Pensioner Eric Oakford is appealing to dog owners not to tether their animals outside supermarkets after his own painful experience last week.

Mr Oakford, 85, from Roundway Park, Devizes, had completed his shopping at Lidl on London Road last Friday and was about to return his trolley when a Collie cross that had been tied up beside the trolleys leapt at him.

Mr Oakford said: “It was a bit of a shock but I thought it had just nipped me. Then I looked down at my trousers and they were covered in blood. So was my shoe. I was leaving a pool of blood over the car park.”

A member of staff at Lidl administered first aid and bandaged Mr Oakford’s leg until a friend could take him to the minor injuries unit at Chippenham Hospital, where he had four stitches in a wound that measured four centimetres wide by six centimetres long.

Mr Oakford’s wife, Ivy, was at home worrying. She said: “I didn’t know what had happened to him and when I heard I was very upset.”

Mr Oakford is downplaying the seriousness of his own injury, but is concerned what might have happened if a child had been involved.

He said: “It could have been nasty. If my great granddaughter had been with me, as she sometimes is, then the dog could have bit her in the face.

“I am asking dog owners if it is necessary to tie their dogs up outside shops. Can’t they be left at home? You always hear dog owners saying, he doesn’t bite, but you never know what an animal is going to do.”

Mr Oakford said when approached the store had denied responsibility for events in its car park.

Mr and Mrs Oakford stress that they are not looking to sue the owner of the dog or the store for what happened. Mr Oakford said: “I hope if the owner reads this, he will think about ringing and saying sorry.”

No-one from Lidl was available for comment.