Ref 16071/1GAZETTE & HERALD: A YOUNG woman who was attacked with a bottle in a Chippenham nightspot has hit back saying all clubs should serve drinks in plastic glasses.

Twenty-four-year-old Tina Dennis, of Woodlands Road, Chippenham was hit with a bottle in the women's toilets of Buds 2000 in the early hours of Sunday morning just a few minutes after arriving at the nightclub.

She needed three stitches above her eyebrow and now thinks glass bottles should be banned.

"I think they should have plastic bottles in nightclubs, the amount of people who get hit by them," she said.

"It can work. At the end of the day, it's not going to be any dearer. It's not going to cost them any more, it's just going to save people's faces.

"If she had hit me a bit lower that would have been my eye out."

A Chippenham woman was arrested for the attack on Saturday night but has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

John Drew, manager of Buds 2000, agrees with Miss Dennis' request, but said there is nothing the staff can do unless the drinks are supplied to them in plastic bottles.

"In general it's very hard to patrol, but there are door staff who do go in and out of the toilets to check," he said.

"I believe the situation was dealt with swiftly and professionally and as soon as door staff realised what had happened they withheld the offender until she was arrested."

He said the club uses safety glasses, which are toughened like windscreens, so if they smash there are no sharp edges.

He said: "If the main suppliers are happy to supply drinks in plastic bottles then fantastic, but there's not really a lot club owners can do.

"It's a risk anywhere. If the main brand suppliers come up with plastic then we would welcome it."

Miss Dennis had only been in the club a matter of minutes when she was hit in the face with the bottle. She was looking for her sister and went into the toilets.

She said the next minute a girl, who is known to her, started threatening her and saying "let's have a fight one-on-one".

"Then she hit me with a bottle and that's all I remember," said Miss Dennis. "The bouncers took me into a room because I was bleeding so much."

At the time she didn't want to go to hospital, but said the next day it was hurting so much she did.

Miss Dennis, who has two children aged four and 16 months, used to work in Buds serving behind the bar.

She said: "I didn't realise how bad it was. It shouldn't have happened because you are not allowed to have glasses in the toilets. There is meant to be a bouncer at the bottom of the stairs stopping you taking drinks in there.

"There are fights in there every Saturday so they should definitely have plastic bottles."

Mr Drew said: "We do our very best for the public. We do take their wellbeing very seriously."