AN ELDERLY woman disregarded her own safety to intervene and stop a gang from beating a man in the street in broad daylight.

The attack took place in Southend High Street on Wednesday morning, shortly before 9.15am.

One witness, who has asked to remain anonymous, described the incident as “totally disgraceful”.

The woman, who is from Southend, said: “It must have been about 9am and there was six men assaulting one man in the street.

“At one point an elderly lady ran over to intervene because she couldn’t bear to watch.

“The woman, who is 79 I believe, was shouting at the men to stop and was clearly very upset by what she saw and that there were bystanders standing around doing nothing.

“The men luckily saw how distressed this lady was and stopped.

“They then apologised for upsetting the lady who then proceeded to point out to them that six against one was totally disgraceful.

“She told them that this country would be in a better place if people had more love than anger.

“It was incredible that she intervened in the way she did.”

The police were called but it is thought Southend Council’s street rangers intervened before they could get there and no further action was taken.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called to reports of a disturbance involving two men in Southend High Street at around 9.10am on March 5.

“The incident was dealt with by a Street Ranger.”

Street Rangers are hired by the Southend Business Improvement District and work seven days a week.

Their aim is to welcome visitors and help drive down antisocial activity in the town centre.

No arrests were made and there is no ongoing investigation at this time.

Anyone with information can report it to Essex Police via 101 or online at https://www.essex.police.uk/do-it-online/report-a-crime/.

You can also share information with independent crimefighting charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org