POLICE made 60 arrests and seized a number of weapons during a weekend of alcohol-fuelled violence in York.

Officers were called to York railway station after members of the public reported seeing a man with a gun in the toilets at about 1.30pm on Saturday.

Police were also sent to Blossom Street after a person was seen with a “machete”.

Five men were later arrested, one at the station, and four following a hunt with police dogs.

Police sealed off a car park near the Premier Inn and found club-type weapons in a car. They also found a knife, but not a firearm.

Three men from Kent were later released without charge. One witness said he saw armed police officers in Micklegate on Saturday afternoon, although police would not confirm this.

He said: “I was walking down Micklegate at about 3.30pm and a couple of police cars and a van came flying down. Just as I walked past the Travelodge, a guy got dragged out of there. There was lots of police about, but one looked like he had a rubber bullet gun and the other looked like he had a proper gun.”

Violence also flared at The Gallery nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and the Postern Gate in Piccadilly closed early following two fights in the Wetherspoons pub on Saturday night.

Karl Drew, duty manager at the Postern Gate, said: “We had two incidents in the space of half an hour. There was a fight and lots of people got involved. The door staff dealt with it brilliantly.

After the second fight, the pub manager decided to shut up.” The pub opened as normal yesterday.

At about midnight on Saturday, police dealt with a group of people throwing bottles at the back of The Gallery.

An hour later, officers returned because a “large number” of people were fighting. As police arrived, they saw several people fleeing the building. Two people were injured. No one was arrested.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “We can confirm that officers were called to a larger number of incidents than would normally expected. However, due to contingency planning for the anticipated increase due to the visitors attending York and the races, additional officers were available and all incidents were dealt with.”

Police said 29 people were arrested on Friday night, and 31 on Saturday, many for drink-related incidents.

• A 17-year-old youth has been charged with possession of a bladed weapon in public and using threatening language and behaviour and a 25-year-old man was charged with using threatening words and behaviour following incidents on Saturday.

Both are from Sittingbourne in Kent.