If Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are intent on ingratiating themselves with Liverpool supporters again, they have a funny way of going about it. Gillett's claims during a meeting on Saturday morning with Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool supporters' union, that the club were in a sound financial state were met with derision, while the news yesterday that Alex Hicks, one of Hicks's sons, had been involved in a hotel fracas over the weekend that resulted in a bodyguard employed by the family being arrested and charged, served only to underline a seemingly persistent knack for controversy.

No wonder thousands of Liverpool fans attended a march in protest at the Americans' continued ownership of the club before the 2-1 Barclays Premier League victory over Manchester United at Anfield.

Police were called to the Hard Days Night Hotel in North John Street, Liverpool, shortly after 5am on Sunday after reports of a disturbance. Witnesses claimed that alcohol and cutlery were thrown out of an upstairs window on to the street below.

A Liverpool man, a minder for the Hicks family, was arrested after a security guard was punched in the face, police confirmed. Paul Pratt, a 40-year-old former policeman, of Maryfield Road, Cressington, was bailed to appear before Liverpool magistrates on September 30.

It is understood that the fracas revolved around Alex Hicks and his group of friends, who were staying at the hotel. Sources said that a room service tray was hurled from one of the top floors of the four-star Grade II-listed building and landed on Harrington Street, which prompted the hotel's security team into action.

The Hard Days Night alleged that one of its members of staff had been assaulted. A hotel official said: “There was an altercation during which a security guard working for us sustained injuries.

“It involved a party of Alex Hicks, who was staying at the hotel, although the offence did not involve Alex Hicks himself.”

Alex Hicks had attended Liverpool's game against United the previous day, although he is not the first of Tom Hicks's sons to become embroiled in controversy. Tom Hicks Jr, who was appointed to the Liverpool board of directors in the wake of his father's takeover of the club last year, was heckled by angry Liverpool fans and spat at in the Sandon pub outside Anfield after a Premier League match against Middlesbrough in February.