A teenager smashed a car window while a three-year-old slept on the backseat yesterday evening.

At around 4pm, a 72-year-old woman was driving towards the traffic lights outside Majestic Wines in High Street, Wanstead, when a group of teenagers walked out in front of the car.

In an apparently unprovoked attack, one of the boys punched the passenger window of her car, smashing it.

The woman’s grandson was asleep on the backseat at the time and did not wake up.

The three teenagers fled towards Christ Church Green and a number of Wanstead High School pupils immediately called the police, who arrived on the scene soon after.

The woman, who lives next to George Green and did not wish to be named, said she was shaken up by the incident.

She added: “There were three young men crossing the road in front of me and I think they got angry at me not stopping for them as I approached the traffic lights.

“Before I knew it there was a hell of a noise, the window shattered, somehow my grandson stayed asleep the whole time.

“I am quite shaken, but I have to thank the Wanstead High School pupils who phoned the police, I will be writing to the headteacher to let him know.”

Marc Edmans, manager of the Wanstead branch of Majestic Wines on the High Road, said he was helping police with their investigation.

He said: “There was a little kid in the back, it really was a horrible thing to do and I couldn’t believe it.

“Police arrived really quickly so hopefully they will catch who did this and I am helping them out by looking through my CCTV footage.

"They are about 17-years-old. I have seen a group of them around the area. I don’t think they attend a local school."

No arrests have yet been made but police said they were investigating.