Hypno wars: Brown and McKenna now locked in deadly staring contest   Scooped by: Barney Flock, phenomena and para-normal ex-para trooper super dooper supernatural snooper.

Rival hypnotists in Beak Street brawl.

Top telly mindbenderers Paul McKenna and Derren Brown have accidentally become locked in a gruelling public “battle of the hypnotists” right here in Beak Street today, with each star now determined to hypnotise the other and become the world’s most powerful famous brain-bendy man.

The brawl is thought to have started when McKenna, 47, was walking down the road listening to Bryan Adams on his walkman and just happened to sing the lyric “Look into my eyes” at the exact moment he passed Brown, who was off to do some filming around the corner and down a bit in Carnaby Street.

Before either man knew what was going on they were locked in a non-blinking staring contest, which very quickly escalated into a heated exchange of clapping, finger-clicking and tappings on the shoulder in futile attempts to “put each other under”.

So far neither rival is showing signs of blinking nor falling into a trance since the face-off began at 10am this morning, although Brown has on one occasion repeated back to McKenna that yes, alright, he is feeling very sleepy. Meanwhile McKenna was visibly taken aback by Brown’s ability to guess what he does for a living.

A large crowd of onlookers has formed and has been asked by police to move along - without much success. In the words of one spectator: “I can’t stop watching. It’s hypnotic.”