A young girl needed 60 stitches to her face after being hospitalised following a vicious dog attack.

Abbie Varrow, five, was playing on a trampoline in a neighbour’s back garden in Ploughmans Lane, Great Notley, when she was attacked last Tuesday at around 5pm.

She was bitten in the face by the dog and was rushed to hospital for treatment and surgery.

Although Abbie is now recovering at home, she has suffered significant scarring across her face as a result of the attack.

Her dad Tony Varrow, 39, said: "She has severed nerves in her nose and we don’t yet know the full extent of the problem."

Full story in this week's Times.