A woman who tried to stop a Paceville bouncer from hitting her friend was beaten up repeatedly by two bouncers “who showed no mercy” early this morning.

Michelle Sullivan, 45, of Swieqi, said she was enjoying a good night in Paceville at a bar in Estilo when Dutch men at a nearby table started having a go at a friend.

One of the men in her group confronted them just after a bouncer, not from the club where the group were drinking, spoke to them and the same bouncer came over to their table and told her friend to calm down.

One of the girls in the group, Ms Sullivan said, complained about them spitting at her and the next thing Ms Sullivan saw was the bouncer swing and punch her friend.

“I went over an grabbed the bouncer to stop any further punches and he immediately laid a volley my way, so I went into defence mode and tried to restrain him only to end up on the ground with someone kicking the hell out of my head...

“I grabbed the leg that was kicking and hung on tight, felt the person fall, and continued to receive blows to the head... Someone tried to rip my hair out  - something I found out later they had partially succeeded to do - and clung on tight until the blows stopped and a woman touched me and told me that I could let go as the police had arrived.

“ I let go only to receive a volley of kicks in my head again which stopped a minute later and seconds after that the police were helping me up,” Ms Sullivan said.

Asked about the incident the police Community and Media Relations Unit confirmed that a 45-year-old woman filed a report claiming that she was beaten up at about 2am in Paceville.

The police said the incident happened when she went to the rescue of her friend who was also being beaten up.

Witnesses have confirmed that both women were brutally kicked by the two bouncers “who showed no mercy”.

Ms Sullivan is seeking the people’s help to identify the bouncers.