A crazed man wielding an iron pipe battered a Policeman in a sickening assault near a nursery school.

Witnesses say the attacker exploded like a "time bomb'' and beat the officer repeatedly about the head.

The constable needed hospital treatment after yesterday's attack near Southampton Early Learning Centre.

A 36-year-old Sandys man is now in custody helping Police with inquiries.

Police flooded the area on Middle Road, Southampton, near Rose Hill Road and the Port Royal Fire Station, shortly after the attack at about 10 a.m. They responded to a frantic call for help by the officer and witnesses.

The Policeman -- released from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital late yesterday -- was investigating a complaint of a man causing a disturbance.

Witnesses said there had been a short conversation before the Policeman was struck by the man at least three times about the head.

Mrs. Marion Lister -- who works at the Southampton Early Learning Centre -- said her colleague Lorna Williams saw the attack.

She said: "The man backed up and next thing Lorna knew the man was hitting him around the head. She told me to call 911 and that there was a Policeman on the ground.'' Mrs. Lister said after calling the emergency number she went outside and told the attacker to stop hitting the Policeman.

She added none of the children in the nursery saw the incident and some who had been on a walk outside only saw Police from a distance.

"Police were there very quickly,'' she added. "The man was very disturbed.

It took six of them to control him. They had to be rough with him. He was puffed up.'' Mrs. Lister said the man seemed to have been upset that another man was painting a roof. She added: "We have to stop hiding this and face it that we have a problem. It is time for a change. The young people are crying out for help.'' For months the man had been sitting on a nearby wall and had caused some concern for neighbours.

Mrs. Lister said paramedics at the nearby fire station and an off-duty nurse, Ann Marie Emery, "did an excellent job''.

She added: "He was like a time bomb. It is good somebody saw the incident and it could be stopped quickly.'' The man is expected to appear in court in due course.

POLICEMAN POL