NATIONALISTS told police they were defending themselves against counter-demonstrators when a brawl broke out outside a pub, a court heard.

Alan Titterton, 49, said he threw a chair back after being surrounded by a mass of people wearing black who started throwing missiles, jurors were told.

Titterton, of Wordsworth Avenue, Sheffield, is one of seven people standing trial on charges of violent disorder over the brawl following the March for England in Brighton in 2014.

Missiles were thrown as they battled outside The Dorset Pub and Infinity Foods, at the junction of North Road and Gardner Street, on April 27.

Titterton told police he had travelled to the march on a mini-bus with about 10-12 other demonstrators and gone to the pub afterwards, jurors at the trial at Brighton Crown Court heard.

In his police interview read out to the court, he said: “I walked outside and the next thing a big mass of people dressed in black just surrounded us and then kicked off.

“They started throwing missiles. There was nowhere to go because previously when we walked up to the pub we saw them behind us with phones, so we knew we were stuck.

“We could not get away from the situation. To be honest when they surrounded us and pulled these masks up I did feel intimidated. I had never been in a situation like that before.”

He said the ashtray and chair he threw back did not hit anyone, and he did not get involved physically with the group. He added he was not injured and the groups dispersed after police arrived.

On trial with Mr Titterton yesterday on charges of violent disorder were Andrew Gill, 41, of Sixhills Street, Grimsby; Tracy Parsons, 49, of Holsworth Close, Harrow, Middlesex; Scott Banks, 19, of Adwick Lane, Doncaster; Lorna Marcham, 29, of no fixed address; Graham Clark, 50, of Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes; and Ian Crossland, 42, of Hollinsend Road, Sheffield.

They deny the charges.

The trial continues.