A TROUBLED Southampton pub faces closure after a mass brawl broke out resulting in a bouncer suffering facial injuries - just weeks after it was saved from being shut down following another violent attack.

Licensing chiefs were due to meet today to discuss the future of the Shield and Dagger pub in Shirley.

The crunch meeting comes after police swooped on the Stratton Road pub and arrested a man in connection with an incident where a doorman was hurt when trying to separate several punters involved in an "altercation".

It came just a fortnight after the pub avoided closure following another mass brawl.

The pub reopened after agreeing to strict new licensing conditions.

Police say they were called to reports of a fight at 11.57pm on Friday which escalated to involve several people following an initial dispute between two men.

A doorman in his 40s was assaulted when trying to separate the men and needed medical treatment for facial injuries.

An ambulance was called, but it is not believed that the bouncer, from Southampton, needed hospital treatment.

A police spokesman said a 20-year-old man was arrested and bailed until June 17.

Southampton City Council licensing committee chairman Councillor Matt Tucker confirmed that a private panel meeting was due to take place today from 2pm today in the city's Civic Centre.

He said he was unable to comment and added: "We will look at the circumstances and make a decision accordingly."

Last month the Shield and Dagger avoided being shut down despite a mass brawl which involved a member of staff punching a customer, as reported by the Daily Echo.

A city council licensing hearing was told how 30 people were involved at the pub in Shirley including an unnamed staff member who after hitting a customer escaped over a fence.

Two people needed an ambulance after the violence in the early hours of March 20.

The meeting heard the Stratton Road pub had been reported to police more than 20 times since late 2014, with allegations including “sexual entertainment”.

A representative of landlord Tony Cookson, who denies wrongdoing, said most complaints were placed maliciously by a rival pub.

He was ordered to train staff further, ban them from drinking on duty, not allow customers behind the bar and hire bouncers for live music nights and private functions.

Police had asked the committee to consider revoking the pub's licence.

As reported, the brawl on March 20 sparked an emergency shutdown. Mr Cookson met strict police demands and reopened after a week.

Dozens of residents wrote to the council to support the Shield and Dagger with just one letter of opposition, the meeting heard.

Christopher Kelly, a tax consultant who’s frequented the pub for 27 years, said he was “astounded” by the clampdown proposed by police.