A town centre hairdressers was placed in lockdown after bailiffs demanded £5,000 before reportedly attacking a member of staff during a “complete misunderstanding”.

The Stylers, in Maidstone High Street, was raided at around 10am by two debt collectors claiming the landlord had yet to receive a payment.

Salon workers were left shaken after one was allegedly grabbed around the throat and racially abused during the ordeal.

The manager, who did not wish to be named, said: “We had a couple of local bailiffs come in here, they were landlord bailiffs but were acting like the mafia. They shouldn’t have been here.

“Police told us they have a right to be here. They asked for £5,000 and said they wouldn’t leave until they got it.

“They rang me around 10am and they said they have some money to be collected which just wasn’t correct. The payment was made on July 27.

“They punched a member of staff. We will be taking action legally because of the way they treated us."

Five police officers arrived at the scene shortly after 10.30am and parked outside the shop, much to the annoyance of bus drivers struggling to squeeze past.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: “We were called at 10.32am on Monday regarding a reported disturbance at retail premises in the High Street, Maidstone.

“Officers went to the scene where no arrests were made. Inquiries are on-going into the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Bailiffs had arrived at the shop when two middle-aged men told salon managers they owed just over £5,400.

They threatened to take items from the salon to make up for the money they alleged had not been paid before leaving at around 2.15pm.

One worker added: “They came in and threw their weight around from the minute they came in here.

“They held one of our workers by the throat and was banging him up against the wall. It has been a very traumatic morning.

“It all happened purely through miscommunication. We were all hostages here. We couldn’t go anywhere and we couldn’t leave.”