<<Print>>

A newly elected mayor was filmed fighting with a taxi driver in the street in a horrifying road-rage incident. 

In video footage, Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik, the Mayor of Crawley, is seen brawling with a taxi driver in the middle of the road at the Tushmore Roundabout in Crawley town centre.

The Mayor, who is a dad-of-three, and the taxi wrestled to the ground, with the Mayor having the upper hand.

Police said the Mayor knocked the taxi driver unconscious and he also suffered injuries to his arms and head. 

Sussex Police said a man was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm but has since been released on bail.

Cops have since issued an appeal for any witnesses following the brawl and asked for any drivers who saw the fight or might have caught it on dash-cam footage to come forward.

It is believed the fight broke out on July 19 after the taxi driver tried to cut into the Mayor's lane, a witness said.

The Mayor, who was only elected in May and resumed his duties in June, has not been suspended from his post, and the Labour lead council is yet to comment on the video. 

A witness said, according to The Sun:  "The cabbie tried to cut across his lane, and they wound down each others' windows before they started screaming at each other. 

"It just escalated from there, nobody wanted to get involved because it looked personal. 

"He was going for it, it looked like they knew each other, but it was all because the other bloke tried to cut him up at the roundabout." 

Another source said: "After his behaviour and acting like that, he will be lucky if he keeps his job, he must be made to step down." 

Councillor Duncan Crow, leader of the Conservative group at the council told The Sun: "The Mayor’s position is untenable and he has to resign. 

"Everyone in Crawley knows it’s him in the video and the behaviour he displayed at one of Crawley’s busiest roundabouts is wholly incompatible with being our Mayor, a role where one should lead by example. 

"You just can’t be fighting like a hooligan one week and then attending a children’s football event the next week and be presented as a role model. 

"This has been dragging on for over two weeks and if the Crawley Labour Group of Councillors won’t act to remove him, then Keir Starmer needs to step in." 

The Mayor has continued to carry out his duties and even attended a children’s football open day. 

Mr Abbas Malik was announced as the new Mayor of Crawley at the end of May and has been a local Labour councillor since 2018.