Dog attack injures boy, 4,

His father and an off-duty policeman, who rushed to help, were also injured as they desperately tried to pull the animal off the boy.

The child was attacked by the animal, thought to be a Rhodesian Ridgeback, outside a house in Holywell, north Wales, at 7.20pm on Tuesday.

A neighbour who witnessed the attack said the child was walking along a pavement when the dog came out of a house and pounced on him.

The witness, who did not want to be named, said a woman she believed was the dog's owner jumped on top of the animal and tried to wrestle it off the small child. She said the dog appeared to be a Rhodesian Ridgeback and was called Bruno.

The neighbour said: "A man was screaming at the woman to get the dog off the child. She had jumped on top of it and was trying to grab its collar to pull it off. It didn't seem to be on a lead.

"Somehow they got the dog off and the man picked the boy up in his arms and ran up the hill with him. The child seemed to be injured. As they were walking away, the dog went for them again but the man somehow managed to escape. It was awful."

There was no answer at the large detached home where neighbours said the dog came from.

It is understood that the off-duty police officer, PC Tony Jones, who lives nearby ran to help and was also attacked. At his home, PC Jones, 38, who has a bandaged left hand, confirmed the injured boy was taken to his house and an ambulance was called but said he was unable to discuss the incident further.

A spokeswoman for North Wales Police said the child, who has not been named, was taken to Dlan Clwyd Hospital, in Bodelwyddan, by ambulance with serious but not life threatening injuries to his upper body. His father and PC Jones were also treated in hospital for minor injuries. The dog was destroyed by a vet and the incident is under investigation by police. Preliminary enquires suggested the dog was not of a breed banned under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.