A VIOLENT attacker armed with a metal bar burst into a family-run minicab office and battered both workers inside, leaving one with a cracked skull and possible brain injuries.

Police are now hunting the hooded attacker, who is believed to have fled the scene in a car.

The family which owns the business have spoken of their shock and confusion at the attack which has left one of their own relatives, 25-year-old switchboard operator Abbas Yasin, with potentially long-term injuries.

Business owner Munir Hussain, Mr Yasin’s father-in-law, said: “We don’t know what the motive is for the attack but it’s a shock. I’ve not slept since.”

The attacker struck shortly before midnight on Sunday at the offices of Ace Budget Cars in Thornton Road, Fairweather Green, Bradford, when Mr Yasin and a driver Waqaas Mohammad, 30, were the only staff inside.

This CCTV footage, which has been passed on to police, shows how the attack unfolded.

Mr Hussain said: “He came in posing as a customer. When he was opening the door, just before he pulls the handle down he pulls the bar out of his sleeve.

“He’s laid into the driver and hit him.”

Mr Hussain said his son-in-law went to defend Mr Mohammad and the attacker hit him on the head with the metal bar and “cracked his head open”.

Mr Hussain’s son Amir Hussain, who manages the office, said the footage made horrifying viewing.

He said the attacker appeared to be a white man arriving in an Audi TT and the way he had hidden the metal bar in his sleeve before flicking it down into his hand had been “like something out of a movie”.

Amir Hussain said the attacker fled without taking anything and Mr Mohammad raised the alarm. Another driver arrived on the scene and after deciding not to wait for the ambulance, took Mr Yasin - a father of two - straight to hospital.

He has since undergone an eight-hour operation to remove fragments of bone from his brain and is described as conscious but confused. His chances of a full recovery are not yet clear.

Amir Hussain said his father had owned the business for 35 years and never had anything like this happen before.

He said: “I still can’t believe it. It’s really upsetting. My sister’s a real wreck now.”

Mr Mohammad, also believed to be a father-of-two, received hospital treatment for injuries to his arm, leg and back but was later discharged.

At the time of the attack, he had been only minutes away from clocking off for the night and going on holiday with his family.

The business was closed for around 12 hours after the attack while forensics officers gathered evidence, and then the family had the grim job of cleaning up.

“The whole base was just covered in blood. There were just puddles,” Munir Hussain said.

The cab company contacted the Telegraph & Argus about the attack, in surprise that the police had not yet appealed for information through the media or released the CCTV.

West Yorkshire Police issued a statement and has now released the CCTV to the media, after being contacted by the T&A.

Detective Inspector Alan Weekes, of Bradford District CID, said: “Police were called to premises in Thornton Road at about 12.02am on Monday to a report of an assault where a weapon was alleged to have been used.

“Officers attended and found a man in his 20s with a serious head injury.

“He was taken to hospital for further treatment for the injury, which is not believed to be life threatening.

“Following inquiries at the scene it was established that a second man had suffered less serious injuries and had attended hospital for treatment.

“The suspect is described as a man in a blue hooded top and it is thought he arrived and left the scene in a white two-door vehicle.

“Inquiries are continuing and anyone who may be able to assist the investigation is asked to contact Bradford District CID, quoting crime reference 13170361730.

“Information can also be reported anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

A spokesman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it received a call at 11.56pm on Sunday but the caller rang back five minutes later and cancelled, saying they were going to hospital themselves.