A MAN said he thought he would die as he was beaten into unconsciousness by a gang of up to 20 youths in Bournemouth town centre.

Scott Harron suffered a broken nose, bruised ribs, black eyes and a bent out of place tooth.

The 18-year-old from Poole was injured between Bliss and Lava Ignite, around the junction of Fir Vale Road and St Peter’s Road.

Fir Vale Road was this year named the sixth most violent road in the country by the research body UKCrimeStats.

Scott, from Parkstone, said he was running to catch up with friends when he accidentally bumped into someone, apologised and carried on. He said the gang of around 20 youths surrounded his friend and he went back to break up the confrontation.

“The guy started grabbing his mates and shouting: ‘It was him,’” said Scott.

“He went towards me and punched me in the mouth and that bent my tooth out of place.

“Him and his mates came towards me and started hitting me. I remember about eight punches and I blacked out.

“I just thought: ‘I could die here’ because there was so many of them.”

Scott came round as the police and doormen from the clubs were dragging him away and breaking up the trouble.

Girlfriend Jade Denny, 18, from Oakdale, said: “I went to the hospital and I was really shook up when I saw him.”

The incident happened at around 12.30am on Sunday, September 30.

Scott said six people had been arrested and were released on police bail.

Dorset Police confirmed they are investigating the incident but did not provide any further information over the weekend.

Dorset's most violent road

Fir Vale Road was revealed this year as the sixth most violent in the country.

It is home to Bournemouth’s biggest nightclub, Lava Ignite, and other clubs like Bliss and Walkabout are yards away on adjoining roads. The figures came from UKCrimeStats, which carries out research for the Economic Policy Centre.

The statistics showed there were 203 violent crimes on or near Fir Vale Road between January 2011 and November 2011. The country’s worst street was Albert Road South in Watford, another nightclubbing hotspot, which had 306 violent crimes.

Dan Lewis, director of UKCrimeStats, said the data used was not precise but it enabled people to compare areas around the country.

See local crime statistics for yourself with our interactive map