Crowds of revellers “trashed” a McDonald’s and leapt over the counter to grab food following last night’s Hyde Park violence.

Video posted on social media showed chaotic scenes at the Marble Arch store just after 1am on Wednesday.

Terrified staff, who claimed they were worried about people forcing their way into the store if they tried to close, had to hide themselves away for safety.

Footage appeared to show people clambering over the counter to swipe burgers while others filmed the melee on their phones.

One video showed a mother hurriedly rushing their child away from the ugly scenes as crowds cheered on the troublemakers.

A McDonald’s worker, who asked not to be named, said: “We were serving as normal and had a lot of people in the lobby. We didn’t want to close because we knew if we closed the door it would kick off and they’d force their way in.

“The best thing for us to do was keep on serving one by one and keep them as calm as we could. But one of the guys jumped over the counter followed by three girls.

“All the staff went to safety downstairs and locked themselves in. The kids went straight for the food but they weren’t even taking it away they were trying to trash the place.

“They did whatever they could – they ruined the whole place. We were a little shaken up but everyone was safe and no-one was hurt.”

Twitter user @ohleocanailis posted a video of the carnage, writing “MacDonalds at Marble Arch got finessed!!!”

A spokesman for McDonald's denied staff had to lock themselves away but said: “I can confirm that our Marble Arch restaurant was closed for a period of time on the night of July 19 due to customers entering the kitchen area.

"Police were contacted by the restaurant team who attended and dealt with the situation allowing us to reopen shortly after.”

The incident appeared to have spilled over from a “riot” at Hyde Park which saw a police officer stabbed and another struck with a bottle.

Two other people were knifed as a large water fight in the park descended into outright chaos.

Any witnesses to the Hyde Park trouble should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.