Hundreds of masked youths rampage through Clapham on ‘link-up’ -as two girls arrested over ‘assault on emergency worker’
Hundreds of teenagers amassed on the high street as they ran riot in the south London neighbourhood.
Two teenage girls have been arrested on suspicion of assualting an emergency worker after huge crowds of youths caused chaos on Clapham High Street.
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The suspects remain in police custody following the commotion which broke out on Tuesday evening.
Footage from the chaotic scenes shows hundreds of teenagers amassing on the high street as they ran riot in the south London neighbourhood.
Residents told LBC large groups roamed the streets wearing balaclavas, forcing shops and supermarkets near Clapham Common to close while others 'scuffled with police' as dozens of officers arrived on the scene.
A Metropolitan Police inspector imposed a Section 35 dispersal order across much of Clapham due to the chaos, giving officers extra powers to order certain individuals to leave the area.
In one video clip, large swathes of teenagers are seen gathered outside a Sainsbury's before they scramble away when a police car pulls up.
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Ryan Love, a witness, told LBC he went out for a walk on the Common at around 6pm when he saw a group of around 100 teenagers gathered by the basketball courts.
Just 40 minutes later, he saw them "marching towards the high street" before they "all just started running".
"Once we got to the high street, all the shops had closed. There was a queue for me. I was M&S food. We joined the queue to get in but after 15 minutes realised it was not opening anytime soon."
He added: "There was lots of running and screaming and not much actually happening because the police were blocking them from getting into shops and all the other shops had closed and locked their doors."
Nicola James, a Clapham resident, described the scenes as "total chaos".
She told LBC:"There was about 200-300 people, all teenagers, heaps of them wearing balaclavas... Big groups of them would just start screaming and then running up the high street, but also in the middle of the road.
"There were heaps of them outside Holland and Barrett at one point and probably 20 police officers were just keeping them at bay.
"it just felt like a really intense situation and you weren't quite sure what was going on or what was really going to happen next."
She added: "It's just insane. It's quite frightening to have it happen right outside your front door."
A Met spokesperson said: “Police are responding to an ongoing incident on Clapham High Street following reports of a large crowd of young people causing anti-social behaviour.
“Officers are on the scene, and a dispersal order has been put in place, meaning anyone congregating must leave the area.
“At this time two teenage girls have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. They have been taken to custody.
"Officers will remain in the area to offer support and respond to any concerns from local residents and businesses."