Punches thrown in row over social distancing rules

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Story and video from SWNS

This is the shocking moment a woman started swinging punches at customers and shop workers after a brawl broke out in a supermarket over social distancing rules.

Dramatic video captured the violence erupting inside the Birmingham store after the woman apparently mistook one customer for a member of staff. She was said to have become angry at the man failing to follow social distancing measures at the Medina Superstore in the Lozells area of the city.

In the video, uploaded to the website Birmz Is Grime, the woman can be heard asking the store owner: "Do you own this shop? Why do you have a worker like that?"

She then starts swinging at several men who quickly become involved in the unsavoury scuffle as another person starts shouting "he is a customer. He is a customer."

Many bystanders look on bemused at what is happening as products are strewn across the aisles. A man in a red top then tries to break up the fight. In the clip, he says: "There were five of you on a woman. Just calm down, calm down."

The owner then can be heard complaining: "She smashed up my shop. I haven't done anything wrong. It was all her."

A worker at the Medina Superstore, who did not want to be named, said tempers flared after the woman became irate at the man flouting social distancing rules. The small store can be seen crammed full of customers, despite government warnings about remaining 6ft apart, while only a few people can be seen wearing masks or PPE.

'The woman started shouting about social distancing'

The member of staff said: "It was an issue between two customers. It all started over the social distancing protocols. The male customer was standing in her way, talking to another person. He was basically blocking her path.

"The woman started shouting about social distancing and got angry. She actually then left the store but then came back because she thought he was a worker.

"That's why you can hear someone say 'he's a customer'. He's nothing to do with us. I think she really got angry when she saw someone recording.

"She did apologise later, on the phone. She is actually a regular customer with us. This is something that happens sometimes."

West Midlands Police has been contacted for comment.

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