A CLASH between travellers at the wake of Paddy Doherty’s horse trainer nephew was sparked by a married man eyeing up another woman, witnesses claim.

The argument involved around 50 mourners surging down the street outside the Edmund Tylney pub in Leatherhead last night.

Two men, who are not pictured, were trading blows in the middle of the melee as women and children screamed over the scrap.

Later one woman could be heard saying her husband had been eyeing up another mourner at the funeral wake – sparking the fight.

The offending husband was later seen holding a young crying boy and shouting: “look what you’ve made me do!”

A witness said: “The argument had been going for a while and then it just kicked off. One woman was screaming at her husband for looking at another woman and then her bloke came up and all hell broke loose with punches flying all over.”

Celeb Big Brother winner Paddy, 59, and Mary Connors, the grieving mum of killed Mikey, were seen drinking at the booze-fuelled wake.

Staff closed the pub early at 10pm and asked the couple of hundred travellers to leave with the help of cops who were on the scene.

One said today: “They just invaded the town and it was too much.

“They were all over here and it just had to stop after the fight so we shut up early and asked them to leave.”

Mourners had taken over the surrounding pubs and restaurants while youngsters ran around the streets in Leatherhead’s usually sleepy town centre.

Women dressed in glamorous outfits were knocking back bottles of wine at the wake and on the street outside while the men drank pints of Guinness and beer.

The festivities had been peaceful until the scrap broke out just after 9pm.

Children were heard screaming “mummy, mummy, mummy” as glass shattered on the street but the situation appeared to have been defused by 9.30pm.

Six police cars and a van were on the scene in minutes for what officers today described as a “disturbance involving a large group of people”.

They had also warned the Met Police to watch out for any trouble from mourners heading into nearby Kingston but there were no further reports of violence in the town.

In a statement to The Sun Online, a spokesman for JD Wetherspoon said: "We can confirm that The Edmund Tylney, in Leatherhead, was the venue for approximately 70 customers, many of them regulars, following the funeral of a well-known local man.

"During the evening, an altercation between two men from the group took place outside, in the street near to the pub. There was no incident or problems inside the pub, at any stage."

They continued: "The police attended the incident outside and advised pub staff to close the premises. The pub was closed for the rest of the evening, following this advice.
"Police have subsequently reviewed CCTV footage from the pub and are completely satisfied with the safety and security procedures in operation."

Mikey’s funeral casket had been engraved with crown which mourners claim was adorned with £100,000 of jewels – in honour of his nickname as “The King of the Road”.

Mikey, 32, was killed in a horse and cart race last month.

More than 2,000 people brought the Surrey stockbroker town of Ashtead to a standstill as a fleet of 16 white Rolls Royces drove Paddy and pals to the service yesterday.

Mourners then travelled to Epsom racecourse and blocked off the road with their Range Rovers, waving on local traffic, to hold a horse and trap race before the burial.

The suited travellers raced their traps up and down the road yelling “go on, Mikey Connors” and “this is how we send Mikey off!” as the horses hurtled along the road.

The Mercedes funeral hearse, with 32-year-old Connors’s coffin still inside, raced alongside the traps with youngsters and his mum Mary leaning out the window to shout Mikey’s name.

The hearse then joined the eight horse-carts as they raced at high speed along the road dotted by police officers.

Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty stood in the road shouting 'oi, oi' to keep the parade together as the horse-carts were flanked by the white Mercedes.

Meanwhile a small aircraft circled overhead with a giant banner reading “Mikey Connors – Legend – RIP” before the coffin was transferred to a horse-drawn carriage on its way to the cemetery.

His pale-blue coffin was inscribed with the words "our one in a billion" and took centre stage of the emotional tribute with his mum Mary weeping over the casket alongside his young wife Lizzie.

Yesterday, Paddy paid tribute to Mikey – remembering him as a "fighter, singer, dancer".

Wiping tears from his eyes after the service, Paddy told The Sun: "Mikey was just like Father Christmas – everybody loved him. It was a hugely emotional service with tears everywhere.

“He wasn’t a five star bloke, he was a twenty star bloke. His daughter said in the church, ‘I know my daddy will have the best time in heaven because he always had the best of everything.'

“We weren’t allowed to cry at my father’s funeral because that’s what he asked for and the way he was. But my father wasn’t there today so everyone was crying their eyes out.”

There were flowers adorning large photos of Mikey and his family – from holidays to Universal Studios to smiling family portraits with Paddy.

Written on one tribute to Mikey was "352 World Record" – possibly relating to horsecart racing – clearly a major part of Mikey's 30-year-long life.

There was also a small white bungalow of flowers with a black roof and brown trim – written on top was 'may you get the best bed in heaven'.

A Rolex watch was made of brown flowers – displaying the time of 2.46, with the date '21'.

The coffin was held on the shoulders of ten smartly dressed men as a young girl and boy – believed to be Mikey's children, led the procession.

They held a 'WBC' boxing belt and a framed photo of Mikey kissing a small child.

A woman followed the coffin with a speaker, which played 'A Place in the Sun' by Stevie Wonder, followed by 'Shotgun' by George Ezra.

Some of the crowd sang along, while other pumped the air with their hands.

The funeral of dad-of-two Mikey – who had been regarded as a "hero" and "brilliant fighter" by fellow travellers – was under tight police security.

Cops were pictured trying to control the traffic yesterday morning as a fleet of 16 Rolls Royce Phantom cars arrived at St Michaels Church in Ashtead.

The cortege was made up of white Rolls-Royce cars with blue flags on top, which brought traffic to a standstill after driving the mourners to the church.

Mikey’s horse Big T, killed in the same crash which led to the arrest of a man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, was also commemorated at the ceremony with flowers in his name.

Tragic Mikey – a lookalike for his famous TV uncle Paddy – was revered as a champion horse trainer who ran a stud farm near to his burial place.

Police mounted a huge security operation to prevent any violence as travellers arrived from across the world for the big send-off yesterday morning.

At the funeral mourners were asked to be dressed fit for a summer ball by wearing powder blue outfits – Mikey's favourite colour.

Women arrived in striking dresses, high heels and traditional costume jewellery – while the men donned shades, smart suits and slicked-back hair.

Travellers came from as far afield as America and Switzerland to pay their respects to the 32-year-old.

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At the time of his death friends and family took to social media to pay tribute to the dad.

Brother Simey Connors wrote: “I promised you (to) stay strong Mikey.

“It’s getting harder already you don’t understand how much I miss you brother.”

Another friend added: “Such a huge loss and all we can live for is memories and remember the smiles he gave everyone.”

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