THINGS got hot when two friends went out for a late night curry, magistrates heard.

The two men started an argument which erupted into a fight and ended with them rolling around on the floor, kicking and punching each other in a restaurant full of diners.

Food was scattered, leaving the owner of the Bengal Balti in Market Street, Whitworth, with a bill of £626.90 for cleaning and redecorating the restaurant.

James Noel Connellan, 23, of Clement Court, Rochdale, and Nicholas Frank Ruddy, 30, of Eastgate, Whitworth, both admitted criminal damage when they appeared before Rossendale magistrates.

Solicitor Philip Whittaker described the incident as "a silly fracas" and told the court the two men were still friends.

Ruddy, a self-employed father-of-two, said the incident arose from a stupid argument which became a fight after the two had been drinking.

The magistrates gave both men a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered each to pay £313.45 compensation to the restaurant owner and £50 costs.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.