A DOG walker suffered a broken jaw after he was punched in the face in a Rochford park.

The man, 55, who asked not to be named, but who sent the Echo a picture of his bruised face, was attacked in Cherry Orchard Jubilee Country Park while walking his labrador.

The punch left the man with a broken jaw and cheekbone and a dislocated eye socket.

The attack happened when the victim questioned a man after one of his two tan-coloured boxer dogs had bitten his pet.

The victim said: “My dog was on a lead and I thought nothing of it when the dogs came together initially although the boxer dogs were quite agressive in their manner.

“As we walked away I saw blood on his face and saw a cut which hadn’t been there before. I approached the man and said ‘your dog has bitten my dog’ and the next minute he had struck me.”

The victim then tried to confront his attacker. He added: “I had to know why he did it but got no answer. When I said I would be speaking to the police he just grunted and walked off.”

The attack happened in the park, off Cherry Orchard Way, at 2pm on Saturday.

The victim contacted the police and was taken by ambulance to Southend Hospital, before visiting a specialist at Broomfields Hospital later that day.

He will be visiting an eye consultant in the coming days.

On Monday a 58-year-old man from the Southend area was arrested on suspicion of assault and later released on police bail until February 26 pending further enquiries.

Anyone with information can call Pc Jack Sneath at Southend CID, on 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.