Man has been arrested after attacking girls in Hackney (May 9)    Pic: Jason B, Flickr

A man has been arrested after allegedly storming into two kosher food shops and threatening two young girls in Hackney yesterday (May 9).

The 61-year-old, who is alleged to have been armed with two knives, reportedly screamed: “You Jews run away from here before I kill you,” at the girls, aged eight and 14.

No one was injured during the attack, which saw the man try to enter the shops while armed, before fleeing.

Witnesses said volunteers from Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, cordoned off the area until the Metropolitan Police arrived.

In a statement, a police spokesman said: “A 61-year-old man has been arrested by police in Hackney. Police were called just after 4pm on Tuesday, May 9, to a man armed with two knives who had threatened a shopkeeper in Upper Clapton Road, E5.

“Officers attended the location and detained a man nearby at an address in Rossington Street. He was arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon and taken to a north London police station, where he remains in custody.”