Oxford Street followed Southend disorder as Suella Braverman wants TikTok teen crime culprits to be hunted down

Oxford Street in London descended into chaos on Wednesday after hundreds of teenagers gathered in response to social media videos urging people to turn up and cause disruption.

Baton-wielding police clashed with dozens of people while officers on horseback dispersed crowds.

The Metropolitan Police said nine arrests were made and 34 dispersal orders were handed out.

A wider Section 35 dispersal order covering a large area of the West End is in effect until 07:00 BST on Friday.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said those responsible for the disorder seen in London’s Oxford Street area should be “hunted down and locked up”.

“We cannot allow the kind of lawlessness seen in some American cities to come to the streets of the UK,” Mrs Braverman said.

She added that she had requested a full incident report from the Metropolitan Police.

“The police have my full backing to do whatever necessary to ensure public order. Those responsible must be hunted down and locked up,” Mrs Braverman said.

By the evening, dozens of young people were seen making their way along Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End.

A McDonald’s restaurant and a gift shop were briefly attacked and several fights broke out among those gathered. The owner of a convenience store in Soho fought off about a dozen young people after they stormed his shop allegedly trying to steal items.

As a result of patrols across the day, the Met Police said one person was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal, one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, one for a public order offence and four others on suspicion of breaching the dispersal order.

The force added that two people were also arrested in Essex on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery “following online social media posts”.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan had urged people who had seen the videos on social media not to go to Oxford Street, saying: “Do not allow yourself to be sucked into an area that could be a high-crime area.”

The disorder followed recent disturbances near the seafront in Southend, Essex.

Police have issued similar dispersal orders in the town after social media posts encouraged people to gather there and “get lit”.