FRANK BRUNO was yesterday admitted to a psychiatric hospital on doctors’ orders after the serious mental illness which has plagued him in recent months led to concerns for his safety.

The former heavyweight world champion was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and was taken to a secure hospital ward following a three-hour stand-off with police at his Essex mansion. His detention is believed to have been triggered by his failure to keep an appointment with his psychiatrist last Friday.

Friends have become increasingly concerned for his health, saying that he is suffering from manic depression and has recently had a breakdown.

In recent weeks his behaviour has become increasingly bizarre. There are reports he has been seen dancing naked in the grounds of his eightbedroom mansion, as well as talking to himself. The 41-year-old is also said to have been suffering from delusions that he is the diminutive champion jockey Frankie Dettori and of having accused a tailor fitting him for a pantomime costume of attempting to place him in a straitjacket. Concern for his welfare intensified last week when he was seen sleeping in his back garden in the boxing ring in which he won the World Boxing Council world championship by defeating Oliver McCall in 1985.

Boxing promoter Frank Warren said: “I have known Frank for 20 years, and have been concerned by his recent behaviour. I’ve been told he has had a breakdown and is suffering from manic depression, but he won't accept it. I tried to persuade him to get medical help.”

Bruno has become more famous for his booming laugh than his right hook. His double act with commentator Harry Carpenter endeared him to the British public. In his prime during the late eighties and early nineties, Bruno’s catchphrase, “know what I mean, ‘Arry”, followed by his deep laugh, was mimicked across the country.

After retiring from boxing in August 1996 following a second defeat by Mike Tyson he was warned that another fight could leave him blind in his right eye.

The first indication of possible mental health problems emerged in 1997 when his wife gained a court order banning Bruno from “assaulting and molesting” her. She moved out with their three children and two years ago was awarded a £5 million divorce settlement.

Reg Gutteridge, a boxing commentator, said: “He doesn’t want to be yesterday’s man. He’s admitted he’s suffering from depression. I think a lot of it is down to him leaving the ring and him not being the big man anymore in any sense that he has been.”

In July, Bruno checked himself into the private Priory clinic in Essex to be treated for depression. He later said: “I went to the Priory because I couldn’t understand how I could lose so much money.”

Yesterday afternoon paramedics arrived at his mansion in Standon Massey, near Brentwood. They called for police assistance and two uniformed officers arrived to persude Bruno to go for treatment at a specialist unit run by the northeast London mental health trust.

As a person with a mental illness Bruno can be detained in hospital without his consent under the Mental Health Act 1983 after agreement on “sectioning” is reached between two doctors and an approved social worker.

Barry McGuigan, a former boxer, told ITV News: “A lot of fighters need counselling when their careers are over. I know that he needed counselling, I know he’s been having counselling, but it’s almost happened too late for him.”

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