Seven arrests following town carnival

1:22pm Thursday 17th July 2008

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SEVEN teenagers were arrested in Melksham as trouble marred the carnival celebrations at the weekend.

Police made the arrests for public order offences after drunken scuffles broke out in the Bath Road area of the town during Saturday evening.

One local woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It was a mixture of what looked like teenagers and older people and they were all scrapping in the street and there were also people milling around all over the place.

"I called the police but were told they were already on their way. "To be fair to them they were brilliant, they must have dispersed everyone in about 15 minutes."

Sergeant Melanie Rolph, of Melksham police, said altercations were kept to a minimum as she kept on extra officers during the evening to make sure trouble didn't escalate.

However, she said there were two outbreaks of trouble at around 8.30pm and 11pm after festivities had wrapped up for the night. It is believed some of the trouble stemmed from rivalries between residents from Melksham and visitors from Chippenham or Bristol.

• For the full story see tomorrow's Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News