Boots baby attack: CCTV shows woman 'strangling' one-year-old in pram

Video: Police are searching for a woman who reportedly assaulted a stranger's child in central London

(Metropolitan Police Service)

Police are searching for a woman after reports and CCTV footage suggest she assaulted a one-year-old boy in a Boots in London.

Video from the store on The Strand in Westminster shows a woman with a baby in a pram entering Boots at 12:30 on Friday 16 January.

It appears that the mother, who had her back turned momentarily, at first thinks the woman is simply fussing over her child, but then grabs the woman's hand and pushed her away.

Police report that the suspect said, "That baby would rather be dead". Shortly after the incident, she was escorted out of Boots by a security guard, walking off towards Trafalgar Square.

While the baby was unharmed, the mother was said to be "extremely shaken up and traumatised by the incident".

Police are now looking for a white woman in her early 60s, slightly over 5ft tall with light-coloured hair. Police says she has a boil or eye deformity on her face. She was wearing a very distinctive white, red and grey-striped poncho top.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the area at the time or has information that could assist officers is asked to call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Video courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Service.