A bride and groom had to run for their lives from their own wedding reception in the early hours of yesterday morning as Police in full riot gear were called to a violent riot on Front Street just two hours into 2003.

According to Police and eye-witnesses, clashes erupted among a crowd of about 300 people, many of who had swarmed out of No.6 Shed, where a wedding reception was being held, at about 2.30 a.m.

Riot Police were called in after the crowd blocked off Front Street between Parliament Street and Chancery Lane. Seven arrests were made and there were several injuries in what one witness described as "like gang warfare".

Yesterday, Police spokesman Robin Simmons said: "On arrival, officers were faced with a large,unruly crowd, with many men fighting and others gathering to watch."Since the crowd blocked off Front Street between Parliament Street and Chancery Lane, the Police Support Unit (PSU) responded with officers in full riot gear. PSU closed off Front Street, making seven arrests, including a 14-year-old boy.

"There were injuries, but as far as we know none of them required immediate medical attention," said Mr. Simmons. "And we still don't have any reports of any damages that we know of."

Three of the arrests were made for affray, one for an offensive weapon, one for a prohibited weapon, and two for offensive words. According to Police reports the men arrested range in age from 14 to 34 years old.

"The Bermuda Police Service would like to reassure the public that there were adequate officers and resources deployed to deal with all situations that arose over that period.

Inquiries into the incident are ongoing," Mr. Simmons added.

Royal Gazette reporter Rene Hill, who witnessed the drama, said: "It was like nothing I've ever seen before - it was like a gang-warfare kind of thing.

"We had stepped outside The Beach and people were going in and out of No.6 Shed - everything looked normal.

"We were standing there and all of a sudden the bride and groom come running out. We're thinking, 'she's going to throw the bouquet'.

"But behind her came all these groups of people - all these individual fights started, broke out in the street. The bride and groom hopped in a car and were gone in a flash."

"Police came up with all their riot gear, paddy wagons, bikes, batons, shields. They were running in trying to calm the situation down but it wasn't helping. As they stopped one fight, another would begin.

"We left at 4 a.m. and it did not look like it was calming down. There was a strong Police presence but like I said, they would stop one fight, and another would start. Maybe they need some crowd control training or something."

"I talked to the people around and everyone thought it was just ridiculous. Everybody had been having such a good night - a wedding, New Year's Eve.

Details as to exactly why the fights broke out were still sketchy last night. "No comment because we don't know," said Mr. Simmons.

But last night Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister said: "This kind of thing has been happening ever since new rules and restrictions for tighter bar and nightclub security were introduced in April."

Since then Mr. Lister said, fewer violent incidents had been occurring inside clubs but instead the violence had moved outside.

"It's displacement," he said, adding that it was now impossible to pin the blame on bar and nightclub owners. "We can now really say, 'Young people, get it together'."

It was the age of the offenders which disturbed Mr. Lister the most. "I've heard reports saying that most of the individuals arrested were below the age of 16," he said.

This is very disturbing. There was open drinking in the street. That's simply not acceptable in our community at any time.

"My concerns are that these young people are going to be the leaders of our community tomorrow.Where are the parents? We have to get the parents involved. It's the parents responsibility to look after their children - that's all they are, children. I would encourage parents to get back and do what they're supposed to do. We can't afford to lose them. We can't afford to sit back and let them misbehave."