TWO men were hurt by an attacker wielding a wooden mallet outside a Great Harwood pub.

A 26-year-old was taken to Royal Preston Hospital after being hit over the head outside the Walmesley Arms, in Queen Street, while another man, aged 36, suffered facial injuries when he was punched.

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Police said the three men fell out at around midnight on Sunday, leading to the melee.

DS Eric Halford, from Blackburn CID, said he believed the men were ‘all drinking together’ before going outside to get air.

“Something was said that one person has not liked and taken offence to, and he has assaulted them both,” he said.

“We don’t know who said what until we have spoken to everybody involved. This was a vicious attack which left two victims with injuries, and a police investigation is now under way.”

DI Halford said detectives were in possession of CCTV footage, which captured the attack on film.

He said: “One man was punched and the other had to have staples and stitches. He was hit once by the mallet. Because of the its shape, it sliced his skin open.”

The attacker, a local man described as ‘stocky, with short, black hair’, was yesterday being hunted by detectives, who believe they know his identity.

Walmesley Arms’ landlord, John Yeoman, denied any of the men were drinking inside the premises before the attack.

He said: “I know the lad that allegedly assaulted them.

“The two lads were sat on the front street. They were not drinking in here.

“I was not working last night, I have not watched the CCTV. All I know is that the street was closed off.”

Glass smashed in the ruckus was still lying in the road yesterday, although police tape stretched around the pub to allow crime scene investigators to work had been removed.

Outside lights at the pub also remained lit.

Traders on the busy high street said they were disturbed by news of the assault.

One said: “It’s quite quiet around here normally.

“I noticed the pub kept its lighting on all night but that’s about all I saw. One of our customers was talking about it.”

A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said: “A male in his mid-20s was hit over the head with a mallet. He was taken to Royal Preston Hospital because he was bleeding heavily from his head.”