A renegade gunman may have lain in wait for rescue by his gang in a residential road in Romford, Havering Police said, following the shooting outside a town centre nightspot early on Friday.

The man, who fired three rounds into a 26-year-old clubber outside Envy, in Exchange Street, following an earlier row between rival groups - is thought to have fled through the town centre and into Mawney Road.

It is believed the suspect, a white man wearing a grey hooded top, black trousers and black trainers, was then picked up by a silver Ford Fiesta – the same vehicle used to drop the handgun at the scene.

Police say the two groups involved had a ruckus in the area last Monday (May 9).

A spokesman for Havering Police said: “We are appealing to witnesses at the scene, but also to anyone who saw either the suspect or the car in or around Mawney Road at around 3am.”

The gunman ran from the scene into Arcade Way, down South Street and into Brewery Way, before scarpering through the old Brewery entrance into High Street and then into Mawney Road.

The victim, from Dagenham, is in a stable condition in an east London hospital.