Central London was a scene of chaos on Friday evening as crowds of youths ran riot through the busy Oxford Circus area looting shops, fighting, jumping on luxury cars, and assaulting police officers. Met Police have confirmed that several people have been arrested as a result of the disorder which they were called to just before 6pm on August 12.

Videos being shared online show crowds of youths running around the roads in the area, at one point several boys jumping on to the back of a red Ferrari supercar as it tries to make its way down the street. Later on a number of people could be seen pouring out of an American Candy Shop on Oxford Street with armfuls of apparently stolen goods.

Police later confirmed that several groups were going around shops stealing a number of different items. Police could also be seen trying to tame the crowd, with several police vans visible in the area and a helicopter overhead as at least one youth was arrested in the street by officers while the crowd watched on.

The Met confirmed a Section 60 order and Section 35 Dispersal Order are now in place for the area around Oxford Circus to prevent any further flare ups of disorder. A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police were called at 17:53hrs to Oxford Circus W1 to a group of youths gathering and concerns around a fight.

“Officers responded. Several pockets of youths are reported to have entered a number of shops and stolen various items. Several arrests have been made for theft and assault on police. Police continue work to disperse them. A Section 60 and Section 35 Dispersal Order are in place. The National Police Air Service provided assistance.”

The scenes, which have ben going viral in a series of TikTok videos, have shocked Londoners. Writing on Twitter, Shohaib said: “What’s all this I’m hearing about central London link ups. All this about Oxford Street, Ferraris, people stealing from those [American] sweet shops and police vans. Bro wtf is happening.”

Really struggling to understand how we’ve reached a stage where kids running amok in Oxford Street, looting, harassing and going toe-to-toe with (largely ineffective) police has become an occurrence not even considered to be newsworthy in London.pic.twitter.com/W6b5aicMLc

— Ben Obese-Jecty (@BenObeseJecty) August 14, 2022