TWO 74-year-old pensioners ended up fighting in the middle of a supermarket over a disabled scooter, Bolton Crown Court heard.

During the course of the brawl, David Joseph and William Wrath overturned the electric scooter and continued to scuffle on the floor.

Shoppers watched in amazement as the row spilled over into violence. Security staff had to step in and separate the two men.

Joseph had been enraged when Mr Wrath sat on the electric scooter reading a book , instead of returning it so he could use it, the court was told.

Joseph, an ex-soldier with decorations for bravery, had been accused of assaulting Mr Wrath, occasioning him actual bodily harm.

But prosecutor Mr Jeff Samuels said the Crown had decided to offer no evidence after Joseph, of Hollins Lane, Bury, agreed to be bound over for 12 months.

He said that on March 7 this year Mr Wrath's son informed police that his father had died and the prosecution had decided to review the pending trial.

Mr Samuels told the court the incident had happened in Asda in Bury in October last year. Mr Wrath had used the scooter, but then failed to return it.

He added: "Joseph had been waiting to use the scooter and he went up to Mr Wrath and said 'I've been waiting for that scooter for an hour' and punched him in the face."

When Joseph was arrested, he told police that he had been hit first and had defended himself.

Tim Brennand, defending, said that Joseph had maintained he had been hit even though he had been wearing a surgical collar, but he accepted that he had then lost his temper.

Judge Brian Carter QC said he thought the prosecution had taken the right decision and bound Joseph over for 12 months in the sum of £100.