Police were called to the O2 Centre in Finchley Road on Friday morning after a streaker reportedly stole from its shops.

At around 11am a man naked from the waist down was in the O2 before he moved outside into a phone box in Finchley Road where he sung Madonna’s Like a Virgin.

He was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital.

An eyewitness from Swiss Cottage, who was shopping for Mother’s Day, said the man had an altercation with a member of staff from Virgin Active gym.

He said: “I’d bought this card from Paperchase and noticed a bit of jostling between this guy and someone from Virgin Active.”

He continued: “Within minutes there were two police vans. They cuffed him and covered him up with a bag that he’d picked up from the road before they bundled him into a van.”