Woman hurt as fights break out at Hamleys toy parade

THE Hamleys Christmas toy parade descended into “absolute chaos” when parents started pushing and shoving and a middle-aged woman was rushed to hospital after being punched.

A “meet and greet” with the children’s character Peppa Pig had to be scrapped at the last minute amid fears that youngsters would get crushed and injured at the “shambolic” event.

A crowd of around 800,000 packed into Regent Street in central London, hoping to catch a glimpse of children’s favourites including Fireman Sam and Postman Pat.

But parents said it turned into a “mob mentality” as adult spectators desperately tried to propel their children to the front of the packed crowd.

Elisabeth Arricale Poyiadzis claimed her one-year-old daughter ended up “face down” on the ground after falling from her father’s shoulders as the crowd surged. Others poured scorn on the adults who had been fighting, whose “manners and behaviour were the lowest of the low” and meant their children never got to see the much-loved Peppa.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were called shortly after 1pm on Sunday to reports of “an altercation” outside Hamleys, adding: “A woman, aged in her 50s, was punched before collapsing.”

Hamleys was inundated with complaints on Twitter. The store said it was forced to shut the Peppa Pig zone after the woman was injured, adding: “We had unprecedented crowd numbers. We had to bring an ambulance in to take her out.”