A shopkeeper described his shock after finding a puddle of ‘blood’ outside his street food store in Reading today (February 22).

Police cordoned Broad Street outside Wolf Italian Street Food at 7am after manager Owen Parker-Brunt discovered the viscous red liquid, the nature of which is yet to be confirmed.

Mr Parker-Brunt was taken aback by ‘strange’ CCTV footage taken by his shop camera showing a man pouring the ‘blood’ next to Wolf’s seating area.

“If I had turned on the cameras and seen someone being attacked, as horrible as that is, at least you’d know what was going on,” said Mr Parker-Brunt, whose cameras caught the man at 2.30am.

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“This is even more strange that it just seems to be a gentleman pouring a container of blood onto the floor.”

He added: “It was a bit of strange one to start the day with.”

After police saw the footage, they reduced the size of the cordon to the area between the jewellery stall on Broad Street and Wolf Italian Street Food.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGE

Reading Chronicle: A trail of what police believe to be blood in Broad Street this morningA trail of what police believe to be blood in Broad Street this morning

Paris Wright, 19, who works at the jewellery stall, said she had heard of three other locations where red liquid was seen on the ground.

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The Reading Chronicle confirmed one of those locations to be Duke Street, opposite Subway, but the other two are yet to be verified.

Reading Chronicle: More red liquid in Duke Street, ReadingMore red liquid in Duke Street, Reading

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: "Officers were called to reports of what is believed to be blood at the location earlier today. Enquiries are ongoing to confirm the circumstances.

"We have had no reports of anybody presenting at hospital with injuries, so investigations are ongoing."

A Reading Borough Council crew cleaned up the ‘blood’ at around 1pm today and police have removed the cordon on Broad Street.