A THIRD man arrested after an early hours melee outside the Good Night club in Nelson has admitted taking part.

Michael Riding, 19, said to be the main attacker in the trouble on January 20, admitted affray and assault causing actual bodily harm in his second appearence before Burnley magistrates.

The defendant, of Napier Street, Nelson, was committed to crown court to be sentenced on February 22.

Kieran Michael Denton, 22, of Fir Street and Marc Patrick Holden, 20, of Cravendale Avenue, have already pleaded guilty to affray and will also face sentence at the higher court on February 22. Holden has also admitted assault.

A fourth defendant, Kieron Paul Fawcett, 24, of Clover Hill Road, has not entered pleas and his case was adjourned until March 4, towards committal to the crown court. The four, all from Nelson, were last week remanded in custody by the justices.

The court had been told how the fracas was captured on CCTV. The prosecution allege the trouble involved an unprovoked "group," attack with stamping and kicking to victims on the ground.

Carl Gaffney, prosecuting, told the court police dealt with a melee and found three Asian men had been attacked. They had been set upon by a gang of white men but it was not suggested the offences were racially motivated. The three victims "rather surprisingly" suffered only cuts and bruises. The four defendants were arrested and interviewed.