35 men and women brawl with baseball bats and hammers on Belfast housing estate

A family feud on a Belfast housing estate spilled into the streets and became a a mass brawl, with hammers, baseball bats and golf clubs being wielded in the fracas.

The carnage erupted in the Northern Irish capital on the afternoon of Sunday 6 January and quickly went viral after mobile phone footage was uploaded to social media.

Around 35 people, including women, were embroiled in the rolling scrap, some of them suffered wince-inducing blows to the head with baseball bats.

At one point a man off-camera can be heard saying "put that down now, give me the hammer" to a younger man, possibly a boy.

Remarks made by other bystanders suggest that somebody was carrying a knife.

Police rushed to the scene after receiving a number of calls from terrified residents on Roden Street, just off Grosvenor Road.

Local SDLP councillor Tim Attwood told Belfast Live: "The images of the dispute in Grosvenor Road are sickening. It's no way to resolve any issues."

The councillor claimed that police had not been helped by any witnesses to the event. "Both sides were mute," he said, adding: "It's important to engage with police".

"I understand it was a family dispute and I don't think there were any injuries," he added.