THE landlady of an Oswaldtwistle pub was attacked by her drunken partner just two days before they were due to fly to Fiji to be married.

Hyndburn magistrates heard the incident in the Printers Arms was the start of a bizarre sequence of events which eventually ended in solicitors acting for Karen Richardson talking about having the marriage annulled.

The court was told that during the assault, the landlady was punched and kicked and she tried to grab her partner Neil Lambert and bit him on the finger.

She later wrote to the court asking them to lift bail conditions so the couple could fly to their wedding destination.

But within days of returning she contacted the court through solicitors again and asked for bail conditions to be re-imposed because of an incident while they were on their honeymoon.

And in the latest twist, Bernard Horne, defending, said it now appeared Miss Richardson would be seeking to have the marriage annulled.

"At the very least it will end in the divorce courts and my client is resigned to that," said Mr Horne.

Lambert, 40, of Caesars Close, Runcorn, pleaded guilty to assault. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report with a condition that he has no contact with the aggrieved.

Philippa White, prosecuting, said on the night of the incident Miss Richardson had come down into the pub after closing time and Lambert was playing pool with the assistant manager.

He was clearly drunk and became abusive and after an exchange of words grabbed her from behind and pulled her off a bar stool by her hair. He kept hold of her hair as he punched and kicked her.

Mr Horne said the incident had happened just two days before they were to fly to Fiji.

"One of the main problems was she wanted him to lose weight and part of his diet was not to drink lager," said Mr Horne. "He had been drinking rum on the night of this incident and it clearly didn't agree with him."

Mr Horne said as a direct result of the incident Miss Richardson had lost the tenancy of the pub and her solicitors were now looking into the possibility of having the marriage annulled.