Fifteen men in mass brawl in Blackburn street (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Fifteen men in mass brawl in Blackburn street

2:30pm Monday 10th September 2012 in News By Vanessa Cornall, Crime reporter

THREE males were left needing hospital treatment after a 15-man brawl on a Blackburn street.

Police were called to reports of a mass brawl shortly after 4am in the Hollin Bridge Street area of the town on Saturday.

Between 12 and 15 men are thought to have been involved in the violence, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing members of the gang carrying iron bars and sticks in Livesey Branch Road.

A 39-year-old man and two other men were taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital for treatment after paramedics and firefighters from Blackburn fire station assisted with first aid at the scene.

Police sealed off an area bound by Hamilton Street, Exeter Street and Grafton Street and launched an investigation.

Early indications show the violence erupted after a window was smashed at a house in Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, before the fight, police said.

A second window at a house in Grafton Street, Blackburn was also smashed shortly before 4am.

Officers now plan to trawl through CCTV footage from the area where the incident took place.

A Lancashire police spokesman said: “We will not tolerate violence of this nature in Blackburn.

“An investigation has now been launched to find out why such a large number of men were out on the street at such an early time in the morning.

“We have taken positive action in relation to this inquiry by arresting three men who have now been released on police bail.”

A 16-year-old boy from Darwen, a 20 year-old man and a 17-year-old boy from Blackburn have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and released on police bail until November 9 for further inquiries.