A pensioner was attacked by a gang of youths which left him 'pouring with blood' after jumping to a woman's defence, witnesses say.

Police and an ambulance were called at around 2pm to reports of a man being assaulted along Queensway, in Petts Wood.

A worker from a nearby shop then stood in the middle of the road to flag down a bus to stop the alleged perpetrators getting away.

Gabriela De-Gouveia, 18, who jointly runs Nivco Cafe with her mum, said: "They [the youths] just came and sat on our tables out there, about 10 of them around 15 years old.

"They came and sat on the seats and I went to ask them if they wanted something, and one of them said 'I want you', then they started calling me a c*** and I said ‘move now before I call the police’.

"Then they started spitting and using a lot of foul language, they were calling me all sorts."

Mum Elizabeth De-Gouveia, 46, from Sidcup, said: "I went out and told them to go and not to speak to her like that and stop spitting - and then they started spitting at me."

News Shopper:

Gabriela De-Gouveia described how the pensioner bravely came to her aid, saying: "An old man was standing up for me as I was on my own. He was 71-years-old. He went to stop them and the boy hit him in the head, then they were in the middle of the road, the bus lane, and he hit the old man.

"I shoved him to get him off the man, and it looked like he had been sliced as his head was pouring with blood, and I suspected the boy might have been carrying something.

"I've gone up and pushed the boy off the man, and gone 'get away from him', and my finger got cut on something."

A 40-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, came out of a shop to help.

She said: "I was walking out from my lunch break and I saw a group of boys with the people from the cafe, spitting at them. I heard her saying 'that's disgusting' but they just started properly spitting on the floor.

"A gentleman from the bus stop stood up to stop the boys spitting at the woman, that's when he clomped the old man with the phone in his hand. It wasn't a knife because when he hit him in the head the phone fell and smashed. Then they ran off.

"I called the police, I stopped the bus in the middle of the road and told it not to stop at the next bus stop."

In a twist of events, some of the gang then came back up the street, but were set upon by another man.

The shop worker added: "Some man came out and started getting heavy handed with them. At the end of the day they're still children.

"He threw a couple of them on the floor then me and this other woman said 'you can't do that' and he stopped. Then I left."

In the aftermath of the attack, food and other items were left scattered on the floor.

News Shopper:

Sergeant Peter Ives, of Bromley Police, said: "We were called about 15 minutes ago [around 2pm] to reports of a man being assaulted along Queensway, the High Street. Witnesses pointed us in this direction.

"The man's injuries are not thought to be serious.

"We have got some people stopped, seven are in custody, and they are going to help us with our enquiries."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Officers are investigating."