A GROUP of friends from Devizes who thought they were going for a standard night out in Trowbridge on Saturday found themselves entangled in a mass brawl.

For Tommy Arkle and Nick Smith, it will be a night they will never forget – much like many of the revellers inside Albany Palace, Park Street, owned by JD Wetherspoon.

Mr Arkle, 21, filmed the brawl which began just after 12.30am on his phone and uploaded it to Facebook, where it has been viewed nearly one million times, leading to overnight fame.

The lorry driver, of Bath Road, said: “We switch up where we go out and decided to go to Trowbridge on Saturday as we've been to Albany Palace a few times and it's usually alright.

“When the fight kicked off I decided to get my phone out and film it on Snapchat, which is why it’s only 10 seconds long.

“I uploaded it to Facebook afterwards but had no idea it would get the reaction it did – it’s been crazy.

“On Monday I had loads of journalists getting in touch with me asking if they could use it and interview me, it was pretty surreal.

“I wasn’t scared when I was filming it because I was drunk but when I look back at it it’s pretty mental to think I was there. It’s by far the biggest scrap I’ve ever seen.”

A police officer was struck in the face as he tried to break the fight up and a man from Trowbridge was arrested for being in possession of a knife.

Mr Smith, 22, of New Park Street, Devizes, was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath after being caught up in the fracas.

He said: "I went to the bar to get a drink and got bottled when I turned around.

"I don't remember a lot. My mates say I blacked out for about 15 minutes, it was really bad.

"Apparently I left the pub with blood pouring from my head and everyone was looking at me.

“The paramedics were great so I’ve got to say a big thank you to them; it could have been a lot worse.

“It's pretty unfortunate we chose that night to go out in Trowbridge. I don’t think I’ll be going out for a few months.”