Former minister David Davis has said he stepped in to stop two men attacking a homeless man near Parliament.

The Conservative MP, 74, intervened after seeing a “spray of blood” as the attackers kicked the man’s head at around 11pm on Great Peter Street, Westminster, on Tuesday.

Former Brexit secretary Mr Davis put himself between the victim and the pair before scuffling with one of them.

The veteran politician let the rough sleeper, named Gareth, spend the night on his sofa at his nearby flat and took him to hospital on Wednesday morning because he was still bleeding.

Former SAS reservist Mr Davis, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden, told PA: “I had to get between them, be very aggressive, one of them took a couple of swings at me and I had to deal with that, slightly manhandle him.

“I didn’t hit them, if you hit them you’ve got to hit them really hard and you might kill them, so I tried not to get into that, otherwise I’d be talking from a prison cell.

“I was basically being very aggressive, one of them started to back away and one of them, the more aggressive one, was a bit shocked and that gave me time to get the victim on his feet and away.

“Eventually it was alright, I think the aggressive one decided he didn’t want a straight-on confrontation with me.”