A SECURITY guard needed 400 stitches after he was brutally attacked with a hammer by a group of men during his night shift at a recycling plant.

John Marsh was rushed to hospital after the gruesome attack, which happened while he was on duty at Clearaway Recycling Services, in Burnt Mills industrial estate, in Basildon.

The 47-year-old, from Basildon, claims the attack came a week after he had been made aware that scrap metal had been stolen from the site.

He said: “I was jumped by the group of men and smashed with a hammer, before they pinned me down while I was on the floor and cut my face open.

“I was with my wife who also works there. They fled and a few people came to my aid and I went back into the yard and called the police.”

Echo:

Scene - the Clearway recycling plant

Mr Marsh also alleged: “The group had been seen a week earlier stealing metal and they found out that I knew, even though I didn’t want to get involved.

“I couldn’t have pain killers because they hit four main arteries [and I] had to have stitches in my face - 400 of them.

“I am now off work and most of these men are still on the loose.”

An Essex Police spokesman confirmed the attack, adding: “We are investigating after a man in his 40s received a laceration to his left cheek when he was assaulted at a recycling centre on the Burnt Mills Industrial Estate, Basildon, at around 5pm on November 4.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Essex Police on 101 or use www.essex.police.uk where - between 7am and 11pm - you can provide information directly to operators by selecting the ‘Live Chat’ button.

Use crime number 42/180923/20 when reporting.

A spokesman for Clearaway added: “We are obviously concerned by the incident and are assisting the police with their enquiries as well as investigating the matter ourselves and taking every effort to ensure our workplace is a safe one.”