Hundreds of maskless young people ‘try to storm Harrods’

The exclusive department store was overrun with crowds over the weekend (Picture: Elliott Franks)

Harrods was swarmed by hundreds of young people and teenagers sparking police to intervene and make four arrests.

The famous luxury department store in Knightsbridge, London, was overrun with huge crowds of people appearing to ignore social distancing rules.

Almost none were seen wearing masks as they crammed into the space outside the store and tried to enter it on on Saturday afternoon.

Police arrived at the scene shortly after 1pm and arrested four people on suspicion of affray, flouting Covid-19 rules and a public order offence.

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Police were called to the store (Picture: Phil Lewis/WENN)

But photographs taken at around 5.30pm showed large crowds were still crammed into the street outside chatting and laughing, before they were dispersed.

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Passersby took to Twitter to call out the scenes, with one writing ‘Lockdown 3.0 is coming’.

Another uploaded a video of the large gathering, showing people mingling and some had plastic bottles in hand.

Save Night Clubs shared the video and wrote: ‘This is happening outside Harrods and many other shops in London, people walking shoulder to shoulder, meanwhile thousands of people from the entertainment business are not able to work for over 1 year!’

YounNone appeared to be wearing masks as they crammed into the street outside (Picture: Elliott Franks)

It is not known why so many were attempting to enter the exclusive department store, but many appeared to be dressed for a night out.

Police made four arrests after being called to the scene (Picture: Elliott Franks) Groups gathered in the afternoon and remained there until the evening (Picture: Phil Lewis/WENN)

It is believed some were intending to head to Harvey Nichols inside the store for drinks.

In a statement, Met Police said: ‘Police were called at around 13:09hrs on Saturday, 5 December to reports of a large group of people attempting to enter a shop in Brompton Road, SW1. 

‘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.’ 

Covent Garden in London’s West End was also packed with crowds on Saturday night, who enjoyed live music and danced under Christmas decorations.

London is currently under tier two restrictions, meaning large gatherings are illegal and only six people from separate households are permitted to meet up outside.

It is not clear why the large crowds gathered outside Harrods (Picture: Elliott Franks) Covent Garden was also packed as people listened to live music (Picture: Getty) People sing and dance to Christmas songs in Covent Garden (Picture: Reuters)

Pubs, restaurants and bars are allowed to open as long as they can serve a ‘substantial meal’ with drinks and must close at 11pm.

But those from separate households are not allowed to meet up indoors and can only enjoy a meal at a pub or a restaurant if they sit outside.

A Harrods spokesperson told Metro.co.uk the crowd was dispersed yesterday but added that it cannot comment on details as it was a police matter.

They added: ‘However at Harrods we have significant measures in place to ensure the absolute health and safety of our colleagues and customers inside the store.

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‘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.  

‘Our security and retail teams implement these policies at entrances throughout the store and we will continue to deny entry to anyone who does not adhere to these guidelines.’

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