IPSWICH police officer Peter Pitts has been charged with an alleged attack on a man who had been arrested after a brawl, The Evening Star can reveal today.

IPSWICH police officer Peter Pitts has been charged with an alleged attack on a man who had been arrested after a brawl, The Evening Star can reveal today.

Pitts, a police constable, is accused of assaulting a suspect while he was in custody at the town's police station.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service today confirmed Pitts, 37, has been charged with common assault and is due to appear before magistrates next Thursday .

The case will be heard at South East Suffolk Magistrates Court in Ipswich.

Pitts, of Melbourne Road, Ipswich, was suspended by Suffolk Constabulary amid allegations that he assaulted a man in the custody area of Ipswich police station, after the man was arrested at town centre nightspot Brannigans on April 23.

A Suffolk police spokesman today declined to comment on the investigation or the impending court case involving their officer.

However shortly after the allegation was made earlier this year a police spokeswoman confirmed that an investigation has been launched after a complaint of an alleged assault by a police officer on a member of the public in the custody area of Ipswich police station on April 23.

She added: "The officer a police constable has been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry. The investigation is being carried out by officers from Suffolk police's professional and ethical standards section The matter has also been voluntarily referred to the independent police complaints authority."

Pc Pitts had previously been a dog handler based at police headquarters in Martlesham but was based at Ipswich police station when the alleged attack occurred.