Violent clashes at a south London street party have left 15 police officers injured.

Footage on social media showed police vehicles being smashed and officers chased during clashes with a large crowd near the Angell Town estate in Brixton.

One clip shows bottles being thrown at officers as they were chased from the area, while in another a partygoer can be seen bleeding from the face.

Home Secretary Priti Patel described the images as “utterly vile scenes”, and said she would be speaking to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.

Police said they were called to the scene on Wednesday night to reports of a “large unlicensed music event” in Cecilia Road and officers tried to “encourage the crowd to leave”.

A Scotland Yard statement said: “The event continued and more officers attended the scene and the group became hostile towards officers.”

The force said 15 officers were injured, two of whom required hospital treatment, while a small number of police vehicles were damaged.

Four people are in custody after arrests were made for assault and public order offences.

Commander Colin Wingrove said: “Our role is to protect the public and ensure guidelines are adhered to in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, protecting the NHS and save lives.

“Our officers work incredibly hard to engage and explain the public health message and regulations to prevent such gatherings occurring.

“Last night we received numerous concerns from residents complaining about a large gathering, noise, anti-social behaviour and violence and officers responded to those concerns.

“These gatherings are unlawful, as well as posing a risk to public health and against coronavirus restrictions.

“The violence shown towards officers is totally unacceptable and we will not tolerate it in any form.

“An investigation into the incident is now taking place and those involved will be brought to justice.”

The Metropolitan Police said the party was finally cleared in the early hours of Thursday, while a Section 60 order, which gives police powers to stop and search without reasonable suspicion, was later put in place in the area.

Ms Patel tweeted: “These are utterly vile scenes.

“Just last weekend, the whole country came together to praise our heroic police officers for putting their own lives on the line to keep us safe.

“I’ll be picking up with the Met Commissioner immediately.”