A HAVE-A-GO hero was battered with a baseball bat after he tried to make a citizen's arrest.

He was filmed using all of his might to pin the wriggling man to the ground in Rainham, Essex.

Alarming footage shows another witness walking towards the pair, when suddenly car horns blare.

In a dramatic turnaround the alleged criminal brandishes a baseball bat and chases the other two men.

The man – who tried to make the citizen’s arrest – tumbles and falls on the pavement by a bus stop.

Seconds later the apparent offender clutches onto the have-a-go -hero, battering him with the bat.

The man continues to thrash him with the bat and the man pleads with him to stop, yelling “Alright fair enough! Alright fair enough!”.

The ‘assailant’ screams “F*** you!” at the injured man and then walks away – as the footage cuts to an end.

The video has amassed more than 100,000 views in two days with social media users commenting on the lessons to be learned from the incident.

One social media user said “lesson of the day mind yr damn business [sic]”.

Another added “That’s what you get for trying to play hero”.

One went as far as to say: “Mandem who do citizens arrests are looking to die”.