A BOY aged ten was stabbed repeatedly after being abducted at knifepoint as he played with pals in a Hampshire wood.

Luke Todd was today recovering from his serious injuries in hospital after the terrifying attack in Lordswood, Southampton.

The youngster was playing with two friends in woodland behind Warbler Close when they were approached by a man at about 5.15pm.

His friends managed to escape unharmed by running away but Luke was marched at knifepoint to a nearby house and stabbed with a 6in blade in the chest several times outside the property.

The attack took place as police officers, who had been called in by concerned neighbours, arrived at the scene.

Luke was taken by ambulance to Southampton General Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

Police arrested a 23-year-old man from Fareham following the incident and he was today continuing to help with their inquiries.

One neighbour said: "I drove up my driveway after coming home from work and my nipper said that a house had been smashed up and there was a man with a knife.

"I phoned the police straight away. A lot of kids came out of the woods and shouted for help because there was a man with a knife there and I told them to get home.

"I told my son to shut the windows and the doors. The man was walking down towards the house with a young kid. He had the knife to his throat.

"I was outside the house and tried to calm him down and talk to him. He said he would kill him if I went near him. I was waiting for the police and kept saying calm down. The kid was in such a frightened state.

"The man kept going in and out of the house with the kid and knife still at his throat.

"Two policemen turned up at the driveway and as he saw the police he started the frenzied attack. He stabbed him four times.

"The police then rushed at him and grabbed him and used spray. They then handcuffed him and while the man was on the floor I came straight in and phoned an ambulance and grabbed a towel.

"I came back out and gave the towel to the policemen who were putting pressure on the wounds trying to stop the bleeding. The kid was just crying and very frightened - he was in shock.

"There was blood everywhere. An ambulance then turned up and loads more police.''

Officers sealed off the area following the attack for around six hours to investigate if anyone else had been hurt or abducted.

Sniffer dogs and up to a dozen officers scoured the woodland and conducted a torchlight search of a nearby green but did not find anything. The search was called off shortly after 11pm.

Shocked residents gathered at the end of Warbler Close, a cul-de-sac, which was cordoned off by police.

Andrew Gaete, of Warbler Close, spoke of the terrifying moment he was confronted by the knifeman just minutes before the boy was abducted and stabbed.

The 21-year-old trainee accountant was driving home into the estate just after 5pm when he was forced to stop his car by a man in the road.

He told the Daily Echo: "I turned left into Sandpiper Road and just got past Puffin Close. There was a man sat on the kerb and he got up and walked into the middle of the road.

"He just stood in the middle of the road and I had to stop. At that point he pulled out a knife.

"I wound my window up and locked the door. He shouted at me several times to get out of the car.

"He hit the windscreen a couple of times with his elbow and knife and shouted quite a few times to get out of the car.

"He tried to get to the driver's door so I just put my foot down and accelerated away.

"I went to my girlfriend's auntie just down the road and contacted the police. I drove back and heard a boy had been stabbed."

Residents on the estate told of their shock of the stabbing of their paper boy last night. One man, who did not want to be named, reported seeing a brown handled knife about six inches long on the floor and covered in blood as people stood around Luke in the driveway trying to help him.

He said: "He was a nice kid. He would never put your paper through the letter box but would ring the doorbell instead and hand it to you."

Craig Konczak, 18, of nearby Goldcrest Gardens said: "He's just a normal little kid. He's really into skateboarding.."

Simon King, 36, of Melville Close, said: "I was waiting just out of the front of the house for my daughters to come in after playing outside.

"Two boys ran past and one of them was crying. I think I heard one of them say, 'He has got my brother'.

"It's pretty quiet around here normally you never get anything much happening."

Coxford councillor and Southampton sheriff Harry Mitchell was shocked at the incident.

"We never really have any bother there," he said.

"It's quite a quiet area, It's shocking to hear of something like this."

Det Sgt Mark Good is leading the investigation, codenamed Operation Dread-nought. He said: "He - the child - suffered multiple stab wounds but is getting better."

Anyone with any information or who may have witnessed the attack should contact Hampshire police on 0845 045 4545 or the anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111.