This is the bizarre moment a middle-aged woman armed with a knife slashes the tyres of a parked car outside a city shopping centre.

The puzzling scene took place in broad daylight as a crowd of gawping bystanders gathered to watch near a Santander branch in Haymarket, Leicester city centre, shortly after 3pm on Tuesday.

Footage filmed by a passer-by appears to show the red-haired woman using the six-inch blade to puncture at least two of the car's tyres as she argues with a man across the street.

As she brazenly vandalises the vehicle, she turns to tell onlookers to 'call the police right now' - as if she is the victim.

Despite the amount of witnesses, only one person appears to try and stop her as she damages the car formore than a minute before strolling off.

Officers from Leicestershire Police were called to the scene but by the time they arrived the suspect was gone. Officers are now appealing for the public's help to identify her.

Footage posted on social media yesterday appears to show the woman - wearing a black coat, black skirt and trainers - opening the front passenger door and brandishing a knife.

The red-haired woman can be seen trying to force the driver's door of a VW backwards as a crowd of people gather on the other side of the street in the centre of Leicester

A stunned witness cries 'she's got a knife' as the woman starts repeatedly stabbing the tyre, but she fails to puncture it.

A man then starts shouting at her from across the