A pub near Bristol International Airport is at the centre of a police investigation after 800 people attended an apparently neo-Nazi rally.

Villagers have complained about racist chanting from those attending, some draped in Nazi flags, in a field next to the Bungalow Inn, Redhill.

The weekend event was booked as a 'scooter rally' and was fully licensed by North Somerset Council. But what took place was a raucous event to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of Ian Stuart Donaldson, the former frontman of British neo-Nazi skinhead band Skrewdriver.

Pub landlady Anne Carter applied for the licence, but has denied knowing it was for an apparently neo-Nazi event. Residents living nearby complained to the council and police, who are investigating.

Neighbour Sarah Gooding and her family, of Winford Lane, were so frightened they were forced to flee their home.

She said: "I told my husband 'I don't feel safe – we've got to go'. Our daughters were really frightened."

"I just can't stop crying as I think back to how bad it was – it was like a miniature Nuremberg rally."

Before leaving, she took photographs and video on her mobile phone, which shows a large group of men, some with swastika flags on their shoulders, outside the pub and in the field at the side. The Nazi chant "Sieg Heil!" can also be heard on the video footage.

Resident Debbie Johnson also fled her home as drunken revellers invaded her garden.

Police said they were investigating reports of racist chanting. Initial complaints were to the council's environmental health officers.

Neighbourhood Inspector Steve Date said: "We are conducting a thorough investigation into a complaint about racist chanting, including taking statements and reviewing film of the event."

He said police would carefully monitor any future licence applications for events to staged at the pub. No one was arrested at the event. Stephen Makin, a council spokesman, said: "Anne Carter at the pub was the applicant. She applied on September 2 for the event to take place on September 20 from 4pm to midnight. It was issued as we received no objections. We are now investigating after we received five complaints from residents."

The booking was made by record company ISD, which asked to use the field for a scooter and music festival. The company bills itself as a "White Nationalist Movement" label and the voice of Blood and Honour, a network set up by Donaldson to distributes white power music. They said the event was a tribute to Donaldson, who died in a car crash in Derbyshire on September 24, 1993. Those who turned up are understood to have travelled from across the UK and Europe.

When the Bristol Evening Post contacted the pub, Anne Carter was not available.

Pub manager Ian Saunders said: "I had no idea what it was going to turn into when the man rang to book it.

"We've provided a function room for him a couple of times in the past and everything has been fine until now. If I knew that this would happen I would never have allowed it and anything the police want to do we'll support them in any way we can."

Brewer Wadworth, which owns the pub, said: "The brewery is not aware of any similar problems that have occurred at this site and will be taking action, where appropriate, to ensure that it does not happen again."

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