The attack took place in Kings Road, St Leonards, near Warrior Square railway station at about 9pm on Wednesday March 27.

Police are appealing for witnesses, particularly a woman who spoke to the victim as he escaped along a path leading to London Road.

She is said to have told him he had been shot, at which point he told her to run away.

Officers also want to speak to a group of people said to have been standing outside the station and who may have seen what happened.

The victim was a slim black man, 35 years old, about 5ft 10in tall with short black hair. His assailant was black, about 5ft 6in tall, aged 32 and wore a denim jacket and baggy blue jeans.