A man brutally attacked by teenage thugs outside his home has been told by doctors that he will never walk unaided again.

Former milkman John Owen was left with horrific leg injuries after his assailants used his own garden gate to beat him to the ground, shattering his knee.

The vicious attack has left his life in ruins after surgeons, who operated on his leg, told him he will never fully recover.

Mr Owen, 48, pictured, who was already disabled because of a problematic hip replacement operation and a past knee injury on his other leg, today urged police to tackle youth crime around his home near Manchester Road, Bradford, where he lives with his wife Susan.

He said a night-time curfew for known troublemakers might be the only way to make the area safe.

"The police need to tighten their grip around here and stop being so soft," he said.

"One way of getting these young thugs under control would be a curfew. I've been robbed of the little independence I had left. I'm going to have to use two sticks to walk for the rest of my life which makes my future bleak.

"We've got to get out of this hell-hole. It's not a safe place. I'm even more of an easy target now and would struggle to protect my family if anything happened."

PC Jason Raine, who is investigating the attack outside Mr Owen's house in Hawkshead Drive, said it appeared to be motiveless.

"This was a serious, mindless and unprovoked attack which ended with Mr Owen receiving horrendous leg injuries," he said.

"I hope anyone with information to help us catch the attackers will come forward when they realise the serious nature of what happened and the consequences which will affect the rest of Mr Owen's life."

Home Office statistics show that violent attacks in Bradford have soared by more than 60 per cent in the last year.

Today senior officers said they were aware of problems in the Manchester Road area and mount regular patrols and pro-active policing operations in the area.

They have released descriptions of the three youths they want to question in connection with the attack on Mr Owen, which occurred at about 8.15pm on Wednesday, July 16.

The first attacker is described as Asian or mixed race, about 16, 6ft tall, and slim with short, cropped, black hair which was slightly curly on top. The other two suspects were Asian, aged about 14 and of a smaller build.

Anyone with information about the attack should contact PC Raine on (01274) 376459. People who want to report any other incidents on Manchester Road should telephone 0845 6060606.