Two men were filmed taking their shirts off and fighting each other in the middle of traffic on a busy London high street.

Passers-by were forced to intervene and separate the pair after they began to fight on Streatham High Road in the south of the city.

One man stayed in the road – causing passing cars and buses to honk at him – before he was eventually dragged away from the scene by his friends.

The incident was captured by 70-year-old Kenneth Cooke, who began filming when he heard shouting outside.

Mr Cooke said: ‘It was mid-afternoon, and I heard a lot of yelling going on outside. So, I looked out my window and two guys with their shirts off were punching each other in the middle of the road.

‘Lots of people were trying to break them up.’

Mr Cooke said the pair had been separated by the time he started filming – but he did capture some of the aftermath.

He added: ‘They were yelling and lots of buses and cars were honking.

‘Eventually, one of them was dragged away by his friends – and the other guy tried to kick a motorcycle over three times before the rider pulled out what looked like a blade.

‘Everyone then scattered and he rode off.’

The video, which was posted to community website NextDoor, has raised questions of safety in London.

Statistics released in late 2023 revealed that although the capital has a reputation for antisocial behaviour, it actually has one of the lowest levels in the UK.

A poll found 26.4% of people in London said they had witnessed or experienced antisocial behaviour in 2023, compared with 34.2% across England and Wales.

The murder rate has also dropped, with 110 murders recorded by the Metropolitan Police in 2023, down from 153 in 2019.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Sarah Hooper

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