AN INVESTIGATION is continuing after armed police descended on a sleepy Hampshire village following a Rottweiler attack on a young boy.

Dozens of police and a search helicopter rushed to Otterbourne, near Chandler’s Ford last night after reports that a dog had bitten a child.

A 12-year-old boy was taken to Southampton General Hospital just after 3pm with severe wounds to his arms and legs.

Police dog units, armed officers, police wearing riot gear and a police helicopter all attended the scene in Boyatt Lane, near The Otter pub, and were assisted by the dog’s owners in the desperate search for the dangerous animals which lasted for several hours.

Officers were also going door to door, advising residents to remain indoors and told people to avoid the area.

Hampshire Constabulary confirmed they had captured the dogs just before 7pm last night and had taken them to kennels to be dealt with.

One resident of Boyatt Lane, which backs on to the field the police were searching, said: “I was putting my washing out and I could hear dogs barking and could see they were trying to get next door’s chickens.

“I came up to the house to get a broom and could see some kids walking about down there – earlier they had been stroking them.”

She added: “Then when I went back down all I could hear was screaming, one of the boys was injured and one of them called an ambulance.

“They asked me if they were my dogs and I said no.

“The boy who was injured said they had gone for his left arm and both of his legs - he was in a lot of pain and was shaken up.”

“I went and got some blankets for him and waited until the ambulance came.”

Neighbour Mark Stringer said: “I came home and the neighbour said the dogs had tried to get into our garden and get to the chickens.”

“They had already been and gone by the time I got back.”

The 44-year-old fish farmer added: “It is a bit scary because my kids would usually be playing down in the bottom of the garden if it was light.

One of his neighbours added: “I was bringing the bins round the front and saw a neighbour come running out the house and said we need to call an ambulance, she said a dogs possibly attacked a child at the bottom of the gardens.

“I went and got a garden rake in case they were still there.

“A rapid response unit was already there and I saw the lad had a tooth mark on his left hip and he said he had a pain in his right leg and he couldn’t get up.

“There were a couple of his mates there, one of them said he scared the dogs off.”

According to the latest figures 17 people have died in the UK of dangerous dog-related injuries since 2005. An estimated 200,000 people are bitten in England every year. by an aggressive dog and the annual NHS cost for treating people with these types of injuries is around £3million.

Hospital admissions due to dog bites have also been on the increase in the last five years, with 2012-2013 seeing 6,302 people admitted for severe injuries.