Witnesses have described the moment attackers “hurled acid” at “screaming” revellers near a nightclub in east London.

Three men, aged 17, 22 and 27, were injured after a noxious substance was thrown over them in Dalston in the early hours of Sunday.

Their injuries are not life threatening however it is not known if they will be life changing, police said.

Two men appeared to target people in Kingsland High Road just after 5am, one witness said.

The man, who asked not to be named, told the Standard he woke to hear “a commotion” outside a friend’s flat close to the popular gay venue Dalston Superstore.

He described the moment a car stopped in the middle of the road and two men “jumped out and started beating people”.

The 26-year-old witness said: “They were punching at people walking either side of the road. One man was being kicked as he lay on the floor.

“The people were terrified, they weren’t fighting back.”

The men are then said to have taken water bottles from the car and began squirting passers-by with a “noxious substance”.

He added: “My first thought was ‘why are they squirting water’ but then I realised it was acid.

“People were screaming in pain and running. I heard one person shouting he couldn’t see and saying ‘it’s in my eyes’.”

One of the men then allegedly hurled a glass bottle onto the floor.

“The bottle smashed and people were screaming that they could smell acid. There was glass all over,” the witness said.

The man, who says he had left the club shortly before the attack, said the sped off as he attempted to contact the police.

The witness had originally believed the victims had been leaving Dalston Superstore. However a spokesman for the venue said that the police have confirmed that they were not customers, and that the venue was shut at the time of the attack.

Scotland Yard are not currently treating the incident as a homophobic attack.

Detective Sergeant Quinn Cutler said: “This is a particularly vicious and unpleasant incident which has left a number of people with potentially lasting injuries.

“I know that a number of people witnessed this incident and I urge those people to come forward and share their information and/or footage with police.”

Read more Three injured in suspected acid attack in east London

Investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been made.

The attack came during a weekend of violence in the capital.

Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton was gunned down in Kennington less than 24 hours before two other teenage boys - one aged just 13 - were shot in broad daylight in Wealdstone, Harrow.

A 43-year-old man was stabbed following a dispute in Perivale, north-west London.

Two men, aged 22 and 27, and a 17-year-old boy suffered “life-changing” injuries after being attacked with a “noxious substance” in Hackney in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday.

Anyone with information is asked to call Hackney CID on 07825 793 215 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.