A moped gang snatched thousands of pounds worth of watches after storming into a City store armed with a samurai sword, knives and iron bars this morning.

The gang used a moped to crash through the glass front door of the Chronext shop on Fleet Street shortly before 11am.

Terrified staff ran for cover as the gang burst in, one of them waving a huge samurai sword while others brandished a knife and iron bars.

Dressed in dark clothing and black helmets the gang snatched bundles of expensive watches in a raid that lasted a just a few minutes.

One witness said : “There was a Vespa inside the shop because they drove it through the front door.

“I saw about five mopeds parked up on the pavement and the street outside and thwere three guys walking up and down, one with a machete and two others with what looked like long sticks.

“There were others inside the store smashing the cabinets and grabbing loads of watches and stuffing them into bags.

“One guy came out of another shop as if to confront them but the bloke with the machete threatened him and he backed off.

"They all jumped on their scooters and punched the air with their fists in a victory punch before driving off towards the Law Courts. It was seriously organised.”

The witness, who did not want to be named, added: “It took the police at least 13 minutes to get here which is a bit lame in this day and age.”

Another witness said: "A man came out of a shop, looking as if he was going to try to intervene, and one of the guys came out and raised a knife and tried to intimidate him. He was waving his hand over his head, going towards him.

"They came outside with bags.

"Then they made off towards the Royal Courts of Justice, pumping their fists in the air like some kind of victory.

"There are about 40 people here in my office. It was very frightening – people were crying in the office.

"It was like something you see on Netflix or in the movies."

Video posted on Twitter shows the raid with one of the mopeds patrolling the road outside to spot for police cars while others armed with knives and the sword stand guard.

The raid comes as police are battling an epidemic of moped robberies, snatches and smash and grab raids across London.

Chronext said in a statement that they are "working with the London Metropolitan police to recover stolen watches and bring the perpetrators to justice."

"Chronext will continue to safeguard its customers and stock. Our focus now is on our shop staff who are thankfully unharmed," said a spokeswoman.

A City of London police spokesman said : “City of London Police were called at 10.52am on Monday 4 December to reports of suspects on mopeds entering a jewellers on Fleet Street. “The suspects smashed their way into the jewellers brandishing weapons, including knives, before making off on mopeds.

“Officers are on scene. No one was injured during the incident. “

There have been no arrests.