A BURNLEY student who tackled a man wielding a meat cleaver has received a top bravery award.

Jack Hayhurst, 18, was left scarred for life after he was slashed across the face during the violent attack.

Police said Jack had shown great courage in putting his own safety at risk.

The bricklaying student at Burnley College put his courage down to his upbringing.

He said he was visiting his friend when they heard the sound of breaking glass.

When he went outside, he saw a man smashing the windows of a nearby house and went to confront him.

His attacker Paul McCabe, 25, pulled out a meat cleaver and swung it at the teenager's head, narrowly missing his right eye.

Jack said: “I thought he had a metal bar at first.

"Then he went for me again and I managed to block it and hit him.

“He started coming at me again and hit me on the shoulder but I managed to get away and went back to my friend’s house.”

McCabe, 25, from Sowerby Bridge, was arrested later by police. He is now serving a 10-year jail sentence after admitting wounding and weapons charges, alongside a criminal damage offence.

Later it emerged he had been targeting his ex-girlfriend’s home.

Jack, who is interested in kick-boxing and taekwondo, was 17 at the time of the incident in the Greenfield Terrace area of Cornholme, near Todmorden.

One of the blows narrowly missed his right eye and he required emergency treatment at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

But the third-year student, who lives near Centre Vale Park in Todmorden, has no regrets about his actions.

He said: “It’s just the way I was brought up I think.

"When you live in a small community you’ve got to look out for each other.

“I don’t get bothered about it really but my friend is still bothered about it. He’s still busy looking over his shoulder when he goes out.”

He was invited to West Yorkshire Police headquarters by Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison to receive an official commendation for his actions.

The award’s citation reads: “For your quick-thinking and bravery, putting your own safety at risk to pursue and attempt to apprehend a violent man, suffering a vicious attack in the process.”

McCabe must serve an extra five years on licence, as a result of the February 2009 attack, when he is eventually released from prison.

Jack is hoping to spend time in Australia, with compensation he received as a result of the attack, once his studies are completed.