A GRANDMOTHER is calling for owners who bring their pets into the town centre to be more responsible after she was bitten by a dog.

Margaret Jones, who is partially sighted and unsteady on her feet, was waiting in the street for her husband when the dog attacked her.

Mrs Jones, aged 79, was standing next to the dog as it waited with its owner at a cash machine in Deansgate.

"I just said 'hello doggy' as I love dogs and next minute it had grabbed my cardigan.

"As I pulled my cardigan out of its mouth it bit me on my arm," explained Mrs Jones who lives with husband Alan, aged 80, in Little Lever.

Mrs Jones, dripping with blood from the wound, was then subjected to a torrent of abuse from the dog's owner — who had the dog on a lead — said Mrs Jones.

Mrs Jones said she was visibly shaken and was crying.

A shopper who witnessed the incident on Tuesday afternoon came to help Mrs Jones and took her to the nearby Poundstretchers store in Back Knowsley Street where Mr Jones was shopping.

"The staff there were marvellous. They looked after me really well and treated my wound," said Mrs Jones.

She later received medical treatment at Royal Bolton Hospital, including antibiotics, for the bite.

Now Mrs Jones, who has a 14-year-old cocker spaniel, is calling for dog owners to take responsibility for their animals.

She said: "They should not be bringing them into town on hot days anyway. I would never do that with my dog.

"If they are likely to bite they should wear a muzzle."

She described the dog as a "Staffordshire bull terrier" type and added that her daughter had a dog of the same breed which was gentle.

"It's not the dogs that are the problem it is the owners," she said.