A £2,500 reward has been offered to track down the masked thugs who stabbed a 21-year-old driver with a screwdriver and kicked him unconscious before stealing his £27,000 car.

As Matt Smith recovered from his ordeal, he told how his shouts for help were ignored by three passers-by who refused to come to his aid in Park Lane, Whitefield.

Now in the aftermath of the weekend attack, which a senior police officer has described as "savage", the victim's father has offered the reward for information leading to the conviction of the three car thieves.

Matt, a trainee architect, was stabbed several times on the body with a screwdriver and sustained a serious injury to his nose in the frenzied attack. The car-jackers escaped with his Volkswagen Golf GTI 06 series vehicle which he had bought just four weeks ago. Matt, who lives in Whitefield, was taken by ambulance to Fairfield Hospital where he had 22 stitches inserted into his wounds.

The drama began at 10.45pm on Sunday when he parked his car in Park Lane to visit a friend.

Matt said: "As I approached the house, I heard the screech of a black Honda Civic car and a man got out. I never thought anything more about it.

"Seconds later, I heard a rustle in the bushes beside me. I saw a man wearing a balaclava and dressed all in black holding a screwdriver in his right hand which was above his head. He said to me give me your keys' but I told him ''no, you're not having them'."

When Matt attempted to escape from the thug, he tripped and fell on to his back.

"I was then stabbed in my left arm with the screwdriver. It penetrated about two to three inches and I had to pull it out."

The masked man was joined by an accomplice and Matt pushed away his attackers before sprinting 50 yards in a bid to escape He added: "The Honda car suddenly reversed at speed as if they were going to knock me down. At this point, I saw three middle-aged men in the street. I asked them for help and told them these guys were trying to kill me. But they ignored me and didn't do anything."

Seconds later, three thugs caught up with Matt who was stabbed in both legs, his back and buttocks.

"They also put the boot in," said Matt. "I had the car keys in my hand and I refused on several occasions to hand them over.

"One of the guys kept on jumping on my hand until I was forced to release the keys. They then kicked me unconscious. Two of them drove away in my car."

The third robber got back into the Civic, driven by a fourth man, which sped away.

Matt continued: "In hospital, I had 12 stitches in my legs, eight in my nose and two in my arm."

His angry dad, Mr David Smith, said: "This happened in what I believed was a respectable neighbourhood. To all intents and purposes this was a sustained attack which lasted several minutes. It was virtually attempted murder.

"To inflict such damage on someone is completely unacceptable and the sooner that those responsible are locked up, the better."

All three robbers wore black balaclavas, black hooded tops and black bottoms. Two were white. One was 6ft 2ins tall and another 5ft 6ins.

Police are anxious to talk to the driver of a BMW which was in Park Lane at the time of the car-jacking and who may have the registration number of the robbers' getaway vehicle.

Commenting on the incident, Detective Sergeant Steve Earnshaw, of Bury CID, said: "This was a savage attack which went on for a good few minutes. But it could have been much worse."

Anyone with information is asked to ring Det Sgt Earnshaw on 856 4647 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 088 555 111.