Families ‘barricaded’ inside shops after gangs of teenagers swarm Clapham high street

Mobs of teenagers ran riot through the streets of south London and Birmingham during Easter holiday ‘linkups’.

Two were arrested after crowds of youths flooded several shops in Clapham.

A Marks and Spencer Food Hall closed early fearing a repeat of the weekend’s scenes when bands of teens rushed the store.

The nearby Waitrose, McDonald’s and Sainsbury’s all similarly shuttered up as police officers tried to quell the anti-social behaviour.

Terrified families were ‘barricaded’ inside the latter supermarket as the swarms of youths, many clad all in black, took over the high street, the Daily Mail reports.

Messages posted to social media appeared to indicate the disorder was the latest in a trend of ‘linkups’, when large groups of teenagers arrange to meet up and cause chaos.

Videos and comments from people who were there called it ‘the Clapham courts linkup’, or simply ‘Clapham courts’ or ‘courts’.

Coming just days into the Easter holidays, it has sparked concerns the scenes could be repeated while children are off school.

A similar mass gathering took place in Birmingham on Friday as youngsters headed straight into the city centre after the last day of term.

Videos posted to social media showed swarms of hooded youths rampaging through the streets, fighting and tearing through shops.

The Met Police confirmed two people were arrested.

A spokesperson said: ‘Officers are on the scene, and a dispersal order has been put in place, meaning anyone congregating must leave the area.

‘At this time two teenage girls have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. They have been taken into custody.

‘Officers will remain in the area to offer support and respond to any concerns from local residents and businesses.’

The chaotic scenes came just two days after as many as 100 youths descended on the Marks and Spencer, where police officers fought to maintain order in a packed frozen food aisle.

The Met said two 16-year-old girls and a 15-year-old girl were arrested for shoplifting and assault.

A security guard at the store told the Mail he had to lock shoppers in briefly yesterday before they were escorted out by police and they closed up early for the day.

He said: ‘Police warned us there would be chaos so we prepared for it because of what happened last Saturday.

‘There were loads of kids sprinting and shouting and police advised all the shops to close for one hour.’

He added: ‘We had to lock shoppers in, at 8.15pm we let them out one by one with police and security holding the doors shut and escorting them out.

‘Shoppers were very scared. There was one lady with a pram and a baby. She was terrified but police escorted her to safety.’

The chaos continued into the evening, when dozens of youths faced off against police who had been drafted in to disperse the crowds.

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