HORRIFIED families have told how they saw a man lying on the floor after a fight involving two men.

One witness said she thought a man had been stabbed but police say it was a fight and no knife was involved.

The brawl happened at the junction of Roedale Road and Dudley Road in Hollingbury, Brighton, at around 3.30pm yesterday.

The witness, who asked not to be named, said: “I arrived at about 4pm and there were six or seven police cars here, one dog van and an ambulance.

“The police had ladders with them and were climbing the roof of a garage and in the gardens.”

Her partner lives in the area where the incident took place.

She said: “There was a tearful girl whose father came to pick her up.

“She was in school uniform so I assume she was under 16. The father looked concerned. I think it was definitely a stabbing.

“Police came in to interview my partner in his house when his son walked in and said ‘there has been a stabbing’.”

The witness thought it may have something to do with drugs.

A customer at the nearby Hollingbury pub described similar scenes.

The man, who did not want to be identified, said: “I was walking down the road and saw an ambulance and police cars.

“There was someone laying on the ground and I thought he was having a fit or something.”

A barmaid at the Hollingbury pub, who would only give her first name as Lianne, said: “Three police cars turned up and an ambulance.

“I didn’t go to see what happened but someone told me they thought a man was having an epileptic fit.”

Alan Cannon, 63, lives in a neighbouring road.

He said: “I had a friend coming round and they told me there had been an accident. When I went out I saw police cars but I wasn’t worried.

“When it is a stabbing the people usually know each other.

“Things like this can happen anywhere any time though.

“I thought it could be the culmination of a car crash but there was no sign of any collision.”

When Argus reporters arrived at the scene there were three police cars and officers searching for evidence up and down the road.

Officers said they were unable to comment.

The incident comes one week after the Betfred store in nearby Hollingbury Place was robbed by a knife-wielding man who forced staff to give him money from the till.

That incident struck fear into residents with people saying that they “couldn’t believe” it could happen near their homes.

A police spokesman told The Argus yesterday: “Officers were called to a fight at 3.30pm in Roedale Road. No knife was found at the scene and no arrests had been made yesterday afternoon.”