MP David Davis stepped in to help the rough sleeper (Picture: Reuters)

A Tory MP stepped in to save a homeless man who was being violently beaten up in the street.

The homeless man, whose name is Gareth, was set upon by two attackers before MP David Davis, 74, a former SAS reservist, stepped in.

Mr Davis said one of the attackers swung punches at him before he had to ‘manhandle’ them to the floor.

The former cabinet minister and leadership contender said he aggressively stood between the attackers and Gareth, to try and calm the incident down.

The brutal attack happened on Great Peter Street in Westminster on Tuesday night, and Mr Davis was quick to step up for the rough sleeper.

The MP for Haltemprice and Howden said: ‘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 was 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.’

After helping the man out of harms way, Mr Davis kindly offered Gareth a bed for the night and took him to A&E the next morning for treatment.

Mr Davis added: ‘He was still bleeding. It’s fortunately nothing permanent other than a few scars, I think. It was messy, but he’s all right.

‘He’s still alive and that’s the important thing.

‘About 35 years ago, somebody got kicked in the head and he died. Ever since, if I see something like that happening, I intervene.’

Even though he was forced to be aggressive with the attackers, Mr Davis said he didn’t hit them – otherwise he would have been telling the tale ‘from a prison cell’.

The attack unleashed on Gareth is the latest instance of violence and aggression towards rough sleepers across Britain.