Oxford Street: Sadiq Khan warns young people not to travel to join in ‘nonsense’ TikTok craze

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has warned young people not to travel to Oxford Street today to take part in a social media craze that he has described as “nonsense”.

The Met Police has said there will be a heightened police presence in the busy Central London shopping area following speculation about large scale crime to be taking place on Wednesday afternoon (August 9).

Scotland Yard has put in place a Section 35 dispersal order, which will be in effect until 10am on Thursday August 10.

This gives officers the power to exclude people from a specific area for 48-hours, and anyone who fails to comply can be arrested.

The mayor told the PA news agency: “I am worried about this nonsense we have seen on TikTok encouraging people to go to Oxford Street.

“I’d encourage anybody who’s seen it not to go to Oxford Street. Do not allow yourself to be sucked into an area that could be a high crime area.

“It won’t be (a high crime area) because the police work incredibly hard with the local community, with the retailers in that part of London, and with those citizens who want to have a good day out on Oxford Street tomorrow rather than being worried about that sort of nonsense.”

The Met Police said in a statement: “We are working very closely with our partners, including the New West End company, to ensure that any criminal behaviour is dealt with quickly.

“Anyone who sees or hears anything suspicious in relation to this activity is asked to call us on 999 in an emergency or 101 if it is a non-emergency."

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