Teenagers wreak havoc in Clapham during Easter holiday ‘link up’

Teenagers stormed the streets of a south London neighborhood as part of an Easter holiday “connection”, prompting people to barricade shops.

Footage on social media showed a large crowd of young people, many wearing masks, gathering on Clapham High Street on Tuesday evening, with many supermarkets forced to close their doors.

Police appeared to be in the area and made several arrests.

In a TikTok video, smoke can be seen billowing from Clapham Common, attended by several police officers, and the caption reads: “DO NOT participate in Clapham Courts connections.”

Another clip showed teenagers gathering outside the local McDonald’s and speeding away when a police car pulled up.

Local resident Nicola James told LBC the incident was “complete chaos”.

He said: “There were about 200 to 300 people, all young and wearing lots of balaclavas… Large groups of people would start screaming and then run down the main street, but also down the middle of the road.

“At one point there were piles of them outside Holland and Barrett, and there were probably 20 police officers keeping them away.

“It felt like a really intense situation and you weren’t quite sure what was going on or what was really going to happen next.”

She added: “It’s so crazy. It’s pretty scary for this to happen right on your front door.”

Schools were closed for the Easter holidays last Friday and disruption was also reported in Clapham on Saturday.

The Metropolitan Police were forced to issue a dispersal order after more than 100 young people gathered at a supermarket following reports of theft.

The Met said of Saturday’s incident: “At around 4.45pm on Saturday, March 28, police responded to reports of a group of approximately 100 young people causing antisocial behavior and shoplifting at a number of businesses on Clapham High Street.

“Officers obtained a dispersal warrant and arrested three people. Three girls, two aged 16 and one aged 15, were arrested on charges of theft and assault. They were later released on bail.”