The child who is said to be a nine-year old little boy  is related to the dog owner’s partner,  they were flown to a London hospital after being bitten several times.

Kent Police, along with armed officers, were called to Orchard Flats on Cumberland Avenue in Canterbury shortly before 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Paramedics treated the nine-year-old boy at the scene before airlifting him to a hospital in London. The little boy, who is said to be in critical condition, has since been transferred to a second specialist hospital, according to the distraught auntie, who witnessed the incident and attempted to pull the dog away from the child.

The arrested man is the partner of the woman whose family member was injured.

Officers seized the dog, according to the woman, and her partner was arrested because he was in charge of the dog. We had been talking about it for a walk and had planned to take it on. I believe the dog is a french bull bullmastiff.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: “Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.