Today Clapham High Street feels just like any other in Britain. Shops are open, busses are running and people are going about their every day business.
A stark change of scene to the mob-like atmosphere that engulfed this South West London high street last night.
Hundreds of teenagers and young people gathered outside shops, many of them wearing balaclavas. The situation was described to GB News as being like something out of the film The Purge.
Today there’s a stronger than normal police presence on the High Street, aimed at reassuring local residents and businesses. Last night many of them were forced to take shelter.
Charles, who works at Tapi Carpets and Floors on Clapham High Street, told me a pregnant woman and her husband were forced to take shelter in his shop when hundreds of teens were rushing towards them.
"She was panicking, she was really, really panicked. Her husband was having to calm her down", he said. Charles locked the door of his shop while they took shelter for a quarter of an hour.
But Charles tells me he’s worried that more of these gatherings could take place.
This is the second one this week. The first happened on Saturday, when teens stormed M&S.
Families were 'barricaded inside shops' as terrorising youths forced the London high street into lockdown
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Last night the supermarket locked terrified customers inside for over an hour to keep them safe and used a police escort to ensure they could get to safety.
A similar approach was also taken in Sainsburys, McDonalds and Waitrose.
Nick Biskinis, Chair of the Clapham Safer Neighbourhood Panel, told me he was pleased with the police response to last night's events but is disappointed the London Mayor hasn’t been here today to check on the neighbourhood.
"Clapham has been left out in the cold. We would have expected the mayor and the Met police commissioner to come down, to show that London is safe and reassure people. That’s what leadership is about."
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Shoppers were allegedly 'terrified' by the scenes | @GriftReport via X"Just because people are safer than in Bogota, doesn't mean people feel safe", he said.
Mr Biskinis, who witnessed yesterday’s events, believes the teenagers are doing this because they feel like they can get away with anti-social behaviour.
‘Anti-social behaviour has widely been allowed to embed. You saw that in some aspects of the weekend protests, people climbing up flags, and baying mobs in Liverpool street station a few years ago.
"That went unchallenged and it creates the impression you can do bad things and you probably won't be challenged on it", he said.
It’s thought these anti-social gatherings are being organised on TikTok as Easter holiday meet-ups, and already we're seeing comments online from users asking when the next gathering will be.
However, some people I’ve been speaking to feel this is just kids being kids.
A chicken shop owner on the high street told me, "this is just what kids do; I’m not worried about it".
But with this being the start of the Easter holidays, there are fears among some of the residents I’ve been speaking to that further anti-social gatherings could still take place here in the coming days.