A WOMAN from Kendal who feared she would lose her eye after she was struck in the face by a bottle at a Morecambe festival has spoken of her ordeal.

Gill Thornborrow was enjoying the resort's Festival of Light and Water when someone lobbed what police think was a beer bottle into the crowd, hitting her just above her right eye.

The 36-year old, who needed 21 stitches for cuts around her badly bruised right eye, also sustained a number of small fractures around her eye socket and at the top of her nose, which doctors are hoping will heal naturally without the need for surgery.

She has been told there is a slight risk she will be scarred as a result of the injury.

Mrs Thornborrow was watching bands near the Bubbles complex on Marine Road West with her husband Ian at around 9.45pm when the incident happened.

The couple, who were standing at the front of the crowd, had only minutes earlier alerted security guards about a group of people behind then, who were shouting loudly and jostling into them.

"They kept pushing and shoving and I turned round to look over my shoulder for a split second and the next thing I knew something had hit me in the face."

Mrs Thornborrow, who has no idea what she was hit by, said the pain was intense and blood was streaming from her face as she was pulled over the railings and rushed to the St John's Ambulance tent.

"I was really upset because I thought I was going to lose my eye," she explained: "We've been to lots of concerts and festivals like that but nothing like this has ever happened before. I was just watching the concert minding my own business."

Mrs Thornborrow, who has lived in Kendal for 13 years, was detained at the RLI for three days and is going back to the hospital this week so doctors can check how her eye is healing.

She hoped that by speaking to the Citizen, it would encourage anyone who saw what happened to speak to the police to help their investigations.

Police have issued descriptions of two men who may be responsible for hurling the bottle. One is white, 5ft 6ins, broad build with cropped hair, wearing jeans but no top. The other is white, 5ft 7ins tall with cropped hair and was wearing a checked shirt.

Anyone with information should contact Morecambe police on 01524 63333.