POLICE are investigating a incident in which shots were fired outside one of Southampton's best-known pubs.

Officers have confirmed that a weapon was used to smash several windows at The Saints pub in Kendal Avenue, Millbrook, just after 2am yesterday.

Last night landlord Eugene McManus said: "Three of the windows were damaged by someone using a firearm.

"This mindless and needless damage, and those that carry out such attacks, blight our community but they are very much in the minority and is in no way reflective of the area or the people."

A police spokesman confirmed that no-one was injured in the incident.

He added: "We were called to a report of a firearms incident that happened at 2.12am on Tuesday. A weapon was discharged causing damage to three windows.

"Officers are in the area conducting enquiries to find out the exact circumstances of what happened.

"This is considered to be an isolated incident and the threat to the public is low but we treat incidents like this very seriously."

Police have not said what type of weapon was used or whether anyone was on the premises at the time.

The pub was renamed after Southampton FC in 1962 and the team which won the 1976 FA Cup made a point of driving past the building during their open-top bus tour of the city.

In 2006 regulars launched a campaign to save the popular watering hole after the owners, Enterprise Inns, submitted an application to replace it with 34 flats.

Three years later the pub was bought by Southampton-based developers Wickborne Homes, which immediately unveiled plans to give the site a £20,000 facelift.

Eugene McManus has been the landlord for ten years.

He and his colleagues worked hard to transform it from a run-down pub that had seen no investment for a long time into one of the most popular venues in Southampton.

A statement on the pub's website says: "After having a makeover a few years back, the pub has gone from strength to strength and the locals are always mentioning how much, for the better, the changes have been."

Anyone who was in the area and saw something suspicious, or has any information, can call Hampshire police on call 101 quoting crime reference number 44200158029.

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