- A huge crowd of young people gathered outside luxury department store Harrods in Knightsbridge, London
- Chaotic scenes ensued as the large group attempted to enter Harrods, and crowded together in the streets
- Four arrests were made after Metropolitan Police were called to the scene and the crowd has since dispersed
- Shocking scenes at Harrods come as revellers also gathered in Covent Garden in London's West End last night
- Do you know any of the young people who gathered outside Harrods last night? Let us know:
Hundreds of young people tried to enter Harrods last night, causing mayhem by gathering outside the London store and prompting four arrests after police swooped in.
Chaotic scenes ensued at the luxury department store in exclusive Knightsbridge as the large group attempted to enter and crowded together in the streets outside on Saturday.
The group was made up of hundreds of young people who were not wearing masks and were not paying attention to social distancing.Police were called to the store just after 1pm and four arrests were made for affray and Covid rule breaches and the crowd later dispersed.
However, photographs taken around 5.30pm showed people still standing packed closely together, chatting and laughing with each other as they far outnumbered the police presence.
Many of those in the group appeared to be heavily made up, looking as though they were heading for a night out on the town.
Piers Morgan led the outrage against the scenes, tweeting on Sunday morning: 'Harrods yesterday afternoon. What a sick joke. Imagine how NHS workers feel seeing such selfish reckless behaviour?'
Covent Garden was also packed with revellers last night on the first weekend following the lifting of the second nationwide lockdown restrictions. Witnesses described how fights broke out with bottles being thrown and one guard being 'punched' amid the carnage.
Kamran Hussain, 20, who works for Harrods as a Sales Associate said: 'I was going out for my lunch and I saw a big crowd of people who were all dressed up.
'I went back in and was like Covid-19 is still going on, right? I looked outside and it looked like there was a rave. 'They looked like they were dressed up to go to a club or something.
'I think they knew each other because they were speaking to each other. I was a bit worried because I needed to get lunch and couldn't get through.'
Sam Tressle, 26, from Havering in east London, was manning a coffee stand nearby and said: 'I was just about to hitch up my Piaggio and then suddenly people started running. There were about 200 to 300 people.
'They just crowded the area and no one was wearing masks in there. 'When I was at the door there was a girl saying 'you're racist towards us because we're travellers'. They all looked very similar, all the boys had the same hair cuts and were wearing the same sort of clothes. They were probably as young as 12 all the way up to early 20s.'
Fellow barista Liam Maddin, 27, added: 'I probably noticed them around 11.30am and they were still here when we were leaving around 5.30pm. The sheer number of them in such a confined space, you just never know. I had a negative coronavirus test for uni yesterday and you just think all those people and, the younger you are, the more likely you are to be asymptomatic.' The shocking scenes at Harrods come as revellers also gathered in Covent Garden in London's West End on Saturday night as crowds formed to listen to a busker.
Drinkers braved the wintry weather last night as they socialised in a crowd holding drinks and dancing.
London remains in Tier 2 in the new tier system during the coronavirus pandemic. Those living in Tier 2 can socialise outdoors with people outside their household, as long as they observe the rule of six.
Pubs have had their curfew extended to 11pm but can can only serve alcohol with a 'substantial meal' and in Tier 3 they are limited to just takeaways.
A Met Police spokeswoman said: 'Police were called at 1.09pm on Saturday to reports of a large group of people attempting to enter a shop in Brompton Road.
'Four males were arrested in total - two for affray, one for breach of Covid regulations, and another for a public order offence and breach of Covid regulations. The crowd have since dispersed.'Police were initially called to the store just after 1pm and the crowd was dispersed. However, photographs taken around 5.30pm showed people still standing packed closely together, chatting and laughing with each other as they far outnumbered the police presence.
Many of those in the group appeared to be heavily made up, looking as though they were heading for a night out on the town.
Piers Morgan led the outrage against the scenes, tweeting on Sunday morning: 'Harrods yesterday afternoon. What a sick joke. Imagine how NHS workers feel seeing such selfish reckless behaviour?'
A witness who wished to remain anonymous told MailOnline: 'There was a lot of beer bottles being thrown around, a lot of violence. I work in Knightsbridge and I really feared to get robbed and attacked when I went out for my break, they were like hooligans they broke displays for a cafe.'
Another said: 'I was outside and in Harrods last night. This was not just a random crowd of young people, they were travellers.
'They crowded every entrance and exit, some of them tried getting into the store and punched a security guard. 'They were threatening members of the public and there were a few fights in-store and outside.
'Obviously no attention to any COVID laws, they even spat at some members of security and the public. No masks, no social distancing - nothing. Harrods really tried their best to enforce, but there were thousands.'
A spokeswoman for Harrods told MailOnline: 'We can confirm that a crowd gathered outside Harrods yesterday and were dispersed by police.
'As this is a police matter and took place outside the store we are unable to comment on details, however at Harrods we have significant measures in place to ensure the absolute health and safety of our colleagues and customers inside the store.
'This includes the mandatory wearing of face covering at all times, strict capacity limits and restrictions on groups of more than six entering, with under-18’s always accompanied by an adult.On Saturday, shoppers also made up for lost time during lockdown as they hit the high streets in their droves to do Christmas shopping after outlets re-opened following the lifting of the nationwide restrictions.
London's Regent Street in Central London, which had been pedestrianised to woo back shoppers, was rammed with people at the start of what was expected to be a £1.5billion spending spree yesterday.
People were out in force on the first non-working day since lockdown ended on December 2, in the hope of snapping up Christmas deals with prices slashed by up to 80 per cent.
They were pictured carrying bags of goods and waiting in queues outside stores, including Primark and the soon-to-be-closing Debenhams.
Last year, the average Briton spent £1,116 each on Christmas, but that is expected to rise after this difficult year.
Retailers hope pre-Christmas purchases will breathe life back into a sector which has been hammered by the shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The boost for struggling stores comes after a week of high street woes as 26,500 jobs were put at risk at retailers including Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group and Debenhams - which have been severely impacted by the pandemic.