A MAN suffered serious injuries to his head after being attacked with a bladed weapon in Boscombe.

The incident near the Crescent sparked a huge police operation with a number of armed response officers called to the scene.

The alarm was raised just before 5pm on Saturday and the assault took place at a property in Aylesbury Road.

Speculation mounted yesterday among local residents that the incident was drug related.

The 31-year-old victim was taken to Poole Hospital where he continues to be treated for non life-threatening wounds.

One man was arrested and is being questioned by CID officers.

Local residents and shoppers claimed they had heard the man was attacked with a machete or a similar weapon.

However Inspector Ian Jarred said: “The drugs squad was not called to this incident, only the firearms officers were called. No weapon has been found yet.”

One local who did not wish to be named, said: “I saw a group of five or six guys arguing outside the house before 5pm. Once I came back from the Iceland store at 5.30pm, there were about 10 police cars, but that’s hardly unusual for Boscombe.”

Mehmet Yaik, right, 29, from Hamilton Road said: “Suddenly there were police everywhere.

“It was very dramatic.

“It seems like we see this kind of thing every day though.”

Inspector Jarred, far right, said the injured party is the only eye-witness to come forward so far.

Ward councillor Chris Wakefield told the Daily Echo that despite community efforts to improve the area there were still people intent on breaking the law.

“We don’t know the circumstances of this incident yet, but we are aware that there is an issue with drugs, with unscrupulous people coming down from London,” he said.

“But the work the community has undertaken over the last six years has made massive in-roads into the problems of supply and demand, and I know the police have some major operations plan-ned.

“It was all doom and gloom but now we are seeing changes.”

Cllr Jane Kelly added: “It is terrible that someone has been injured and I wish them well.

“We have been hearing police statistics lately that say crime is down across all areas of Boscombe, and I think this is an isolated incident.

“These kind of incidents increasingly stand out as unusual.”

A neighbour added: “We don’t normally have this kind of thing on this road, but it is Boscombe.”