There are not many things that people are shocked to see in the streets of Newham, but the appearance of two camels certainly turned a few heads last week.

Images and videos posted to social media on Friday (February 23) showed the two animals walking down Newham High Street in front of stunned onlookers.

A man could be seen riding one of the camels flanked by a dozen other people on foot.

Music can be heard playing in the background, suggesting the stunt may have been part of a video shoot.

In the footage, one of the camels can be seen being led in front of a 147 bus to Ilford, with other traffic seemingly backed up behind it.

Some social media users reacted with shock and amusement at the footage – but others on X claimed it was not the first time a camel had been seen wandering the streets of the borough.

One said: “If I had a penny for the amount of times a camel has gone down a high street in Newham for a music video, I’d have two pennies – which isn’t much, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.”

Another said that “suddenly everything makes sense”, now that the footage has been posted online.

They added: “There was a pupil at school today telling me about a camel in Newham all day and I genuinely thought I might need to do a referral because nothing they said made sense.

“Now seen this and recognise it as my local high street… in Newham.”

Monega Primary School also posted: “What’s the most unexpected and interesting moment you’ve had in the area around your school?

“Camels on the high street definitely goes at the top of the list for us!”

One of the camels could be seen covered in a red blanket and saddle, matching the iconic London bus colour.

But the animals are best suited to desert conditions and rarely run faster than 25mph, so we doubt they are going to catch on as the preferred form of transport in Newham anytime soon.