“A 27-year-old man has been charged with causing bodily harm resulting in death. He denies committing an offence and said under questioning that he doesn’t recall what happened,” said prosecutor Jon H. Borgen.

Police found the woman lying on the floor after responding to a report of a fight at a pub in Porsgrunn, in southeast Norway, at 7pm on Saturday.

Early reports suggested police were unsure whether the suspect had hit the victim, whom they initially believed may have suffered a heart attack or an epileptic fit.

However, according to Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), when it later came to light that the man had assaulted other members of staff by punching them, police arrested him and brought him in for questioning.

A post mortem examination will be carried out on the female guard to establish the cause of death.

On Monday, the 27-year-old was officially remanded into custody for four weeks under suspicion of causing the death of the security guard.