A violent brawl at a Conservative club in Manchester left four men in hospital after fighting erupted during a combined birthday party and funeral event.
The incident occurred at Winston Conservative Club in Baguley on November 4, where police responded to reports of men fighting and "stamping on people's heads".
The serious altercation has prompted Manchester Council to order stricter security measures at the Hall Lane venue, including mandatory security guards for larger events.
According to evidence presented to the council, the violence began inside the club where extensive damage was caused to the toilets, leading to people being ejected from the premises.
Winston Conservative Club in Baguley
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The situation escalated outside when the owner's daughter was punched, prompting bystanders to intervene.
The resulting larger-scale fight left four men hospitalised with severe injuries, including a broken ankle, a fractured cheek and a bleed to the brain.
PC Alan Isherwood, in his report to the council, called for enhanced security measures at the venue.
He recommended that trained security guards should be present at events with more than 40 people, alongside improved CCTV coverage.
"Surely having someone employed who's trained to deal with conflict resolution and defence tactics would be better if this horrible situation arose again, instead of your daughter or any other member of staff having to place themselves in danger?" PC Isherwood told the council.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:The club opposed the strict security measures through their spokesperson Colette Renton, who argued they would be financially damaging.
Renton told the council that hiring security guards at £25 per hour would be "prohibitively expensive" for the venue.
"To add this to the conditions of the club because of one night in the history of the club - to have such a prohibitively expensive condition - is setting them up to fail," she said.
She also described the incident as a "very unfortunate freak incident" that no venue could have prevented.
Following deliberation, councillors reached a compromise on the security requirements.
The final decision mandates that Winston Conservative Club must hire security guards only for events exceeding 60 people, rather than the initially proposed 40-person threshold.
Additional measures ordered by the council include providing enhanced security training to staff members.
The venue must also ensure all public areas are covered by CCTV surveillance systems.
