A teenager was attacked with a meat cleaver as he walked down a lane with a friend.

Police said the 18-year-old victim was targeted around 10.45am on Sunday in Holytown, North Lanarkshire.

The teenager and his 17-year-old male friend were taking the shortcut between Sunnyside Avenue and Main Street when the driver of a black Volkswagen Golf stopped his car.

He then ran up the lane and hacked the 18 year-old with the meat cleaver.

The suspect ran back to the car, which was parked at the end of the lane on Sunnyside Ave, and sped off.

The injured man was taken by ambulance to Wishaw General Hospital where he was treated for upper body injuries and has since been released.

Detective Constable Lindsey McIntyre said: "Whilst a motive for this attack has still to be established, one line of inquiry is that the injured man was the intended target of the attack, however, even if that is the case, this was a brazen attack in the middle of a Sunday morning."

The suspect is described as white, 5ft 11in, of medium/stocky build, with wiry dark ginger or dark brown hair.

He was wearing a light coloured hooded top, dark tracksuit bottoms and white trainers.

Detective Constable McIntyre said the lane is well used and surrounded by houses and urged anyone who saw the attack or the car to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Wishaw CID via 101, quoting incident number 1771/01/07/18 or 0800 555 111.