Barmaid injured in 'glass attack'

Kayleigh Edwards "may have suffered nerve damage"

A 20-year-old student has been speaking of her shock after she was attacked by five men during a cigarette break outside a Conwy pub where she works.

Kayleigh Edwards said she was sitting on a wall when she was approached by the men all wearing balaclava masks.

Miss Edwards said she was hit in the face with a glass or bottle by one of the men before they ran off, leaving her needing stitches to a large cut.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to ring them on 0845 607 1002.

"I'm totally in shock and very emotional," said Miss Edwards at her family home in Tyn-y-Groes near Conwy.

I can't believe something like this has happened Doreen Edwards, mother

"I feel this has been a personal attack on me and I think its so cruel that someone could do this to another person," Miss Edwards added.

Miss Edwards' mother Doreen Edwards said she was "horrified" her daughter had been attacked.

"I can't believe something like this has happened. Kayleigh's so quiet and doesn't cause trouble," she said.

Doreen Edwards added she was worried the attack could have left her daughter with permanent nerve damage to her face.

Miss Edwards at first believed she had been punched in the face, and only realised the extent of her injuries afterwards.

Kayleigh Edwards' looks have led her to be used as a model

"I saw blood, but I suffer from nose bleeds anyway and thought I had maybe I'd broken my nose," she said.

"When the ambulance was called and I was taken to hospital however I realised an artery near my nose had been severed and I needed stitches and had to have a blood transfusion," she added.

Miss Edwards is a second year hairdressing student at Coleg Llandrillo near Llandudno.

She wants to set herself up as a mobile hairdresser after college to finance further studies, which will enable her to become a dental nurse.

In the past she had modelled at a Llandudno hair salon where she used to work.

She said the attack had affected her confidence and she was unsure if she would return to her job as a barmaid at the Conwy Vale public house.

"I'm not sure about going back to work, I'm worried they still haven't caught the person who did this," Miss Edwards added.