Watch London thugs strip off in street brawl - as residents lament "broken Britain"

Horrified eye-witnesses have spoken out after two men were filmed taking their shirts off and fighting each other in the middle of a busy high street in ‘lawless’ London.

According to those on the ground, the two thugs punched and yelled at each other, before bystanders intervened and tried to separate them. One man, perhaps keen to win a Darwin award, stayed in the road - causing passing cars and buses to honk at him - before he was eventually dragged away from the scene by his friends.

The violent incident, which took place on Streatham High Road in south London, was captured on camera by local resident Kenneth Cooke. The 70-year-old was at home when he heard shouting from outside.

"It was mid-afternoon, and I heard a lot of yelling going on outside," Mr Cooke explained. "So, I looked out my window and two guys with their shirts off were punching each other in the middle of the road.

"Lots of people were trying to break them up. They were yelling and lots of buses and cars were honking. Eventually, one of them was dragged away by his friends – and the other guy tried to kick a motorcycle over three times before the rider pulled out what looked like a blade.

"Everyone then scattered and he rode off."

Mr Cooke said the pair had been separated by the time he started filming - but he did capture some of the aftermath before posting the video on community website NextDoor.

In the comments of the post, fellow Londoners lamented how the world has "gone mad".

Dave Hamilton said: "Broken, violent Britain - no surprises here. Spineless politicians, weak sentencing, absent policing."

Elaine Chambers added: "We are slowly becoming a lawless state where people have no regard for others."

And Majella McCaffrey said: "The world’s gone mad. Especially since lockdown, people’s anger has gone through the roof."