A taxi driver viciously beaten by three passengers and mauled by their snarling pit bull terrier is outraged that the suspects have not been brought to book seven months after his ordeal.

Nadeem Gondal, 26, of Springroyd Terrace, Girlington, Bradford, says he was punched, kicked, bitten and thrashed with the dog's chain in a terrifying assault by two men and a woman.

He suffers nightmares and flashbacks after the slavering beast gnawed into his face as he was kicked on the ground.

"I could feel its warm breath on my face. I thought I was going to die," he said.

He is furious that three people arrested and questioned by Keighley police in connection with the incident will not be prosecuted. "These people could strike again with that dog. It is like having an illegal weapon," he said.

"I am very, very angry and disappointed. I feel I've really been done out. Someone older could have been killed."

He had just taken up a full time post with Girlington Cab Hire when he says he was set on just before midnight on Sunday, June 11, last year.

He was called to pick up a fare with "a small dog" from the Second West pub, Cemetery Road, Lidget Green, Bradford.

Two men and a girl got into his cab with what he is certain was a pit bull terrier on a chain. His fares directed him to flats off Shipley Fields Road, Frizinghall.

He says the man then dragged him out by the throat, snatching a rope chain from his neck.

"He started laying into me, punching me in the head. Then the other man ran up and kicked me in the face," he said.

"I heard the girl shout: Get him, boy, get him!' She had let the dog off. It was biting my legs and she began smacking me with its heavy chain," Mr Gondal said.

The three passengers walked off leaving him wrestling the dog on the floor.

"I pinned it down with my arm and heaved myself up. I took it in both hands and swung it two or three times at a lamppost. It squealed and ran off," he said.

Mr Gondal was treated at Bradford Royal Infirmary for dog and human bites, broken ribs, a black eye and extensive bruising. He says his jaw was so badly injured that he had to feed through a straw for a month.

Mr Gondal says his two phones, £200 cash and £155 neck chain were stolen. He says police recovered his watch and wrist chain from the scene and he is still waiting to get them back.

A police spokesman said: "Three people were arrested and questioned in connection with this incident.

"It was thoroughly investigated and a file was passed to the CPS for consideration, and on their advice no further action was taken. We treat violent incidents very seriously and they are always thoroughly investigated."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "This case is one in which West Yorkshire Police were required to seek the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service prior to any charges brought.

"West Yorkshire Police provided the Crown Prosecution Service with evidence gathered and, with proper application of the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the Director of Public Prosecution's guidance on charging, CPS advised that due to a number of evidential issues it was not appropriate to charge those arrested for this matter."

By Jenny Loweth