A BOUNCER accused of leaving a customer with a fractured skull has denied he pushed him out of a fire door.

Giving evidence in his own defence at Bolton Crown Court Julian Tinker claimed that John Hall had not wanted to give up a drink bottle when he was asked to leave Courtneys bar on Bradshawgate in the early hours of September 24 2017.

Tinker, aged 51, of Harcourt Close, Urmston, told a jury that he had been involved in a tug of war over the bottle when Mr Hall fell out of the door, down three steps and cracked his head on the pavement.

Mr Hall spent four days in hospital with bruising and a bleed on the brain.

Fellow bouncer, Sean Ricketts, told the court that he had summoned Tinker's help from outside the club after a woman made a complaint about four men acting "inappropriately".

He added that two of the men left the club willingly, but a third man had a bottle in his hand.

"He was really drunk and aggressive and disrespectful," said Mr Ricketts.

"He wouldn't let the bottle go — he's pulling and Julian is pulling. He lost his balance and went back.

"They were both pulling an he just went flying. He did not push the gentleman."

Tinker denies causing grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.