Police have made an appeal for witnesses after a petrol bomb was thrown into an Aldershot pub in the early hours.

The bomb was hurled through the window of the Lord Campbell in Alexandra Road on Wednesday April 1, in what neighbours say may have been a homophobic attack.

Four people were evacuated from the pub after the 4.30am attack, but the bomb failed to ignite and nobody was injured.

Police cordoned off the front of the pub while uniformed and forensic officers searched the scene.

An upper pane in one of the ground floor front sash windows was smashed. 

Police interviewed nearby residents in Perowne Street.

Resident David Hambeton was shocked, saying there was rarely any trouble at the pub.

He said his wife had left the house that morning and saw the cordon.

There was rarely noise from the pub and whenever there was, the landlady dealt with it.

Lorraine Cordner, of Perowne Street, said she was woken at around 2am by someone shouting homophobic abuse.

She told Get Hampshire that she had never heard of anything like it happening in the area before.

“It’s not what you’d expect around here,” she said. “This is usually a quiet place.

“The pub is a very family orientated and friendly place.”

Another woman from Perowne Street, who did not want to be named, said the pub was frequently noisy at closing time.

She said there were several people who regularly stayed above the pub overnight.

Det Insp Chris Chatterley, of Aldershot CID, said police officers were taking the attack very seriously.

“Fortunately, nothing was set on fire, but serious harm could have been caused to those inside,” he said.

The police refused to rule out homophobia as a motive,  but detectives were keeping an open mind.

According to figures released by the police, there were 179 homophobic hate crimes in Hampshire last year. Seventeen were criminal damage or arson and there were 155 assaults.
 
There were four robberies, two thefts and an offence categorised as being motivated by homophobic hatred.

This was a reduction in the number of homophobic-related hate crimes — down from 248 in 2007.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man from Reading in connection with the Lord Campbell attack.

He has been released on police bail to return to Aldershot Police Station on a date next month.
 
Anyone with information is asked to call Aldershot CID on 0845 0454545, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.