A GANG fled after trying to attack an armed man who then chased them into a supermarket with a “knife”.

Witnesses reported watching the man chase away the gang from outside George’s Cafe, in Station Lane, to a nearby Tesco Extra.

They claim he was carrying a weapon which looked like a knife.

A 29-year-old, from Laindon, who was parked outside at the time and watched the incident unfold, said: “I was going to the cafe with my friend and had just parked when a group of men came up to a man sitting outside and started shouting at him.

“They started to push him and sent a table flying, knocking tea all over one woman’s children, so the mother was fuming.

“They apologised but then carried on, and started to try and kick the man.

“The man pulled out the knife and chased them towards Tesco. Later he came back and smashed a van’s passenger window, so I left straight away.

“I had the whole thing on dash cam, but I lost it as it’s on a seven hour loop.”

A 27-year-old witness from Basildon, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: “My mum was there just as the incident happened. As she was walking into Tesco’s she saw the man chasing another bloke with a knife.

“The man who had the knife grabbed my mum’s arm while she was pushing my niece in her buggy and she fell over. She was really shaken up after the incident.

“It’s very worrying to live round here and to bring my daughter up in this area.”

Witnesses took to social media to speak on their shock that the incident had unfolded in front of children.

Some had claimed the weapon they saw was actually a pick axe, and it’s believed two of the gang were on foot, while three took off in a van.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called at around 9.50am yesterday, Wednesday 8 January, with reports a man was involved in an altercation with a group of people in Station Lane, Pitsea.

“We received information that the man ran off before entering Pitsea Tesco, where he was detained.

“We attended and arrested a 26-year-old man from Basildon on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon, possessing drugs and causing alarm and distress.”

The spokesman added: “He has since been released under investigation.”