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A crack unit of ex-special forces soldiers, military and former police officers has been drafted in to protect West End jewellery stores after a surge in attacks by moped raiders, the Standard reveals.

The Standard spoke to one former commando who foiled the latest raid in Regent Street by taking on machete-wielding thugs with his bare hands.

In dramatic video footage obtained by this newspaper, the soldier can be seen tackling the raiders as they fled the luxury store Mappin & Webb in Regent Street on Monday.

The guard, a former officer in the Iranian special forces, told the Standard: “I am highly trained, I was a commando and an officer, I am not scared of these people.”

The 35-year-old, known only as Seyed, was first on the scene when robbers stormed the jewellers at just after 7pm as the area was crowded with shoppers and commuters.

He said: “We’re in contact with all the businesses we represent via a secure line.

“I saw the guys about to break in and I raised the alarm sending the message ‘attack attack’ to Mappin & Webb to make them aware.

“I then ran towards the gang and took them on. One had a long sword he was waving at me and they were shouting threats.”

The former soldier, who saw action defending Iran from Iraqi border incursions, is one of a team 16 undercover guards protecting stores across the West End, Victoria and Kensington.

His company, security specialists UK Protection, are employed to defend a string of luxury jewellers including Mappin & Webb, Watches of Switzerland and Goldsmiths.

Seyed said: “The message to these guys is not to mess with us. We are former military personnel, we are highly trained, we are watching and we will get you. Do not come back.”

The thieves plundered a number of watches including Rolexes but fled after less than two minutes following Seyed’s intervention.

Another of the firm’s security guards gave chase, attempting to drag one the robbers from the saddle of his speeding moped.

Seyed says he recognised one member of the six-man gang from a previous robbery. He said: “I looked him in the eye. He is about 35 or 36, he is no kid. He recognised me as well I could tell. It was like meeting an old enemy.”

The raid on Mappin & Webb was followed by another on Watchfinder on Avery Row, just half a mile away, at 11am Tuesday morning.

In that incident members of the public including builders and restaurant workers chased off the gang and held one of the alleged raiders until armed police arrived.

James Strout, security manager at the vintage watch specialists, said: “Let’s hope this will dent the gangs who are terrorising London and the UK. We have to stop them and are determined to do so.”

Marc Jacobs, the head of operations for UK Protection, refused to comment on the Mappin & Webb raid, but said: “Our staff are all ex-police officers and ex-military who are trained to the highest standard.

“They have close protection security licences and carry out surveillance on the stores and can intervene if a robbery takes place.”

He said his guards had intervened in smash and grab attempts on West End stores on a weekly basis in recent months.

He said the guards had a citizen’s power of arrest and their main duties were to observe and report matters to police but they could intervene whenever it was safe for them and the public.

He added: “Given their training and the people they are, they intervene when you and I might not do so.”

Mr Jacobs added that much of the work of security staff was also spotting and trying to prevent credit card and other frauds.

Gangs of marauding robbers on scooters have been stalking central London with a string of high profile raids.

The Fenchurch Street branch of Mappin & Webb in the City was targeted on September 19 but the thieves left empty handed after failing to smash the shatter proof glass with an axe.

On August 16 robbers on scooters plundered watches from luxury store Boodles on Sloane Street.

Last month tens of thousands of pounds worth of Mulberry bags were stolen by thieves who smashed through the window of House of Fraser on Victoria Street.

Met police crime figures showed that there were more than 8,000 crimes involving mopeds and scooters in London last year. In 2014 the figure was around 1,000.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company said: “This was a serious attack and sadly a type of incident that is becoming more frequent in London. Thankfully such incidents are rare in the West End but they still need to be addressed as a priority.

“New West End Company is meeting with the police and the Deputy Mayor for Police to discuss security in the West End and how we can all work together to ensure that our district remains safe for shoppers, employees and residents.”

Andy Fairbanks, managing director of UK Protection, praised Seyed and other members of the security team for the way they confronted the robbers.

He said the thugs would eventually be “overwhelmed” by his highly trained unit of top former police and military personnel, deployed to tackle a surge in the number and ferocity of raids in the past year.

They cannot carry weapons but wear stab vests and are self defence experts.

He said: “I am very proud of my staff for the way they dealt with this difficult and dangerous situation. We provide the security staff in the shop as well as undercover security and both combined to tackle them.

“The robbers panicked because of the way Seyed and the others responded.

“One was fighting with Seyed and they started dropping their weapons and trying to get away.

“Our security our very highly trained former military and police. They are told not to resist because these gangs are very heavily armed and in the past 12 months we have seen them with machetes and swords and all sorts.

“But everybody is fed up with these people terrorising London and threatening lives. Some of my people take it personally and can’t just stand by despite the danger. We are disrupting these people and they have to be aware there will be consequences otherwise they will continue. They work on the basis that they will overwhelm security staff with numbers.

“But we work on intelligence expertise and surveillance and they will one day find that they are being overwhelmed by our people and we will detain them. They were lucky to get away this time.”

He said the company worked closely with the Flying Squad who had also passed on praise for Seyed and the other security guards.

Mr Fairbanks added: “The Flying Squad were very complimentary about the way Seyed and the others dealt with the gang. Our message to the robbers is that we are watching and ready for you.”