A MAN is recovering after being attacked with a claw hammer.

The 23-year-old was found wandering a Southampton street after being stabbed and repeatedly hit in the neck and leg with the weapon.

Police believe the incident happened at a nearby house.

Ambulance crews were called to Portsmouth Road by friends of the victim shortly after midnight yesterday.

Paramedics took him to Southampton General Hospital but also called in police to investigate.

Detectives believe the man was wounded at a house in nearby Hill Street some time around midnight.

It is thought he had been struck with the weapon at least five times.

Officers arrested five people in connection with the assault.

A 44-year-old woman, two 20- year-old men, a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, all from the Southampton area, were being questioned over the attack on Thursday night.

The victim received stitches to his wounds, which have been described as “not life threatening”.