MAGISTRATES have issued a strong warning that violence on the streets, particularly against the police, will not be tolerated.

The caution came yesterday after a man punched one officer when it took half a dozen policemen to bundle him into the back of their van.

Harry Radcliffe pleaded guilty at Harrogate Magistrates' Court to assault on PC Stephen O'Brien.

He said: "Things being said to me wound me up, but I never meant for this to happen. I over-reacted and I am sorry."

After watching a closed-circuit television video of the early morning incident in the centre of Harrogate, court chairman Ivan Lester sent Radcliffe, 38, to prison for two months.

He told him his assault must have caused distress not only to the police but also to people who had enjoyed a night out. "You have to know, and the public has to know, that this court will not tolerate this kind of offence," said Mr Lester.

Peter Scott, prosecuting, said Radcliffe, of Lancaster Park Road, Harrogate, had been heard to say he "hated coppers." But when attempts were made to arrest him, Radcliffe reacted violently and CS was used.

When he was bundled into the van he punched out and hit PC O'Brien on the side of his head.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Rogers said Radcliffe had been wound up by the police and had been surrounded which made the situation worse.

"Violent responses are a part of his nature when he feels he is being confronted by people in authority,'' said Mr Rogers.