Jewish passengers were left terrified after a man claiming to have a knife shouted 'you should all go to the gas chambers' during an unprovoked anti-Semitic attack on a bus.

Witnesses revealed the stranger also told them, 'shame Hitler didn't kill you' while making threats to kill Jewish children.

The incident took place on a 254 bus as it made its way along Upper Clapton Road in Hackney, north London, on Thursday afternoon.

Some of the passengers on board were travelling to or from Stamford Hill, which is home to a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in the capital. 

Following his outburst, the bus driver stopped the vehicle and activated an alarm before volunteers from Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch group, helped detain the man.

He was subsequently arrested by Met Police on suspicion of making threats to kill and an offence under the Public Order Act. 

The man remains in police custody with police treating the incident as an anti-Semitic hate crime. 

Met Police told Daily Mail: 'Police were called at 3.51pm on Thursday, 7 May following reports that a man on a bus on Upper Clapton Road was making threats.

'Officers attended and arrested a 50-year-old man on suspicion of making threats to kill and an offence under Section 4A of the Public Order Act. He remains in police custody.

'Officers searched the male and no weapon was found.

'The Met takes incidents of this nature incredibly seriously. The incident is being treated as an anti-Semitic hate crime and our enquiries continue.'

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting CAD 5358/7MAY or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Daily Mail has contacted TFL for comment. 

The incident comes just a day after it emerged three 14-year-old Jewish schoolboys were left fleeing for their lives after a car drove towards them at speed and mounted the pavement in a suspected anti-Semitic attack.

The terrified pupils had been waiting to cross the road close to their school in Hendon, north London, when a black saloon car left the road and came within inches of hitting them. 

As they scrambled to move out of the way, the driver then manoeuvred his vehicle back onto the road and towards the A406 during the incident on April 20, at around 3.40pm. 

Met Police are investigating and appealing for any witnesses or dash cam footage from the area at the time.

The would-be ramming came just three days after the former premises of a Jewish charity in Hendon, around a five-minute drive away, was targeted by arsonists, and amid a spate of anti-Semitic incidents targeting the capital's Jewish community in recent weeks.

They include attempted arson attacks on two synagogues in nearby Finchley and Kenton, as well as at a memorial wall in Golders Green on April 28.

Golders Green was also the scene of last week's double stabbing on April 29, resulting in two Jewish men being attacked in broad daylight, with police treating the incident as an act of terrorism.

The father of one of the boys said there were dozens of children in kippot (skullcaps) nearby and his son was left 'shaken, but with it'.

He said: 'They were visibly Jewish kids. He was waiting at the lights and saw these kids and saw an opportunity.'

Another parent of a Year 11 student at Hasmonean High School told Daily Mail they were 'horrified' by the 'would-be ramming'.

They said: 'I'm just shocked, but with the current situation, with anti-Semitism being so acceptable, I just feel what else [is coming our way]?

'I've never experienced anything like this in my lifetime. I've been living in England for 53 years, my whole life, and now I've got to look out on the streets for a car that might be running near my children. It's unbelievable.' 

Met Police revealed on Wednesday that anti-Semitic hate crimes in London are the highest they have been in two years.

The majority of the incidents have been recorded in the borough of Barnet, which encompasses Hendon, Finchley and Golders Green.

Some 140 offences were logged across the capital in April, up from 98 in March and 67 in February, according to the new data.

The borough of Barnet saw the highest number, accounting for 51 of the 140 (36 per cent).

In response, Met Police announced the creation of a community protection team of 100 extra officers to provide a 'more visible, intelligence-led and co-ordinated presence focused on protecting Jewish communities across London'.

The new team will involve neighbourhood policing as well as specialist protection and counter-terrorism capabilities.

The Jewish community 'faces some of the highest levels of hate crime alongside significant terrorist and hostile state threats,' the Met added.

A spokesman for the Community Security Trust (CST), told the Daily Mail: 'CST welcomes the Metropolitan Police's announcement of a new dedicated Community Protection Team to tackle antisemitic hate crimes and protect the Jewish community in London. 

'This new measure is an important step at a time of heightened anti-Jewish hatred and reflects the seriousness of the threats currently facing the community. 

'The increase in the number of arrests for antisemitic hate crimes in recent weeks is a welcome sign of effective action being taken by the police, which we hope will send a strong message both to the Jewish community and to would-be offenders. 

'CST will continue to work closely with the police, government and other partners to tackle antisemitic hate crime and to protect Jewish life, and we welcome efforts to build a lasting model of protection to tackle this hatred.'

A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism told the Daily Mail: 'Attacks on ambulances, suspected attacks on children - there is nothing to which these anti-Semitic cowards won't stoop.

'What's so tragic is that nothing surprises British Jews anymore, because all of this was preventable if the authorities had heeded our warnings two years ago and did their jobs.

'They refused, and now we and our children are paying the price for their stubborn ineptitude.'