Attacker With Machete At Church

A man has been arrested after a masked attacked with a machete broke into a church hall near Orpington last night.

Five people were hurt, none of them seriously, nor with the machete, in the incident at St Barnabas Church in St Paul's Cray.

Witnesses told how a local ladies' group was singing when the man broke in through a back door and began randomly attacking a pensioner.

One of the group, Ginny Warner said: "He had a mask on with a Mohican hairdo attached to it. He was shouting and swearing.

"I ran out but one of the ladies fell over, I don't know if she was pushed or just fell over, but he snatched her walking stick from her and kicked her while she was laying on the ground.

"One of the other singers tried to help and also got hit.''

The attacker was eventually wrestled to the ground by two passing strangers who came to help.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said a 56-year-old man arrested for assault and criminal damage was being treated in hospital for a hand injury.

He said: "Five people - two women, one in her 80s, another aged approximately 60, and three men - one aged 84 and two in their 60s, have been injured.

"None of the injuries are believed to be serious and none were caused by the machete.''