New Year celebrations marred by town centre brawls (From Banbury Cake)

New Year celebrations marred by town centre brawls

4:32pm Tuesday 1st January 2013 in News By Jamie Brooks, Contact me on 01865 425422

NEW YEAR revellers were involved in two town centre brawls on the streets of Oxfordshire last night.

The two major incidents took place in Faringdon and Witney.

Police were called to Faringdon town centre at about 1.20am following reports of 20 to 30 people fighting.

One man was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital. His condition is unknown.

Four people were arrested following a fight in Witney town centre at 12.30pm.

Officers had to intervene and deploy their pepper spray to break up the fight.

Chief Superintendent Andy Tandem said: “They were the two most significant incidents of the night.

“They were in the more rural parts of the county so it took us longer to get there than it would have done in the centre of Oxford “It was quite busy in the centre of Oxford but not as busy as it has been in recent years.

“I’m not sure whether that’s to do with the recession and people saving money by going to house parties instead.”

As of 9am yesterday there were 31 people in police custody across the county.

These were for a range of alleged offences, from drunkeness and disorderly conduct to assault.

The police helicopter also searched over central Oxford at around 12.30pm after reports of a man walking on the railway line.

A man was later arrested.

Mr Tandem added: “The number of arrests doesn’t reflect the amount of work the police were doing.

“We were also giving out cautions, warning people and advising them to leave the area.”

Anyone with information on any of the incidents should call police on 101.