Around 20 youths were seen brawling downstairs between John Lewis and Primark while approximately another 30 were upstairs chanting.

Shops closed their shutters and banners were ripped down and used as weapons, according to an eye-witness.

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Queensgate Shopping Centre

She said: “There was a commotion opposite the Westgate entrance. Two of them were going at it and all of these other kids were charging in. There were 20 or 30 of them.

“They ran up one side of Queensgate towards River Island shouting and screaming at each other.

“It went quiet so I thought they had disbanded.

“i got to River Island and could see the lads fighting each other and there were others going down the escalator pushing and charging.

“A security guard ran out from River Island to try and defuse the situation but they were breaking stuff and pushing each other. They pulled up banners and were breaking them up and hitting each other with them.

“People went into the shops and nobody wanted to walk down. There were people on the top floor chanting and charging.

“Suddenly one policeman appeared. It was a major incident and the public was unsafe. Shops locked their doors.

“I thought somebody might bring out a gun or knife.”

A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: “We were called at 4.27pm with reports of violence in Queensgate Shopping Centre.

“It was reported a group of about 20 people were fighting in the ground floor area outside between John Lewis and Primark.

“Officers are at the scene. It is not clear whether any weapons have been used, however, people are injured.

“A number of people have been detained by security staff.

“As this is very much ongoing we do not have any other detail at the moment.”

A Queensgate spokesperson said: “The centre was not in lockdown and shops continued to trade as normal.