Image caption,

Siva Kumar said dog bites are one of the most common injuries they see at their trauma clinic and cases have increased since the pandemic

By Ben Moore, Alex Bish & Lauren Woodhead

BBC South East Investigation Team

Surgeons at a plastic surgery unit in West Sussex say they are treating double the number of dog-attack victims since before the pandemic.

The number of admissions at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead rose from 116 in 2019 to 237 in 2022.

Siva Kumar, a consultant surgeon, said he had seen an increase in the number of bites as dog ownership rose during the pandemic.

The government says it is working with police to prevent attacks.

This article contains pictures and descriptions of dogs bites that some readers may find upsetting.

Mr Kumar, whose trauma clinics treat patients from Kent, Surrey and Sussex, told BBC South East the specialist centre would often see the most severe cases.

He said: "We would get at least one, if not two patients that are dog bites every day. We have seen a doubling in the number of patients that have come through and in the last year we've seen double the number of children that have had dog bites.