Police say they will not tolerate violence in the town after a customer in The Crown pub in Devizes had a pint glass thrown at him causing him to receive hospital treatment.

The assault happened after an argument between two customers who were in the Crown, in New Park Street, in the early hours of Sunday.

Following the incident the two men were escorted from the pub by staff and a friend of the man who was hit by the pint glass phoned the police and officers arrived nine minutes later.

A man was arrested in New Park Street shortly afterwards on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm and taken to Melksham Police Station. He was released on police bail pending further inquiries.

The victim, a 21-year-old man from Devizes, was taken to the Great Western Hospital, Swindon, where he received stitches to the side of his forehead. He was released later the same morning.

Sgt Kate Smith of Devizes Police said: “The victim suffered a cut to his head. It was quite a nasty assault, the injuries inflicted are quite serious.”

She added: “We won’t tolerate violent behaviour and we will take action.”

Jim Lynch, landlord of The Crown, said such incidents were rare in his pub.

He said: “It was a domestic matter and it was over in a matter of seconds. I don’t think other customers noticed anything had happened.

“We don’t tolerate violence at all and we dealt with it very swiftly.

“The trouble was spotted and the people involved were escorted off the premises. We have a very good security team here.

“It’s very rare for us to have an incident like this. It was an isolated incident.”

Mr Lynch said neither person involved would be allowed back to The Crown until the matter had been investigated by the police after which he would review the situation.