A lawyer attacked a fashion designer during a show at the Royal Opera House after a row over seating, a court has heard.

Matthew Feargrieve, 42, was accused at Westminster Magistrates Court of repeatedly punching Ulrich Engler on the shoulder in the performance of Wagner's Siegfried at the world famous Covent Garden venue.

It is understood the dispute began because Mr Engler allegedly grabbed a coat belonging to Mr Feargrieve's wife from an empty seat and threw it on her lap.

Mr Feargrieve and his wife were in their assigned seats but the complainant's case is that he wanted to sit in the one occupied by the coat. The alleged incident happened on October 7 last year. The performance is part of Wagner's mammoth 'Ring Cycle' of four linked operas.

Sending the case for a summary trial, magistrate Colin Bateman-Jones said: "We have made a petition for a day and a half on the assumptions that it seems like an awful lot of witnesses."

Mr Feargrieve, of Barnes, southwest London, denies assault by beating.

He will face trial on May 9 at City of London Magistrates Court.