A blood-curdling scream was heard by neighbours as a mass brawl kicked of in the early hours of Christmas Day at a holiday park full of families.
Armed police swarmed the site as some families packed up and made a dash for home with their festive plans in tatters.
Eyewitnesses claim children were shoved out of the way as signs were thrown in the chaos in the Welcome Family Holiday Park in Dawlish Warren in Devon.
Others woke up to find a stranger knocking at their door and windows trying to get into their caravan.
One neighbour said: "I live next door to the Welcome Park, and those screams were blood-curdling last night.
"It is not an infrequent event, as there were police on the park due to a separate incident the previous night."
An eyewitness, who chose to remain anonymous, told the Mirror it "all kicked off" after around 10:30pm on Christmas Eve.
She took four children to the holiday park, where she said there were "women screaming" and "men shouting and arguing."
"That then escalated when police and police dogs turned up, I don't know if they were fighting each other or against the police, we were surrounded by them and couldn't go near our curtains. Then we heard armed police shouting and banging outside followed by the police helicopter."
One camp-goer, Ann-Marie Clarke said: "Ruined our Christmas. I feel for the team, they've worked so hard on the shows as always."
Another witness told Devon Live they noticed "trouble brewing yesterday" when they walked to a local shop and was informed by a shop assistant that people had been stealing.
"They were very intimidating," they said.
"Some stolen items even fell out of one lad’s pockets in the shop - but he refused to pay for them. Unusually, I saw three police cars circling the area - this was about 4pm.
"You don’t normally see any police cars here. This time of year the place is usually very quiet. I saw one surly-faced yobbo repeatedly booting a full beer can down the street and he was joined by a group of rowdy-looking lads. I had a feeling things might escalate."
Another visitor said they left at 7pm last night after a five-hour drive to get there because of "idiots."
One person added their father said he has "never been so frightened in his life."
One holidaymaker said: "Because of lots of horrendous behaviour from a certain group of people last night, we've had to come home because of it.
"Kids heartbroken and devastated and devastated poor staff are so upset also as they've put a lot of time and work into the entertainment and things that were meant to be happening over the weekend."
A spokesperson said: "There was an incident overnight. There is still a police presence at the site."
Police said: "There was significant disorder at the Welcome Family Holiday Park in Dawlish Warren during the early hours of December 25. Police are investigating a Grievous Bodily Harm related to the disturbance.
"Police presence in the area will remain highly visible for the next 24 hours to respond to community concerns."
