Crawley Town supporters have called off a protest against the club's owners after a gang of men tried to gatecrash their meeting.

Sam Jordan, 18, cancelled his protest outside the Majeed brothers' bars and restaurants in Crawley at the weekend.

Mr Jordan was at a meeting of the Crawley Town supporters' trust at a secret location in the town on Thursday night, when four heavily-built men turned up uninvited demanding to speak to him.

Two men of similar description earlier called at his home but were turned away by his mother.

Peter Bellamy, who was at the meeting, said: "They knocked on the door asking to speak to Sam Jordan. Sam said he didn't know them and he didn't want to speak to them.

"There may have been five of them but we only have four on camera."

One of them is filmed telling a supporter known as Thad he would: "Give him a smack."

Mr Bellamy said: "We told them it was a private meeting but they were insistent.

"They only left when I phoned the police because we were feeling intimidated and threatened.

"The meeting was not publicised and we kept the location secret so I don't know how they found us."

Thad said: "They said they had a message for Sam and were friends of his but Sam insisted they did not know him. I didn't let them in.

"There were women inside and children as young as 14.

"I tried to close the door and it brushed against one of their legs. He said I had assaulted him and he could give me a smack."

Mr Jordan planned to distribute posters and flyers outside Cubana, Bar Lusso and the Ja Ja Bar in protest at the Majeeds' stewardship at Crawley Town.

The club is in administration and the brothers' off-field activities, such as Chas's bankruptcy and Azwar's prosecution for selling alcohol to children, have earned unwelcome publicity.

Mr Jordan did not want to comment because he feared for his safety.

A close friend said: "The main reason Sam called it off was because he was worried about the safety of the other people.

"They were all under the age of 18 and one was even 14.

"He was up for doing it but people persuaded him that for safety reasons he shouldn't.

"Now he's nervous when he's out and is afraid for his family because whoever they were, they know where he lives and what he looks like."

Police arrived after 15 minutes and took statements from some of the 21 witnesses.