A mass brawl broke out on the streets when one of Hampshire's most notorious nightclubs finally shut down.

Drunken yobs used bottles and furniture as weapons as the troubled Earth Bar and Club closed in Eastleigh.

Door staff said they feared for their lives as more than 1,000 people crammed in for the last night at the club, which had been ordered to shut by licensing chiefs after a history of trouble.

Dozens of police were drafted into the town centre after the violence flared early yesterday. They arrived to find out-of-control clubbers fighting inside and outside the club in Market Street.

Even after they closed the venue two hours before the usual 3am closing time, the brawls continued through High Street.

Hayley Ford, 45, head doorwoman, who has worked on the doors of nightclubs for 27 years, said it was the worst violence she had seen in Eastleigh.

She said: "It was just absolutely manic. There was just nothing we could do. The capacity of the club is 360 people but even by 11.30pm there was more than 600 inside. By midnight there must have been more than 1,000.

"It was dangerous, it put our lives and the customers' lives at risk if there was a fire or fight. Then a fight broke out at about 12.45pm and literally more than 100 guys were just out of control, scrapping, bottling each other, furniture flying through the air and there was blood everywhere.

"We called the police and they just flew in from all angles. There were police everywhere making countless arrests and they closed the club at 1.10am.

"Ambulance crews were carrying out people with deep cuts to their faces. It was horrific. It has never been like this in Eastleigh, ever. It was like nothing I have ever seen before here."