A YOUNG woman was said to be ‘badly shaken up’ after an encounter with a dog left her with bruises and scratches to the side of her body.

Aisha Iqbal, 20, was visiting a friend in Wimberley Street in Audley yesterday morning when a dog ‘appeared from nowhere’ and chased her down the street.

The dog, thought to be a Staffordshire Bull Terrier type, had escaped from a nearby garden and ran down the street without a lead.

Aisha said: “The dog ran toward me and jumped up, scratching my leg.

“I managed to fight it off and I started to run away from it because I was really frightened.

“I ended up on the ground with the dog on top of me – it was so scary.”

Two passersby helped Aisha free herself from underneath the dog and managed to calm her down.

One of the witnesses called an ambulance and paramedics attended the scene and transported Aisha to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

There she had an X-Ray on her right arm, which she had bruised when she fell.

Yesterday, police and paramedics confirmed that the dog did not bite Aisha and that she was just badly shaken up.

A spokeswoman from Lancashire police said: “We attended the scene and saw that the dog was not a banned breed and we visited it’s owner and are confident that the animal is secure and well looked after.

“The dog in question was a young puppy and this was just an unfortunate incident.

“No further action will be taken.”

Aisha said: “The police told me it was a puppy but it was a big puppy.

“It makes me nervous to think that it can get out of its owners sight so easily.

“Children walk home from school and mosque this way and I’m worried that it might get out and attack them next time.”