Police have begun an inquiry after a freelance photographer complained that he was punched by a security guard employed by the four-girl pop group All Saints.

The alleged incident took place on a remote beach in Norfolk.

The group - whose hits include I Know Where It's At and Never Ever - had hired the guard to protect them while they filmed a video for their new single Pure Shores.

Photographer Rob Howarth, 33, said he was attacked after being confronted by two "20-stone plus" security men at Wells-next-the-Sea.

Howarth, of Lowestoft in Suffolk, said he went to hospital for checks after the incident left him with a swollen nose and headaches.

"I was walking up the sandbanks when I was approached by a security guard who said I didn't want to be taking pictures," he said.

He continued: "I was told to leave and warned that it was a place where 'nasty accidents could happen'. I left and went elsewhere but came across the same two men.

"One said I was a persistent so and so and struck me in the face. There was blood flying everywhere."

All Saints - who are made up of singers Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis and sisters Natalie and Nicole Appleton - were not available for comment.

A spokesman for the group's record company, London Records, said he had no knowledge of the alleged incident.