A POLICE officer was injured during a “violent struggle” in a hotel room.

The officer responded to a call at the Premier Inn in Charles Avenue, Burgess Hill, at 8.10pm on Sunday after concerns were raised for the welfare of a man in one of the bedrooms.

As the officer approached the room, they noticed the door had been kicked in and found two men inside the room.

A scuffle broke out and the officer received leg, back and back injuries before back-up swiftly arrived and the two men were arrested.

Mark Stenning, 45, a window fitter of Leylands Road, Burgess Hill, has been charged with resisting arrest and with assault on police.

His 21-year-old son Ashton Stenning, a mechanic living at the same address, has been charged with criminal damage to the door and with assault on police.

The pair have been bailed and will next appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday March 11.

The incident comes just days after The Argus revealed that the number of assaults on police officers had nearly tripled in just four years.

Figures from Sussex Police show 215 of its officers were assaulted in 2013/14 – up from 187 the year before and more than double the 84 figure recorded in 2009/10.