A brawl between more than 100 schoolchildren broke out in Northumberland Heath last night, resulting in seven arrests and two teenagers needing hospital treatment.

Shocking footage on social media showed the chaotic scenes as youths, said to be from rival gangs, clashed near the Duchess of Kent Pub in Brook Street.

Police and specialist officers with dogs descended on the area after reports of a “large fight between a group of youths” at about 5.40pm.

More than 40 calls were made to the emergency services, as every officer in Bexley was deployed to five incidents in different locations.

Police were initially called to a disturbance between a large group of youths on the Broadway in Bexleyheath at around 4.30pm.

Officers broke up the fight but some of those involved then made their way to Northumberland Heath.

Some of the youngsters, who are believed to be between the ages of 13 and 21, were reportedly armed with baseball bats, knives and firearms.

Police said two teenagers aged between 15 and 19 suffered non-life threatening injuries and were taken to a south London hospital for treatment.

Seven males aged 15 to 21 were arrested and taken to a south London police station where they remain in custody.

Danny White, who saw the carnage continue in Bexley Road from a shop he was working at, told News Shopper he had never seen anything that extreme before in his life.

He said: “They were trying to calm someone down, he was saying ‘I don’t care if I do it fam’ then you heard someone shout ‘someone’s got a knife’ and ‘someone’s got a gun’.

“I told my co-worker to lock our door because these kids were trying to kick down the door to a sweetshop.

“I live and work around here and you don’t get too much drama in Northumberland Heath. Seeing something like that – it was crazy and I’ve never seen anything that extreme before in my life.”

The 21-year-old added: “The sweetshop is called Eddie’s Convenience Store. It’s run by two brothers, nice lads and I see them all the time.

“I closed my shop at 8.30pm and there was still drama going on - it was unbelievable.”

Bexley borough Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe said there will be extra patrols in the borough in a bid to reassure the community.

He said: "This incident was a large scale fight in a public area and would have been shocking to anyone who witnessed it.

"The safety of young people in our borough and the wider community is paramount.

"We are actively investigating what happened and take matters like this extremely seriously.

"I would appeal to anyone with information about what happened to contact us. They can speak to their schools liaison officer or they can do this anonymously through Crimestoppers."

He added: "Officers will be contacting those people who contacted police over the next coming days as part of the investigation, and to provide further reassurance."

One of the most shocking videos captured on Snapchat shows a group of thugs armed with sticks kicking and beating someone lying on the ground, before a woman intervenes to break up the fight.

One passer-by, who took a video of the incident, told News Shopper: “This is what we as residents had to put up with tonight at Northumberland Heath.

“Rival gangs most in school uniform. I've never seen anything like this - this area is going downhill fast.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: “Dozens of police and the eye in the sky have been dealing with a large gang of youths armed with knives and other weapons at a popular park at Brook Street Northumberland Heath tonight.

“Residents have been made prisoners in their homes after the gang descended on the area.”


Bexley Councillor Danny Hackett said: “Concerned about reports of violence and fighting around Northumberland Heath involving youths.”

MP Teresa Pearce said on Twitter: "Seeking urgent meetings with partners about tonight's serious disturbance in North Heath."

Anyone with information or who witnessed the disturbance can call Bexley police on 020 8284 9146, the police non-emergency line on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.