A SCHOOLGIRL has been left scarred for life after she was bitten in the face and mauled by a "vicious" bull mastiff dog.

Nicola Dalby, nine, spent two days in hospital and had 13 stitches in the wound, which also required an operation after becoming infected.

Police are looking at a possible prosecution of the dog's owners under the Dangerous Dogs Act but have yet to seize the animal.

Nicola's family said the animal must be put down before it attacks somebody else.

Nicola is now back at home with her family in Whitefield Street, Hapton, recovering after the incident, during a party at a house in Simpson Street.

Her father, Andrew, 40, a window cleaner, said she was lucky that her injuries were not worse.

He said: "It is terrifying to think what could have happened.

"The dog is so dangerous - it needs to be put down for the safety of the people in the area.

"If that dog had held on it could have done unimaginable damage.

"Even with the injuries as they are we are lucky that she didn't lose her eye."

Nicola was at the party on Saturday with her father, mother Jane, 39, and sister Rebecca, 14.

Mr Dalby said Nicola was stroking the dog in the garden when it "lunged" at her and bit her cheek.

She was initially treated at Burnley General Hospital but after an infection developed Nicola was fitted to a drip and taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital by ambulance on Sunday.

She was released on Tuesday.

Her father said that doctors have told him that while the wounds will heal she is likely to be left scarred around her mouth where the injuries were worse.

Inspector Dave Croll said: "A nine-year-old girl was bitten by a bull mastiff dog that was at the house with its owner.

"We have managed to speak to the family and are currently investigating the matter under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1871."

A prosecution under the Dangerous Dogs Act could result in the animal being destroyed, or the imposition of an order that the owner must keep the animal under "proper control" in future.

There is no legal requirement for bull mastiff's to be muzzled.