Mobile phone footage showing a man being hit at least twice by a 50,000-volt police Taser gun prompted an urgent inquiry yesterday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it was examining the two-minute video, posted on the website YouTube hours after the incident in Nottingham city centre.

Police were called in the early hours after nightclub bouncers asked for help to deal with “an aggressive customer”.

The footage shows a man being pinned to the ground by three policemen while a fourth discharges the stun gun. One of the officers appears to punch the man, who can be heard shouting while an officer demands that he stop resisting.

The officers grappling with the man stand back and shout “Taser, Taser, Taser” before the current is fired.

A crowd of people gathers nearby, and some are pushed away. A female bystander is overheard saying: “He doesn’t look like he’s resisting to me.” A male voice says: “I can’t wait to put this on YouTube.”

A Taser fires two barbs into a target that are attached by wires to the weapon. The current passes along the wires, incapacitating the subject.

The release of the clip echoed incidents from the G20 protests in London in April that have led to close scrutiny of public order policing.

Despite concerns about Tasers, Jacqui Smith, the former Home Secretary, in March announced an £8 million expansion in use of the weapon.

The programme will put an extra 7,000 Tasers in the hands of police, but not all forces have taken up the option. The Metropolitan Police Authority is reluctant to deploy the weapons, saying there is “no urgent operational demand for extra Tasers” in London. Nottinghamshire Constabulary is acquiring 200 new weapons. Last year the force deployed Tasers 686 times, though they were drawn only seven times and fired in three incidents.

A police spokesman said a man aged 40 had been charged with grievous bodily harm and released on bail. One officer was injured.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Davies said: “We understand that some members of the public may be concerned about this. The public’s trust and confidence is very important for us, which is why we have referred this matter for an objective investigation to the IPCC.”

An IPCC spokesman said that no complaint has been received from the man involved in the incident.

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