A MAN who spent eight weeks in a coma after a terrifying street attack has spoken publicly for the first time about his "ruined life".

Martin Mayor said his world caved in when two teenage thugs attacked him with a brick after a night out at a Clayton-le-Moors pub.

In the totally unprovoked beating, the 47-year-old had his head smashed with a brick and was kicked and punched while he lay bleeding on the floor.

This week Mr Mayor slammed the duo's "lenient" sentences and talked of his disbelief at waking up in hospital with amnesia.

He said: "The attack has ruined my life. There's no explanation for what they did other than that they're simply bad.

"I had more than 20 stitches in my head, pneumonia, epileptic attacks and deep vein thrombosis because of the attack.

"It's left me barely able to walk without my stick, and I am living in fear, always looking over my shoulder."

When he woke after nearly two months of unconsciousness, Mr Mayor, of Arthur Street, Clayton, said he refused to believe his bandaged body was really his. He thought it was all a dream.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "I remembered nothing of the attack.

"A surgeon told me what had happened and I couldn't take it in. I was upset and really wanted to see my friends.

"Recovering from the attack is a challenge, but I am determined to get there.

"Lots of people thought I'd be stuck in a wheelchair if I managed to leave hospital."

Simon McFarlane, 15, of The Copse, Accrington, and Mark Corbett, 18, of Whalley Road, Accrington, were given custodial sentences of three-and-a-half years and 18 months respectively for the assault.

Slamming their sentences, Mr Mayor sent out an appeal for Clayton folk to save their town from a rising tide of violence and anti-social behaviour.

He said: "They turned my life into a nightmare and have a history of causing trouble, so to get sentences like they did is wrong.

"They'll be out in half the time and I'll still be recovering, but I don't think they'll come back to Clayton because people want retribution."

He went on: "I've lived in this town all my life and it was never like this until recently.

"Even young ones are out drinking until the small hours and it causes problems.

"But what's worse, perhaps, is that people from outside Clayton are coming here to cause trouble."