TWO policemen crashed through the front window of a wine bar while struggling to arrest a man.

The two officers were investigating an attack on a manager at a different restaurant when they were seen falling through the front window of the Paris Wine Bar in Church Road, Hove.

The police were responding to reports of a man trying to attack the manager at the Orsino Italian restaurant, also in Church Road.

It was said that a man carrying a can of cider entered the Orsino and demanded to use the toilet. Management informed him he could not use it as it was being cleaned.

Manager Acacio Silva said the man then became violent and broke a glass pane in the front door. Mr Silva said: “He started swearing at us and when we asked him to leave he kicked the door.

“He then tried to punch me and started running. Two passers-by helped and just then the police arrived and I got in the car with them.

Mr Silva said officers tried to arrest a man sitting outside the Paris Wine Bar when they were seen falling through the window amid a struggle.

He said: “I am OK. I am a very calm person so I was trying to calm him down. This has never happened before. Normally it is very quiet around here.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “At 5.30pm on January 22, police were called to the Orsino restaurant in Church Road, Hove, where a man had been asked to leave the premises. He had responded by breaking a window and hitting the manager.”

The spokesman said the two police officers were pushed through the front window of the Paris Wine Bar during efforts to detain a man and both suffered minor cuts.

A 25-year-old man, of no fixed address, was arrested on suspicion of assault, criminal damage, resisting arrest and possession of offensive weapons – a crowbar and a hammer in a rucksack.

Anyone with information can call Sussex Police on 101.