A MAN was repeatedly punched and kicked by a gang as they launched bricks and bottles at his Hampshire home and smashed his car window in the middle of the night.

The 44-year-old was brutally set upon twice as he begged the youths to stop vandalising his bungalow in a bid to protect his frail 90-year-old grandmother, who also lives in the property.

At one point the attackers even hurled a brick towards the man and the terrified pensioner while they were standing by their door, though fortunately it struck a wall first.

Frightened neighbours called police after witnessing the onslaught and told officers they feared their own properties would be attacked.

The victim, who had a tooth knocked out and suffered cuts and bruises, said he feared for his own life as well as his grandmother’s, after two of the young attackers entered his home in Trevose Crescent, Chandler’s Ford.

He has asked not to be identified through fear of retaliation.

But he said of the ordeal: “It was a vicious attack. They were all having a go. I must have been hit 40 times and they attacked me twice.

“When a brick came I thought that was the worst thing. It was my nan I was most worried about – she is my responsibility. “I feared for mine and my nan’s lives – they went to the extreme. I still can’t comprehend what they have done.

Trouble unfolded at around 3am yesterday when the man went outside to ask a large group of young people to quieten down.

Some moved on but a small group stayed and, after a second argument with the man, launched an attack on the house, smashing a side window, kicking in the window of the front door, hurling bricks and bottles, shouting abusive threats and smashing the back window of his car.

At one point, he said, they even dragged a hose reel into the house – but it was not turned on.

The man was twice subjected to beatings, once near the property’s boundary wall and once close to his door, and was repeatedly punched in the back of the head and kicked.

Police, who are continuing to investigate the incident, have arrested five 16-year-old boys, four from Eastleigh and one from Colden Common, all on suspicion of criminal damage and assault causing actual bodily harm.