Video
Attempted robbers are chased away by Clayhall neighbourhood watch team
A group of men tried to break into homes in Clayhall but they were spotted by the neighbourhood watch team who chased them away. Picture: Clayhall Neighbourhood Group - Credit: Clayhall Neighbourhood Group
A group of men tried to break into homes in Clayhall in the early hours of Thursday but were spotted and chased off by the neighbourhood watch team.
The men tried door handles and were believed to be armed with a long screw driver and knives,
They were attempting to break into homes in Herent Drive, Abbotswood Gardens and Werneth Hall Road around 4am on Thursday.
CCTV footage shows them hiding out at the end of a long driveway before being scared off by one of the home owners.
Police attended but no one was apprehended.
A group of men tried to open door handles in the area. - Credit: Clayhall Neighbourhood Group
Someone from the Clayhall Neighbourhood Group spotted it and put out an SOS call and residents Javed Shaikh and Sajeev Vilvarajah ran out to chase the men until police arrived.
Javed, who has lived there for 19 years, told the Recorder: "It's not nice that we have to do that and we're risking our lives but what else could we do, I have a 12-year-old kid at home.
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"We have to protect our homes and if we don't do anything to drive them out, they'll end up driving us out."
Members of the neighbourhood watch team - Sajeev Vilvarajah, Sanj Singh, Javed Shaikh, Gaurav Lakum, and Kukanagarajah Krishnamenan all helped to scare away the robbers. - Credit: Clayhall Neighbourhood Group
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said they were called to reports of suspects trying door handles on houses in Abbotswood Gardens but they did not gain entry and no one was apprehended.