An 18-year-old London man has been charged with threatening behaviour following a large disturbance outside a Colchester nightclub.

A dispersal order was put in place to support tackling antisocial behaviour following the incident on Saturday morning.

The order, which runs until 6.30pm on Monday, gives police officers enhanced powers to reduce antisocial behaviour in defined areas.

Police applied for additional powers following the disturbance, which involved people fighting and throwing bottles in High Street at about 3.25am.

Two people suffered minor cuts but no one was seriously hurt.

Kalid Mohamed, 18, of Summers Lane, North Finchley, has been charged with using threatening or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress.

He is due to appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, April 5.

Chief Inspector Shaun Kane, Colchester district commander, said: “This incident occurred after a small number of men started fighting at the same time as people left a busy nightclub.

“We responded quickly by putting temporary road blocks in place, helping us to move traffic away from the area as we safely dispersed a large group of people.

“Following close working with our partners, Colchester Borough Council, we successfully applied for a 48-hour dispersal order that same day, and we had no reported incidents last night and this morning.

“Thankfully incidents like yesterday are rare, however, there are a small minority who chose to cause anti-social behaviour or encourage this behaviour.

“We will not tolerate it, and through this dispersal order, we will either move them away from the town centre or bring them into custody for questioning.”

The order gives police officers the power to order anyone to leave the area if they have reasonable grounds to believe the person is harassing residents or likely to be involved in crime or disorder.

Anyone who refuses to leave the area once directed can be arrested and, if convicted, they could face up to a three month prison sentence and a £2,500 fine.