DEVIZES police are warning town centre yobs they are to crack down on violence and bad behaviour in the run up to Christmas.

The warning comes after a woman police officer was injured during a fracas in the early hours of Sunday morning while the evening before two men were arrested after they brandished Samurai-type swords around the town.

Inspector Pete Bowerbank, of Devizes police, said: "This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and we will be dealing very positively with such incidents in the future, especially in the run-up to Christmas."

Sunday morning's incident arose when a large group of people were leaving Munnelly's Bar in Southbroom Road at about 2am.

Police were called to a fight that had developed and had arrested one man when another tried to release him. In the melee, which involved five police officers facing a group of up to 30 people, Acting Sergeant Sue Minchin was knocked to the ground.

She suffered a blow to the right side of her head and cuts and bruises to her leg. But she did not go to hospital for treatment and finished her shift.

Police officers from outside the town were called in to maintain a police presence in the area to keep order in the highly charged situation while those arrested were taken to the custody unit at Salisbury.

Friday evening's incident also involved two arrests and the seizure of two ornamental Samurai swords.

Sgt Mark Barrett said: "Although they weren't the real McCoy, they were very sharp."

The weekend violence follows a recent incident when Wiltshire's Special Constable of the Year, Emma Jane Brown, was struck in the face while trying to stop a fight in Northgate Street.

Public concern over the incidents, although they are restricted to late on Friday and Saturday nights, is reflected in recent People's Voice questionnaires received over the last few weeks by Kennet Community Safety Partnership.

Alison Egarr, of Kennet District Council told Monday evening's meeting of the Devizes Community Area Forum that the highest percentage of concerns about community safety, at 56.4 per cent, involved young people hanging around in the street.

Not far behind was anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhood, which concerned 30 per cent of respondents.

Miss Egarr said: "People's Voice is at the moment very limited in scope so we can't claim these results have any statistical validity but it gives a good indication about how people see crime in their area. We don't want to create any negative images about young people.

"Young people often hang around in the street because there is nowhere else for them to go and young people are often victims of violence themselves.

"The fact that so many people have witnessed incidents of anti-social behaviour is reflective of the amount of bad behaviour in our society these days."

Noel Woolrych, chairman of Devizes Crime Prevention Panel, welcomed Inspector Bowerbank's statement and said his stance had the support of the panel.

He added: "We live in a relatively crime-free area but these kind of incidents highlight the pockets of volatility that exist.

"Of course, if there were security video cameras operating in the town centre the police could see what was happening on the street."

Kennet District Council has approved funding of £6,000 for a feasibility study on closed-circuit television throughout the district.