Pub landlord Steve Cole and his wife Penny hid in the cellar after a customer ran amok with a machete.

The man lashed out and hacked at pieces of furniture with the long-bladed weapon in The Kingfisher, in Hungerdown Lane, Chippenham, last Wednesday evening.

It is believed he had been drinking in the pub with a group of friends earlier.

He returned with what was described as a khukuri – a 16 to 18in machete-style weapon used by Gurkhas – and demanded drinks from Mr Cole.

Customers fled the premises and the landlord and his wife retreated to the cellar.

Mr Cole, 41, said: “We locked ourselves down there to get out of the way. We called the police and we were also on the phone to the lads outside, who were telling us what was going on.

“We were in the cellar, and then went through another door to the garage, so we had no idea what was going on.

“We were sort of blind down there, and they were telling us on the phone when it was safe to come out.”

“I understand it wasn’t us he was after, but it was quite worrying at the time.”

One of the regulars said: “It was quite a big blade and it was definitely sharpened, because when he hacked at one of the chairs he had to really heave it out.

“He had been there with a group of people who had all had quite a bit to drink, and an argument broke out between two of them – then they left.

“About ten minutes later he came back in with this knife but none of the others was there – we couldn’t work out why he had come back.”

Within minutes of arriving at the scene, police officers arrested a man outside the pub. The drama unfolded just hours after police seized a number of weapons, including Samurai swords and a bow and arrow, during a drugs raid in Chippenham.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “There was an initial report of a male walking along the street with a knife, and we responded quickly to this call. A Taser-trained officer was deployed to the scene due to the report of a knife.”

* A 27-year-old Chippenham man has been charged with affray, criminal damage, possession of a bladed article and theft.