It was meant to be a civilised reunion of like-minded literary folk. However the annual meeting of writers from TheSpoof.com, quickly descended into a brawl, which was eventually only broken up by the intervention of riot-police.
Witnesses confirm that the reunion seemed to start peacefully enough last night, at 'The Old Cock-Up Inn', in Peckham.
'However, after only a few minutes there were raised voices and then all hell broke loose', said eye-witness Candy Floss.
Miss Floss, a local escort and lap-dancer, was drinking with friends when the pub erupted. 'We just got out of there', she said, 'It was really going off!'
Tensions prior to the reunion were running high, as a result of a fiery debate in the 'on-line' discussion forum.
Apparently, the dispute centred around a spoof that had been posted, which suggested that William Shakespeare did not exist. Herbert Possett, a retired headmaster writing as Edward de Vere OBE, had inferred in a spoof article that the works of Shakespeare had in fact been written by Christopher Marlowe, after faking his own death.
Retired boxer, Mick McMassive, from Newcastle said that was 'Bollocks' and pointed to the fact that he'd actually been to Shakespeare's house in Stratford on Avon.
From that point, all thoughts of 'the pen being mightier than the sword' were forgotten as the pub became the scene of unprecedented violence and destruction, with flying chairs, glasses, bottles and bodies.
Police were called and fortunately were able to restore order. Several spoof writers were arrested but were later released with a caution.
Long-time contributor Sean Pickles from the Isle of Wight, who writes under the name 'Bembridge Bumbandit', said it was just a lively debate that got a little out of hand.
'We are all still really good friends', he confirmed.
