Halloween rideout: Dozens of masked bikers cause carnage on busy east London streets

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Dozens of masked bikers rampaged through east London spraying fire extinguishers at terrified passersby as part of an annual Halloween rideout.

A police car windscreen was smashed amid the carnage as witnesses described riders pulling stunts and speeding the wrong way on busy main roads.

CCTV footage captured the moment a man was slapped in the face outside a nightclub as the thugs mounted the pavement and flooded a pedestrianised street.

Four people were arrested and three motorcycles were recovered, police said. The disturbance came after the Met promised a crackdown on rideouts across the capital.

Rideout: One biker was seen slapping a passerby in the face

The rideout is believed to have started in Essex at about 7pm before travelling on major roads through Romford, Ilford, and Gants Hill in east London.

Jose Martins, the manager of Kosho nightlcub in Romford, said CCTV footage showed twenty to thirty bikers race past the entrance of the club.

He said: “You can see one of the bikers drive into the entrance, where he sprays the fire extinguisher and goes off. Then one of them hits a pedestrian as they drive past.

“I was really surprised. It’s serious - if people think they can get away with it they can do it anytime. If they do it there’s no police that can stop them.

“This is a pedestrian street so they shouldn’t have been anywhere near the club. You can see they drive right up on it, it could have been really dangerous.

“Maybe the bikers were kids, maybe they think it’s funny but it’s not funny, it’s serious. It might be a Halloween joke to them but it’s not to us.”

A large group of bikers also gathered outside nearby Romford police station and smashed a police car windscreen.

Romford: The riders were caught on CCTV passing along a pedestrianised street in the east London town

Other witnesses reported seeing more than a hundred riders meeting in a supermarket car park before setting off on the rideout.

One Facebook user said: “Lots of bike action tonight. More than 100 met in Dagenham Asda car park, then were seen throwing some sort of white powder over people near Romford station. Be alert, these were on and off road bikes scooters and quads.”

Officers deployed a range of tactics, including stingers to burst tyres, to make their arrests.

Superintendent Tania Coulson said: ”The group of individuals who came out today were intent on causing crime, and we saw the same levels of anti-social behaviour we have witnessed over the past few years.

“The policing plan, working with our colleagues in neighbouring forces, meant that the group were targeted in areas which minimised the risk to the public, and could not enter central London.”

Last Halloween hundreds of masked bikers descended on Oxford Street and threw firecrackers at terrified shoppers on a rideout that began in Blackheath, south London.

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