POLICE used batons to break up a massed brawl and a teenager was left needing emergency eye surgery as violence raged at both ends of Watford high street at the weekend.

The trouble started outside Destiny nightclub and led to a fight among about 100 people at the top end of The Parade, near Rickmansworth Road, at about 3am on Sunday.

Police quelled the violence using batons and made one arrest.

Violence flared again in King Street, off High Street, at about 4am, among people involved in the earlier fighting. A 17-year-old received eye injuries that have permanently impaired his vision in one eye. He underwent surgery to have glass removed from the eye at Watford General Hospital.

Six men were arrested after the second fight.

The regularity of violence in the high street area has provoked anger.

Mr Eric Cleary, landlord of The Robert Peel public house in King Street, said: 'There will be somebody killed down here soon. Every Friday and Saturday there is trouble and it was particularly nasty at the weekend.

'There is no CCTV in King Street and we do not see the police because they are all at the other end of town - so it is out of control here.'

Councillor Rabi Martins, whose ward includes the town centre, said: 'We need to make sure there is adequate policing in the town centre and need to get people out of the town as soon as possible when the clubs shut.

'We need to be able to control things quickly when they go wrong because this is not acceptable.'

The Rev John Woodger, vicar of St Mary's Church in High Street, said: 'If they are going to open all these bars and clubs, this is what we can expect. I am not against pubs but there are too many of them and this is the result.'

Mr Cleary said the problems in King Street were caused by people gathering outside Luckett's private car hire company late at night when there were not enough cabs for them.

He said: 'The problem is that Luckett's is a private hire company - its drivers are not allowed to pick people up from the street - so their customers have to come down here, where the trouble starts.

'If there was a direct line telephone so they could be called from the top end of town, where all the police are, then there would be no need for people to come here.'

Mrs Eve Down, manager of Luckett's, said she would welcome such a move.

She said: 'It would help us and other private hire companies and would alleviate the problems down here if we had a bay at the top of town.'

Violence is a regular feature at the Rickmansworth Road end of the high street, where police say they are at full stretch.

They have drafted in a unit of six extra officers for tonight (Friday) and tomorrow, and some officers working weekend late shifts are working four hours' overtime a night to give extra cover until 4am.

A spokesman for the force said: 'We are doing everything we can but, when you get a mixture of alcohol and lots of young people, there is always a potential for trouble.

'We are really stretched in Watford at the moment. There are up to 10,000 people coming into the town at weekends, and all we can do is try to keep people in the town centre safe.'

The police are working with Watford Council and town centre venues to try to control the violence. Night buses to take people out of the town centre after night clubs shut are among schemes that have been put in place to tackle the problem. Closed circuit television cameras have been installed in the high street and signs warning people of the cameras' presence will be put up in the next few weeks.

A 20-year-old man from Croxley Green has been arrested in connection with the disturbance at the Rickmansworth Road end of The Parade. He has been bailed to attend Watford Police Station on Saturday, August 19.

Six people were arrested following the incident in King Street. They were: a 19-year-old man from Watford and a 17-year-old male from Colindale, both due to appear at Watford Magistrates on Wednesday, September 20; a 26-year-old man and a 22-year-old man from Edgware, both due to appear in court on Monday, September 18; and two 25-year-old men, one from Edgware and one from Colindale, both due to appear on Tuesday, September 19.

Investigations are continuing. Anybody with information can contact Detective Constable Richard Mullings or Detective Constable Alex Davies at Watford CID on 01923 472000.