Portsmouth community pub with Royal Navy ties suffers violent incident

Rumours of a man being knifed, though, appear to be wide of the mark at this stage according to police probing the attack at the Park Tavern on Edinburgh Road, near Commercial Road. Tempers flared between two men at 8.54pm on Friday December 30 inside the premises before they came to blows – with one man suffering a hand injury.

Both men fled the pub – which only re-opened in July after months of closure following a refurbishment – with no one arrested yet. Officers launched an investigation after the alarm was raised and have now appealed to the public for more information.

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A police spokeswoman said: ‘We were called to a report that an altercation had taken place at the Park Tavern on Edinburgh Road. An altercation had taken place inside the pub between two men, and those involved subsequently left the premises. One of them was reported to have an injury to his hand.

‘Officers conducted a search of the area and reviewed CCTV at the premises. Further enquiries were made to locate the people involved, however they have not been located at the current time.’

The pub, well known for its longstanding ties to the Royal Navy, was closed for six months as it underwent an extensive refurbishment including a new kitchen before reopening in July with Adam Stevenson as new manager, who subsequently left in December.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting reference 44220522629.