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Bar workers on Mathew Street told of a 'nastier' than normal atmosphere and a lack of police presence on the night a man suffered a serious head injury.

Police descended on the busy city centre street just after 8pm yesterday to reports of violence between customers and doormen.

Merseyside Police have since released a statement disputing claims of inadequate police.

But Steve White, the night manager at Remeniss Bar where the injured man was drinking, was one of a number of people to comment on the police presence.

He said: “It was awful because there weren’t any police. It’s just been getting worse in general because of the lack of police.

“With this being a tourist area you’re always going to see more of it than Concert Square. They’re always going to be drinking that little bit more.”

Bar workers on Mathew Street said the area was far busier than usual as customers spilled in to the city centre after the Merseyside Derby and the cage fighting event held at the ECHO Arena.

One barman at the Cavern said the atmosphere was nastier than he had witnessed before.

He said: “Customers and people who come here every weekend felt it was different to usual.

“It just escalated because everyone was a bit pumped up. We had people in here drinking from 11.30 in the morning, It just puts a real downer on things.”

Staff who spoke to the ECHO said the Merseyside Derby means it is likely to be be a busier day on Mathew Street.

Daniel Bryant, a barman in Smokie Mo’s,said: “It’s always like that on derby day. There was the fight in the Echo Arena as well.

“It’s always quite aggressive when there’s a fight. If people are drinking that much and they watch the fight, then they want to have a fight."

He added: “What I did notice was that normally there’s police but there were no police around at the time when the assault happened.

“If they expect it on Derby day then why are there no vans? It’s just a safety thing - if you expect everyone coming down to drink you should at least have one van. It’s the presence that stops people kicking off.”

A man was arrested last night after the 31-year-old was left with a “serious head injury”.

He was taken to the Royal Liverpool hospital where his condition was described as stable.

A 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and is being interviewed by detectives.

A second man, 28, was also arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.

A stretch of the street was cordoned off yesterday to allow crime scene investigators to carry out forensic examinations.

According to eyewitnesses a man lashed out at a doorman as he was being escorted away after being thrown out of Remeniss bar in Temple Court.

It is alleged another doorman then struck the customer who fell to the ground and was knocked unconscious.

Chief Inspector Dave Westby said: "Suggestions that there wasn't an appropriate police presence in city centre last night (Saturday) are completely unfounded.

"Every weekend Merseyside Police puts a policing plan in place for the night time economy and the number of officers in the city centre last night was double the number of an average weekend.

"A large number of officers, who were patrolling the city centre, were on the scene within minutes and this can be seen in photographs provided to the Echo by members of the public.



"This incident followed an argument between a group of men, who were on a stag night, and door staff at one of the premises on Mathew Street, and resulted in one man received a serious head injury and another man receiving a small cut to his head.



"As soon as we received reports of the incident officers were deployed immediately and were on the scene within minutes, they quickly dealt with the situation and within 25 minutes had resolved the situation and arrested one man on suspicion of assault and another for being drunk and disorderly."



Chief Inspector Westby said: “Any area, such as Liverpool city centre, which has a high volume of licensed premises will attract some issues in relation to crime and disorder. However, given the size of the night time economy in Liverpool the number of incidents are low.



“Thankfully Liverpool city centre has continued, year on year, to be awarded with Purple Flag status and is consistently recognised as one of the safest cities in the UK.



“The majority of clubs and pubs in the city centre work closely with the force and manage their venues in a responsible way, contributing greatly to maintaining the city’s reputation as a great place to visit.



“We will continue to work hard with our partners to ensure the city remains a safe place, with a good reputation which encourages people to continue to enjoy what the city has to offer. Our primary aim is to protect the public and ensure they have a night out in a safe environment.”