Bizarre footage has captured the moment a street performer is threatened by his own monkeys with a knife before being beaten up by a group of the animals.

The man had previously threatened the animals with a knife and hitting them while showing them off to members of the public in a Chinese city.

In China monkeys are still raised and trained to perform on the streets however those who choose to do so require a proper licence.

Payback time: One of the monkeys become so fed up that he grabs the knife from the man

Disgusting behaviour: The man can be seen threatening the monkey by jabbing a knife at the animal

In the footage, believed to be filmed in Anyang, Henan province, the animals' owner can be seen hitting one of the monkeys before the monkey slaps him back.

The slap is heard by the audience who start to laugh at the man.

The trainer goes to hit the monkey again but then misses. The monkey then hits the man right in the face causing him to almost fall backwards.

Then the man gets out a knife and starts to scratch it along the ground as a way of threatening the animal.

Ouch! The monkey can be seen giving the man a taste of his own medicine, slapping him across the face

Justice? Towards the end of the video, all five of the monkeys attack their keeper

He then starts trying to jab the animal with it who jumps every time.

Another monkey steps in and takes hold of the knife, aiming it at the man, hitting him lightly with it.

The monkey can then be seen running at the man while holding the knife before running away and pointing the object at him.

The monkey at the start of the video then starts to join in again slapping their trainer.

The man and the monkey then get in a bit of a tussle while another monkey approaches him with the knife.

The animal then stars to slap him again almost knocking him to the floor.

Suddenly all five monkeys launch themselves at the man.

The video cuts just as they start their attack.

In China monkeys are still raised and trained to perform on the streets however those who choose to do so require a proper licence.

Don't mess with this guy! One of the monkeys takes the man's knife waving it at him after minutes of abuse