A man enjoying a night's clubbing remembers nothing of the brutal attack which left him with horrific facial injuries.

The last recollection 38-year-old Mark Walker has of the night his face was beaten to a pulp, is sitting drinking and chatting in the VIP lounge at the Escape Club in Brighton.

Next morning he woke up in the Royal Sussex County Hospital with a jaw fractured in three places, a crushed cheekbone and black eyes.

The former club owner has spoken out about his ordeal in a bid to catch the "scum" who have wrecked his previously outgoing life.

He said: "I think they are scum, basically. To do this and kick me to pieces and leave me for dead is the act of a coward.

"I was not in any position to do anything about it and it's tantamount to beating up old ladies."

Police said Mr Walker's injuries gave no suggestion he had fought back.

Mr Walker, a senior site manager who lives in Buckingham Place, Brighton, set out to enjoy a night's entertainment with friends on Saturday, August 19.

He joined pals on Brighton seafront to watch the production of This Rough Magic, based on The Tempest, before meeting up with more friends in a seafront bar.

They moved on to the Lanes End bar, where they shared a bottle of champagne.

Mr Walker, who admits he was drunk, said: "It was a really chilled evening and after that we went to the Escape for a bit of a boogie.

"I used to go there all the time and it's the club I go to in Brighton because it's easy-going and there will be friends there I know."

Arriving about 11pm he left his friends and sat in the VIP lounge drinking and chatting with another acquaintance.

Just before 1am he was found by passers-by badly beaten up in Charles Street, only yards from the club entrance.

The next thing he recalls is waking up hospital.

Mr Walker said: "I looked in the mirror and saw my face and thought, 'What's happened, this is hideous'."

He was kept in hospital for six days while surgeons fitted metal plates in his jaw.

He has still not returned to work and has been left shaken by the apparently unprovoked attack.

He said: "I used to run clubs and am a pretty outgoing person, but I have never had trouble like this. It has knocked the stuffing out of me a bit and I feel I am not safe walking about the streets of Brighton.

"I won't be going out at all on my own now."

Simon Woplin, of the Escape, said he recalled the clubgoer had been ejected from the club for anti-social behaviour.

He said: "He was escorted out of the side entrance and he was alone and uninjured. The doors were closed behind him so he could not re-enter the club.

"About 20 minutes later there was an ambulance outside."

Despite a police investigation, no witnesses have come forward and Mr Walker is appealing for clubbers and partygoers to pass on information.

He said: "At the end of the day it's not my safety I am looking to but the safety of anybody going out clubbing in Brighton."

Det Con Jenny Abura, of Brighton CID, added: "Police are convinced that people must have seen this attack and we need witnesses to come forward."

Call her on 0845 60 70 999 with information.