Police today appealed for witnesses to a mass brawl in Richmond town centre.

Officers were called to the Quadrant after reports of a group of youths attacking a lone man, at about 2am last Saturday.

When three passers-by tried to help him, the yobs turned on them. As the fight escalated, the group grew in size - eight youths aged in their mid teens to mid twenties were involved, police said.

Police arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of assault and public order offences. He has since appeared before magistrates and been bailed pending further enquiries.

Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service treated at least three people at the scene for face and head injuries.

It is not yet clear if anyone received hospital treatment, as the crowd had fled before police arrived.

Detective Sergeant Dave Bolton, from the serious violence unit based at Richmond, said: “I believe there would have been a number of people out socialising in the Quadrant area around the time of the incident and I urge those people who may have witnessed the sequence of events that night to call us.”

Safer neighbourhood teams and officers on high visibility patrol will be in Richmond and Twickenham town centres tonight and tomorrow evening handing out appeal leaflets and speaking to the public.

Did you see what happened? Call the newsdesk on 020 8744 4271.