Women grapple and yank one another’s hair in struggle over a solar lounger

Raging sunseekers got into a brawl on an Italian beach over the weekend after they were denied loungers in a prime spot near the shoreline.

Two women demanded they be given sunbeds close to the sea, putting them in front of people who had already been on the beach for hours, a local government official said, citing a witness.

Lifeguards refused and a vicious fight broke out between the women and members of the public, with footage showing them wrestling and yanking each other’s hair.

Witnesses said the women then turned on beach lifeguards who had been trying to pull them away, and that the fight went on for ‘more than half an hour’.

The violent scenes took place in the coastal resort of Varcaturo, near Naples, where families had been enjoying a day out.

Women are seen yanking each other’s hair and grappling to win the fight as members of the public watch on helplessly

Locals sent a report to member of parliament Francesco Emilio Borrelli, which detailed how the ‘very violent’ fight had broken out at the popular lido.

Borrelli labelled it ‘uncontrolled violence’ and said the perpetrators ‘do not know how to behave in public need to be re-educated’.

He said the women had risked the safety of members of the public with the violence.

‘A fight between women in broad daylight, in front of families and children. For what? A sunbed on the seashore. We have surpassed all imagination,’ he said. 

He went on in a statement on Facebook: ‘Those who think they can do what they want, sowing panic on a beach, cannot go unpunished. 

‘We ask that these women are identified and brought to justice as soon as possible.’

Video of the incident has gone viral online and shows women wearing swimming costumes and beach clothes hitting and wrestling each other.

Their faces are hardly visible in the footage as they grapple with beachgoers who are trying to bring them under control.

Around a dozen people are seen around the women, seemingly trying to break up the ferocious scrap, with little success.

Around a dozen people are seen around the women, seemingly trying to break up the fight

One of the women appears to try to wrestle another to the ground during the fight over the sunbed

While so-called sunbed wars are nothing new across Mediterranean resorts, it is rare for them to descend into such violence.

Tourists vying for the best spot have been caught on camera racing each other to pool and beachside beds this summer in Spain.

People have also been seen queueing for hours before pools open in a bid to secure a lounger.

Footage from last year showed holidaymakers racing each other to nab poolside sun loungers the moment sites opened, at which point witnesses said ‘madness’ ensued.

A British mother holidaying in Benidorm last year said she was left close to tears after her family was forced to sit under a water slide after missing out on the mad dash.

Hotels across southern Spain were forced to crackdown last year on unruly behaviour as tourists battled for the best sunbathing spots.

One hotel on the Costa del Sol revealed that they were forced to introduce a parking ticket style system – with towels left on beds unattended removed after a time limit.

Meanwhile at a Greek resort where a similar policy was meant to be enforced, one German family was awarded a £280 payout after missing out on a sunbed.

The family, who spent £4,532 on their break last summer, were awarded the cash after they were they were unable to get any loungers at their Rhodes hotel one morning.

Managers at the TUI Kids Club Atlantica Mikri Poli hotel had been operating a policy that meant guests who put down towels on any of their 500 beds had to use them within 30 minutes. The court found that in this case, the policy was not implemented.