Shocked members of the public contacted police yesterday afternoon when they saw the man, with a blood-soaked face and clothes, staggering through the Cathedral Close.

However, he carried on walking and the emergency services did not catch up with him until he reached Red Lion Street, near the former Debenhams store.

Emergency services in Red Lion Street, Norwich, following the attack (Image: Newsquest)

Here, he was seen by paramedics and police, who launched an investigation.

They learned the man, in his early 20s, had actually been attacked with a hatchet axe hours earlier and almost two miles away near Pilling........

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