A major Edinburgh road was temporarily closed to traffic this evening after police were called to deal with “a massive fracas” at a city centre venue.

Officers arrived at The Jam House in Queen Street at around 6.20pm following reports of a fight breaking out in the crowd of a mixed martial arts (MMA) event.

At least a dozen police vehicles and ambulances were sent to the venue, one of the city’s most popular nightspots, with officers closing the entire street to traffic while order was restored.

One onlooker described the scene as a ‘massive fracas’.

The Forza Fighting Championship event was reportedly brought to a sudden halt after an outbreak of trouble in the packed audience.

Organisers had issued a plea for calm over the brawling, which is understood to have erupted between rival supporters of the MMA stars.

One supporter, who asked not to be named, said:

There only seemed to be a handful of people involved in the trouble, but lots of other people were crowding around and trying to break it up.

“The event had been in since lunchtime so some people had been drinking for several hours and it just got out of hand.

A police spokesman said the incident was on-going and no further comment would be issued at this time.

The street has since reopened to traffic