ONE man was jailed and six more narrowly escaped prison for Bank Holiday weekend pub violence that was "like a fight in a Wild West saloon".

Furniture flew and 30 glasses were broken after landlady Wendy Hall told the seven "loutish" friends to leave, York Crown Court heard.

Jeremy Hill-Baker, prosecuting, said the group was being loud. Six of them had spent the afternoon drinking before arriving in the Cottage Inn, Haxby, York, on a Sunday afternoon last May. The seventh joined them shortly before the violence.

"For the bar staff and the few customers present, the whole incident must have been quite terrifying," said Judge David Bentley QC. "The scene must have been like a fight in a Wild West saloon.

"The public are sick and tired of this kind of drunken loutish behaviour."

He handed down a 12-month jail term to Alan Brown, 23, of Chestnut Grove, New Earswick, who admitted affray.

James Christopher Stevenson, 24, of Morritt Close, Muncaster; Mark Richard Medd, 22, of Brecksfield, Skelton; Darren David Green, 21, of Goland Cottages, Usher Lane, Haxby; Paul Daniel Wing, 21, of Calf Close, Haxby; Paul James Croft, 22, of West Nooks, Haxby and Barry Sheader, 21, of Westfield Place, Wigginton, were ordered to carry out 200 hours' community punishment each and pay £60 compensation. Jobless Medd must also pay £40 costs, the rest will pay £220 costs. The judge said they had escaped jail by the "skin of their teeth" after they admitted a public order offence.

He banned all seven from the Cottage Inn for two years.

Mr Hill-Baker said the violence started when Brown had an altercation with customer John Hannah and punched him in the eye. Brown's six friends then escalated the situation.

For Brown, David Bradshaw said he needed to accept that he had a problem with drinking and get medical treatment.

Barristers for the other six said they apologised for their actions. Their clients had not gone out that day looking for trouble or had not drunk much. Some had only been in the pub's toilets during part of the trouble and had stopped or moderated their drinking since.

Updated: 12:55 Saturday, January 18, 2003