Thugs used metal barriers as weapons as they scrapped outside a shisha lounge hours before drive-by gunmen showered it in bullets.

Shocking footage shows more than a dozen men outside Arabian Nites - a Turkish restaurant in Digbeth in Birmingham.

The CCTV footage captures the moment violence erupted between two groups and security guards in high-visibility jackets.

In the chaotic mass brawl, the men throw punches and launch kicks before arming themselves with heavy metal barriers.

Hooded men repeatedly ram each other and the club's shutters in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The violence would continue for another two hours, ending after a gunman opened fire on the venue - a favourite location of Birmingham's premier league footballers.

Floyd Mayweather visited the bar in 2016. And the same year venue owners purchased four crocodiles in an attempt to create a snappy new attraction.

Council bosses blocked the move. However, the club already boasted a vivarium containing five large iguanas.

Trouble flared outside Arabian Nites just hours before a gunman opened fire on the venue

Arabian Nites in Bissell Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, has been the scene of a number of violent brawls in the last two months

Police were called to the scene and, astonishingly, there were no reports of injuries.

Detectives are investigating the incident - the latest to hit the troubled nightspot - and are 'fast tracking' CCTV inquiries.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: 'Police were called to Arabian Nites Shisha Lounge on Bissell Street, at just after 2am on Sunday, March 25.

'Shots were believed to have been fired through a window from a passing vehicle.'

This is not the first time police have been called to the venue.

West Midlands Police confirmed they had been called to punch-ups at the venue three weekends in a row in February.

Officers verified they attended the venue on February 25 after chaos erupted.

And on Sunday March 11, police were called to the venue after reports of a mass brawl spilling from the venue onto Gooch Street.