AN OFF-duty firefighter was injured after being attacked by a gang of yobs on his way home from work.

The 38-year-old from Littleborough was cycling along Entwisle Road, Wardleworth, just after 6pm last Wednesday when he was confronted by around 15 Asian teenagers.

They started chanting racial abuse before one of the thugs hurled a brick at his head.

Remarkably the victim escaped with minor injuries thanks to his cycle helmet.

He told the Observer: "I felt scared and stunned, but I quickly realised that I’d been very lucky.

"If you get hit in the head you don’t really know what’s happening."

The fireman, who asked not to be named, said he was shocked by the racial abuse and now hopes that community groups will work with mosques in Rochdale to promote tolerance.

He added: "I decided to talk about what happened to me because I think it’s important to raise awareness of these incidents.

"Hopefully it will start a bit of debate and maybe the imams will speak to the youths to reinforce the message that it is not acceptable to behave like this."

His wife said their family was shaken up by the incident and she appealed for witnesses to come forward.

She added: "It was a horrible thing to happen but it could have been a lot worse.

"Fortunately he was wearing a helmet so that stopped him from being seriously injured and somehow he managed to stay on his bike and cycle away from them."

Police confirmed that the incident was being treated as racially-motivated and appealed for witnesses.

Anyone with information should contact Rochdale CID on 0161 856 8552 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.