THREE taxi drivers have denied ganging up and beating up a drunk passenger who refused to pay his fare outside of an Oxfordshire hotel.

Robert Simons, 34, of Panters Road, Cholsey, Robert Haydon, of Bourton Close, Witney, and Samantha Mundy, of Gassons Way, Lechlade-on-Thames, each deny one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Mundy, 31, and Haydon, 53, also each deny a charge of perverting the course of justice by making a false statement to police resulting in the arrest of the alleged victim.

The incident is alleged to have taken place at the Churchill Court Hotel car park, Long Hanborough in the early hours of June 5 last year.

As the trial started at Oxford Crown Court yesterday a jury of nine men and three women heard how the alleged victim and passenger, Kevin Headley, had been at a wedding on Saturday June 4.

In the early hours of the following day he took a taxi, driven by Mundy, a distance of about four miles from Eynsham to the Churchill Court Hotel.

He was 'heavily drunk' the court heard, and when he was asked to pay the fare of £35 he refused and an argument ensued. before Mundy called the police as he would not pay his fare.

Prosecutor, Julian Lynch, told the court: "Mr Headley offers to pay £20 and while that dispute his going on Samantha Mundy has left her radio on and because of that two other taxi drivers working at the same firm become aware of the dispute and head to the hotel."

He told jurors that it was sometime after 1.30am when the situation escalated and during an ordeal lasting about 40 minutes Mr Headley is alleged to have suffered a broken nose and a number of other bruising injuries at the hands of the taxi drivers.

He added that during the scuffle Mr Headley was also party to the violence and threw a punch before headbutting one of the defendants, Mundy, who had driven the taxi.

Police eventually arrived and Mr Headley was initially arrested for the disorder.

The three deny all charges and the trial continues.