A terrified Fylde schoolboy was left bleeding from a headwound after being attacked by a hawk at the weekend.

Timothy Mills, nine, was riding his bike along Midgeland Road, Marton, when the bird of prey swooped on him sinking its talons into his forehead and leaving him with cuts, bruises and blood-stained rugby shirt on Saturday.

The youngster -- a pupil at St Annes College Grammar School, Lytham -- managed to wrench the Harris hawk free from his face and scream for help to his mother, Donna, and 11-year-old brother, Tristan, who were at a nearby riding school.

A badly shaken Tim was taken to hospital where doctors decided his wounds did not need stitches.

A police spokesman confirmed the bird -- which is not native to Britain -- had been released to exercise and has since been put down by its owner, who feared that it might attack again.