A HORRIFIED father says his daughters were left terrified after a gang of 20 bikers, some with knives, stormed a busy park, after an argument involving two teenage gangs.

Essex Police confirmed reports of an altercation involving two gangs but said the force did not received any reports of knives or that the teenagers were armed.

David Burton, 52, from Benfleet said a boy was being bullied and the gang with knives were called for backup.

He said: “My two daughters, aged 10 and 17, were at the park known as The Rundells in Thundersley.

“It all happened at about 7pm and there were plenty of people about at the time.

“They saw a young boy was being bullied and one of their friends went over to help.

“The boy bullying the other boy called his brothers and about 20 people came on motorbikes.

“Both my daughters said they saw some of the boys on bikes had knives.

“There were quite a few parents in the park at the time who intervened.

“A nice woman who we know brought my daughters home.”

He said his youngster daughter was crying when she got home.

He has also raised serious concerns about his children going to the parks in the area.

The worried father said: “We are so grateful to the woman who brought our daughters back.

“We’ve already spoken to her and will probably be buying her some flowers.

“I think it’s disgusting what happened.

“I’ve told my daughters to stay away from parks in the area.

“I think these sort of incidents are down to all the police cuts.”

He also took to Facebook to thank the parents who stepped in to help his scared daughters.

The incident has caused fury online with people in the community blasting the yobs, who the father said were armed and terrorising the park.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called to reports of anti-social behaviour at a park off of Dark Lane in Thundersley on Monday, August 5.

“It was reported that two groups of teenagers were involved in a verbal altercation at the recreation ground shortly before 7pm.

“We would encourage anyone with reports of anti-social behaviour to call us on 101 or report it to us online.

“Always call 999 in an emergency.”