Lawyers were forced to drop an assault case against a Trowbridge man because police failed to charge him within a six-month time limit.

Martin Alford walked free from Trowbridge Magistrates Court on Thursday despite pleading guilty to assaulting a bouncer at the Chicago Rock Caf just seconds before.

The error was spotted when the magistrates' clerk noticed the gap between the offence and charge dates after prosecution lawyer Rhys Davies had laid out his evidence.

In offences punishable only in magistrates' courts, suspects have to be charged within six months of the crime.

Alford, 42, of Hyde Road, was charged with punching the bouncer and threatening to throw him over the balcony at the Park Road night-spot on October 19 but was not charged by Wiltshire officers until May 1 a week before his first court appearance.

At the May 8 hearing no pleas were entered but the error was overlooked by both prosecuting and defence lawyers wasting more vital court time and public funds.

Prosecutor Rhys Davies contacted the police when the mistake came to light, but told Trowbridge JPs there was no reason why officers took more than six months to charge Alford.

He said: "I cannot see there was any reason why this charge came more than six months after the offence. We shouldn't have gone as far as we have with this case."