Racegoers ejected from Hexham after fight breaks out

A group of racegoers had to be asked to leave Hexham after fighting broke out at the end of Saturday's meeting.

Photographs of the incident show a group of men exchanging blows on one of the lawns in the latest example of trouble at a Saturday fixture.

There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident, which follows serious outbreaks of violence at Goodwood and Ascot last month.

Hexham chief executive Robert Whitelock said on Saturday night: "I'd call it no more than a minor skirmish, which happened about 15 minutes after the last race.

"The security guards contacted my raceday secretary, who rang me straight away. We closed the bars immediately and got everything wound down.

Fighting breaks out at the end of racing at HexhamCredit: Grossick Racing 07710461723

"I didn't see the incident, but one of my catering managers did and he referred to it as being like handbags rather than a full-blown fight. There were no police required and I have had no reports of anyone being injured."

The meeting drew a crowd of 2,500 and Whitelock said he would take steps to bar the men from future meetings if they could be identified.

He added: "We put extra security on for today because of what happened at Ascot and Goodwood. Fortunately, in the past we haven't had any incidents, but there seems to be a culture going around so we were well prepared.

"The security guys asked them to leave. If there's anybody we can recognise we can ask them not to come back."