Six police officers and members of custody staff have been injured while dealing with a woman who had been arrested in Swindon, Wiltshire Police said.
A female detention officer suffered a hairline fracture of her arm when she was bitten during the incident in Gablecross police station on Saturday night.
Officers had been called to Groves Street in the town at about 10.40pm after reports of a brick being thrown through a window.
A 42-year-old local woman was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and “she became abusive and aggressive to officers and staff and bit, scratched and pushed those who were trying to deal with her, ” Wiltshire Police said.
Inspector Carly Nesbitt said: “It is completely unacceptable that our officers and staff were subjected to this nasty assault while simply doing their job.”
The female detention officer was taken to hospital for treatment on her arm injury and is now recovering at home.
Wiltshire Police described the majority of the injuries to the six police officers and custody staff as minor.
The incident comes after growing concern about violence faced by officers and Katy Bourne, new chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), suggested there should be no tolerance for attacks on police officers.
Mrs Bourne told the PA news agency: “If you attack a police officer, you need to know you will go to prison; no ifs, no buts.
“I think a strengthening of the sentences there would be very welcome. I’m sure the public feel exactly the same.
“How have we come (to a point) as a society to the fact where we almost accept this every day?”
