TWO MEN have been charged in connection with an alleged serious assault outside a Bridport kebab shop.

The incident, which happened in East Street outside the kebab shop, was reported to police at 2.56am on Saturday July 24.

It has been reported that two men were assaulted by two other men and one of the victims, a local man in his 40s, ended up unconscious on the floor. He was taken to hospital with severe facial injuries and a bleed on the brain. The other victim, a man in his thirties, suffered bruising.

Officer attended and following enquiries, a 35-year-old man from Lincolnshire was arrested. He has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent and assault by beating and his first court appearance was due to take place at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Monday July 26.

On Sunday July 25, a 38-year-old man from Grimsby was also arrested in relation to the incident. He has been charged with assault and using threatening/abusive/insulting words/behaviour with intent to cause fear of/provoke unlawful violence. He is due to appear at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday August 11.

Detectives are continuing their investigation and are still appealing for witnesses or anyone who has captured relevant footage on their mobile phone.

It comes after the owner of the kebab shop and community figures spoke of their shock at the alleged assault.

Hamdi Ceylan, owner of Bridport Kebab House, has been serving the community for 30 years and said he was "extremely sorry" to hear of what happened outside his premises.

He said he closed the shop at around 11pm on Friday and went home for the night.

"We found out about the incident the following day," Mr Ceylan said.

"We are extremely sorry to hear of what happened - we don't want these things happening in our town. It's a small town, a small community - I've been serving the town for 30 years, so to have something like this happen is really bad - it's actually really shocking."

Leader of Bridport Town Council, Councillor David Rickard expressed sympathies towards the victims' loved ones and urged anyone with information to come forward.

"Compared with a lot of places these things are quite rare in Bridport but they're still unacceptable," he said. "It is a great shame there are people who think it's acceptable to abuse people in this way. We ask for anybody to come forward if they have any information at all."

He added: "Incidents such as this do not just affect the victims - they are all members of families and have friends and loved ones - it impacts the whole community."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55210118768. Alternatively, to stay 100 per cent anonymous, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or call Freephone 0800 555 111.

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