A murder inquiry was under way today (Monday, August 16) after a fight at a wedding reception at an Oxford hotel left a man dead.

A police van outside the Holiday Inn yesterday

Police were called to the Holiday Inn, by the Pear Tree roundabout in north Oxford, at 11.30pm on Saturday (August 14) after reports of a fracas in the hotel's reception area.

Samuel Barr, 28, of Woking, Surrey, died of head injuries at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, in the early hours of Sunday.

One witness, who asked not to be named, said an argument broke out in the reception area and she saw someone being hit with a chair.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Vicki Evans confirmed a murder inquiry had been launched and that hotel guests were being questioned.

She added: "The murder inquiry is ongoing - so far there haven't been any arrests."

Duty manager Birgitte Surtees confirmed police had been carrying out an investigation throughout Sunday (August 15).

Parts of the hotel were cordoned off.

Julia Sinnett, duty manager of the Holiday Inn, owned by Windsor-based Intercontinental, said today that hotel staff would not be making any further comment because a police investigation had been launched.

The murder inquiry is being headed by the Thames Valley Police major crime department.

This latest death is the second in just over a year at the site, which houses the Holiday Inn hotel and a Travel Lodge hotel.

In June, lorry driver Stephen Ellis, of Reading, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Donna Rowe, 29, whose body was found by workers at the Travel Lodge on August 3 last year. He was given a seven-year jail sentence.

The court heard how a row had flared up at a family wedding in Oxford, where Miss Rowe had been drinking.

She and Ellis had been taking drugs, including cocaine, the night before the wedding. Miss Rowe was found with a hairdryer lead around her neck, clothing around her face and a pillow over her head.