A viral video showing police searching two black brothers in Deptford has prompted an independent investigation into accusations of racism.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched the investigation this week after the brothers’ lawyer filed a formal complaint to the Met Police.

Shortly after 7.20pm on February 27 outside Star Jerk Hut Caribbean takeaway on Deptford High Street, officers stopped the two brothers and searched them as they suspected a drugs exchange had taken place. Both brothers were retrained and no drugs were found.

The video, taken by a bystander, has already been viewed over 200,000 times and showed the two men clearly furious that they were being targeted for a search, pointing out to the officers that they were brothers.

The incident was filmed by a number of people who were friends of the two men, with one of the people filming complaining that the police were “nuts” for choosing to search them.

The man filming said in the video: “He’s such a blessed brother as well – I was having a mad intellectual convo.”

Due to community concerns over the incident and the wider public interest in stop and search in general, the IOPC felt the incident merited an independent investigation.

The brothers allege that the officers did not have reasonable grounds to stop and search them and felt the decision was taken due to racial stereotyping and because they were standing outside a Caribbean takeaway.

Duwayne Brooks, outspoken campaigner against police racism and friend of Stephen Lawrence who was with him when he was killed in a racist attack in Eltham, was highly critical of the officers in the incident.

Speaking to News Shopper, the independent Lewisham mayoral candidate said: “There are strict rules about searching an individual and an officer must have reasonable belief that they will find the object they are looking for.

“This video has 200,000 hits. The impact of videos like this where it’s quite clear that these two gentlemen felt they were profiled has a negative impact on community engagement.

“Hence why if I become mayor of Lewisham I will reduce the searches for cannabis as we don’t have a cannabis problem in Lewisham and redirect those resources to removing knives off our streets.”

Jonathan Green, IOPC regional director for London, said: “This incident took place in public view and was filmed by one of the brothers concerned. It has been viewed over 200,000 times on social media and is clearly of concern to the complainants and to the wider local community.

“To uphold public confidence in the police complaints system we will now be investigating the use of stop and search tactics in this incident and whether the actions of those officers were appropriate and proportionate and followed approved police policies.”