A six-year-old child was left traumatised after witnessing two men beating another man while returning from the Light Festival.

The terrifying attack comes amid a mini crime wave on Woodville Road which saw an armed robbery at the Paddy Power bookmakers and a burglary at Express Food and Wine, with the shop ransacked  of cigarettes and spirits.

Mitra Djalili (pictured) who was returning home with her family after singing at the Trumble Gardens event  on January 27, witnessed the assault outside the same newsagents. Her husband Edward intervened challenging the pair as the man was being badly assaulted while Mitra called the police.

Mitra said: “I’m so sad my daughter witnessed an assault on her doorstep. I never heard her scream so loudly before. It’s made her on edge since and she is reminded of it when we walk on Woodville Road.”

Residents have also complained about noise, drinking and drug dealing along with persistent illegal parking and harassment of women.

Ironically, Woodville Road is just minutes away from Thornton Heath police station – leased by the Met – which is rarely open and earmarked for closure as officers  have been relocated to Gipsy Hill which is actually in Lambeth. The Thornton Heath ward has just two police officers according to the Met’s website.

The  Met’s budget has been reduced every year since 2010 and some local authorities are directly funding police officers with residents calling on Croydon to do the same.

Woodville Road is covered by the No Drinking Zone which are being replaced by Public Spaces Protection Orders which are meant to capture all sorts of ASB but how these will  be policed when there are no police is unclear.

The only way of getting action is to email all incidences of ASB to Thorntonheath.snt@metpolice.uk