City football casuals clash as Hibs fans storm Hearts pub

Eyewitnesses said around 35 Hibs fans taunted about 15 Hearts supporters at the Horseshoe Bar following a game on Sunday, shortly before the fight broke out at around 5pm.

Police have confirmed they are now investigating the attack, which saw fans batter the windows and doors of the Gorgie pub with metal poles and a steel bollard.

The windows were last night boarded up and blood could still be seen on the lamppost where the incident took place.

The clash followed Hearts final match of the season at home to Celtic, although there is no suggestion any fans from Glasgow were involved.

There were suggestions from local residents that the fight may have been a retaliation for a previous attack on the Hibs social club in Sunnyside, near Easter Road .

A local taxi driver, who asked not to be named, said: "I looked out the window and saw about 30 to 35 guys coming down from Gorgie. They were outside the front door and it looked like they were trying to entice the fans inside to come out.

"It might have been a retaliation for the attack at the Hibs club last week because it looks like they had come prepared."

He added: "One guy had a 4ft metal pole and another had a metal cosh. Around 15 Hearts supporters came out from the pub and they went at it. They were scrapping with each other forwards and backwards, but one of the guys from the attacking side got left behind and about six or seven laid into him pretty badly.

"They were hitting him on the head and body and he was curled up around the lamppost.

"After that six police cars and a van showed up."

His girlfriend said: "There were quite a few people standing and watching. Some of them helped the guy who had been battered after the rest had fled. He was staggering around after that and the police spoke to him when they arrived. We've lived here five years and we've never seen anything like that before. It's known for being a Hearts pub but you don't get any trouble."

Another couple, who also asked not to be identified, were sitting inside the pub's conservatory when the attack took place, and said they were left shaken by the incident.

The woman, 50, said: "We saw two young lads chase two others into the pub. One of the guys at the bar locked the doors. There was a lot of noise from outside. Then they started battering the windows. One blond lad had this metal cosh while another had a huge pole, maybe 4ft long. I thought he was going to throw it through the window."

Her husband added: "They also tore up a bollard from the yard outside and were ramming it against the door. It was really frightening. We've been coming here for a drink for 20 years and nothing like that has happened before."

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said:

"Anyone who was in the area at the time, who has any information that can assist our inquiries, should contact police."

No-one at Caledonian Breweries, which runs the Horseshoe Bar, was available for comment.