Hartlepool youngster Joshua Coleman, nine, was playing with his pals in the Burn Valley when he was bitten on the hand by a dog he described as being "a bit like a Rottweiler".

Joshua required hospital treatment after the incident.
The Eldon Grove Primary School pupil said: "I was walking home to get changed because we had had a water fight, and this dog just came up to me and bit me on the hand.

"It was frightening and it hurt me. It was quite scary because the dog could have bitten my face or something like that.

"I'm not sure what sort of dog it was, but it had features like a Rottweiler. It was a big dog.

"It wasn't on a lead, and the man whose dog it was, was probably in his late 20s.

"He asked me where I lived, but that was it, he didn't offer to ring my mam or anything like that.

"I had to go to hospital and have a bandage put on my hand. It won't put me off going out playing, but I will be watching out for dogs from now on."

Deanne Brackstone, the mum of Joshua, from Lansdowne Road in Hartlepool, said: "I have no idea whose dog it was, but I think he could have at least made some sort of effort after Josh was bitten.

"All he did was ask where he lived, and that was it. There are loads of kids playing down in the Burn Valley and this could have been far worse.

"Josh was bitten on the hand which was bad enough, but imagine if the dog had gone for a kid and mauled him or her?"

Cleveland Police is hoping to speak to the owner of the dog following the incident on Monday evening.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "The dog was described as a large stocky black dog with brown eyebrows. The owner was described as a white male, six foot tall, of thin build and with a bald head."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Hartlepool Police on (01642) 302126.