A man wielding a meat cleaver threatened to kill Jews in an incident in Stamford Hill, north London  on Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses described how the man allegedly stormed into a kosher shop and shouted: “Where is the boss, I will kill him!”

He was also heard to threaten a young girl in the street and scream “You Jews run away from here before I kill you”.

Photographs on social media showed the man brandishing what appeared to be a meat cleaver and a long, thin knife.

The north-east London branch of Shomrim – the community volunteer security group – posted a description of the incident on their Twitter feed.

Police arrested the man at an address in Upper Clapton.

Scotland Yard said they had been called at around 4pm to Rossington Street after reports of a man  armed with two knives threatening a shopkeeper.

Officers detained a 61-year-old man on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon.

He was taken to a north London police station where he remains in custody.

No one is thought to have been injured.