A MAN had his face slashed by a gang in Pitsea.

Police have launched an appeal after the victim, aged in his 40s, was attacked while walking towards the underpass near McDonald’s, in Station Lane.

The incident happened at 11pm on Sunday, January 12, when he was approached by three men.

A police spokesman said: “One of the men held what has been described a sharp object to his face.

“As he tried to move away he sustained a deep cut to his cheek.

“The men then made off.”

The shocking incident came just two weeks after a man was stabbed in Pitsea.

The victim suffered a single stab wound near the Rectory Road shops, and was taken to hospital with a small puncture wound to his back.

Craig Rimmer, councillor for Pitsea South East, said: “It’s horrific news, and it’s the sort of incident that really makes residents afraid to go about their normal lives.

“I would still say it’s an exception not a rule, and we obviously need to find out the details of the investigation before jumping to what the cause behind the violence is.

“I live in the area and I walk around, so I know I feel perfectly fine myself, but we obviously have a lot of knife crime in London, which is massive, and it’s getting through the cracks into Pitsea and the rest of the borough.

“Boris [Johnson, Prime Minister] has promised 20,000 new police officers and we would champion for some of them to come here.”

Anyone with information, CCTV or dash cam footage, should call 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/6463/20 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.