Police sergeant Ruth Blincow was nursing a black eye and a broken cheek bone today after being beaten up by a suspect.

Speaking at her Sussex home, the 39-year-old officer said she thought her attacker would "smash my skull in".

Surrounded by flowers and get-well cards, Sgt Blincow was in pain and can only nibble at food.

She said: "I now know what the term punched senseless means."

Sgt Blincow was challenging a suspect after reports of a man trying car doors in Bolney Avenue, Peacehaven, at 5pm on Sunday.

The suspect was unco-operative and Sgt Blincow was radioing for assistance when he "went berserk".

"He punched me straight in the mouth, knocking me backwards."

Sgt Blincow was repeatedly punched, sending her on to the bonnet of a parked car.

A windscreen wiper snapped off as she slid to the ground. She managed to radio a "ten-20" urgent help message as the punches rained in.

The man fled when a member of the public and other officers intervened.

Two women residents in the street brought her ice packs for her face until an ambulance arrived.

Miss Blincow was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, and later allowed home.

She said: "The man who helped me didn't think the offender was going to stop punching me. I want to thank him and everyone else who helped me."

Fully trained in the use of a police baton, Sgt Blincow said she had no chance to draw it: "It happened so quickly."

Sgt Blincow, who has served with Sussex Police for 17 years and is currently stationed at Lewes, is off work and may have to undergo surgery to repair her cheek bone.

But she said: "The way I feel at the moment, it won't stop me continuing as a police officer."

A man was arrested later on Sunday and was expected to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.