POLICE were called to a party at the Patterns Store pub in Churchward after family tensions boiled over into a large fight.

They arrived in the early hours of the morning, not long after it happened , to see the host Michael Deller hit another man, a court heard. Prosecutor Rob Welling told Swindon Magistrates Court yesterday that officers had not seen the build up of tension before the incident that escalated into a brawl.

Deller, who had no previous convictions, was originally charged with common assault but the 59-year-old admitted behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace and agreed to be bound over.

His solicitor Tony Novogrodski described how Deller and his wife had organised a party for their daughter at the pub in Penzance Drive. The evening had gone fairly well until his son-in-law, who had been drinking, started being abusive to the staff.

He said Deller, who suffered a heart attack 10 years ago and has been medically retired since 1998, did not want trouble and had asked his son-in-law to leave, but was pushed and verbally abused. The incident then spilled out of the pub. The defendant apologised for what had happened, said Mr Novogrodski, who explained that if the original charge had stood he would have claimed self-defence.

Magistrates bound Deller, who lives in Milbourne, Malmesbury, over in the sum of £100 for a year.