Police officers from the specialist TSG squad were called to Westfield shopping centre in Stratford close to the London Stadium to make eight arrests in total for offences including violent disorder, assault & carrying offensive weapons.
Images of stewards attempting to control crowds at Stratford’s Westfield were posted on social media as witnesses said there was no access to the shopping centre. A fight between youths broke out in the centre, leading to panic and “stampeding” as police were called in to deal with the chaos.
The shopping centre was evacuated according to some witnesses at the scene. Earlier in the day there were so many people at the centre stewards were using “human traffic lights” to control the flow of people.
Westfield Stratford said on Twitter there was a disturbance but insisted that the centre was not evacuated.
It said: “There was a minor disturbance early afternoon which has now been resolved.The centre was not evacuated and is trading normally. Westfield Stratford City is open until 10pm tonight for Boxing Day sales.”
West Ham is said to have an agreement with Westfield shopping not to play home games on Boxing day as it is the busiest day of the year for the shopping centre.
And goodwill to all men. #SMH @westfieldstrat and @metpoliceuk doing a quick, effective and proportionate response ✌ pic.twitter.com/J9KA4H3ks6
— Bilal Mahmood (@bilal_labour) December 26, 2017
Think you’ll find it was youts who were fighting….