A MAN was kicked, punched and hit with a belt by a gang of eight men.

The beating only stopped when a coach pulled up and could not pass because the victim, 21, was lying in the road, covered in blood.

A horrified passenger called an ambulance and tried to make the man comfortable.

The incident happened in Rayne Road, Braintree, between Barclays and the Parc charity shop, on Saturday at 2am.

The victim, from Braintree, had been out with a friend before the unprovoked attack.

He said: “One of the attackers pulled his belt off with a metal buckle and whacked it round my head. Then I was on the floor and all of them were kicking me.

“I knew I was getting smashed up.”

The former Alec Hunter Humanities College pupil was taken to Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, and given a CT scan.

He said: “They chipped my tooth, but I don’t think they broke any bones in my face.

“I can’t see out of my right eye, but the doctors can’t tell yet how much damage there is.”

The attackers fled when the coach arrived. Police are trying to identify a number of men from CCTV footage.

Anyone with information is urged to call Braintree police on 101.