30 brawl at rugby club dinner

Violence erupted at an annual rugby club dinner when a fight broke out between more than 30 people.

Twenty police officers were needed to deal with the violence at the London Irish amateur rugby club event. One man was arrested, another was taken to hospital.

More than 250 guests were at the event, which began with a free Guinness reception before a ?60-ahead-dinner. Eye witnesses described scenes of carnage.

One, who did not want to be named, said: "During the speeches, out of nowhere, a large group of big guys in tuxedos burst in through the doors at the back of the hall, beating the hell out of each other. They were rolling on the ground. It was just crazy."

An internal investigation is looming and the club is facing a ban from the Tara Copthorne hotel in Kensington.

A spokeswoman for the Met said: "We received a 999 call at

11.13pm on Friday, 13 May. Between 20 and 30 people were involved in the scuffles. A 30-year-old man from SW4 was given a fixed penalty notice for drunken behaviour." One man, believed to be in his twenties, was taken to Chelsea and Westminster hospital, but his condition was not believed to be serious.

Another eyewitness said: "A lot of the younger lads were drunk and when there was trouble they all waded in. There was blood down people's shirts. It was very shocking to witness - very scary even for adult rugby players."

The club is the social and youth arm of the Zurich Premier League side and is based in Sunbury-on-Thames. Jack Costello, London Irish amateur club chairman, said while the incident was "unfortunate and regrettable" he was not prepared to prejudge anything until after a full inquiry.

Club president Gerry Holland said: "Somebody has said 30 to 40 people were involved but I believe it was possibly 10 to 15. When you go to these things there tends to be a bit of banter. Sometimes the banter gets out of hand. Somebody was hit and somebody hit back."