MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Third night of rioting, looting and clashes with police in several London districts

Home Secretary Theresa May cut short her holiday and said there is no excuse for ‘thuggery’

Youth hurled missiles at police in northeast London on Monday as violence broke out in the British capital for a third night. Protesters threw bottles, rubbish bins and supermarket trolleys at officers, and police with riot shields responded by charging them as they tried to seal off a busy area around Hackney Central station.

There were social media reports of disturbances in several other areas of London.

Crowds of people, many wearing hooded tops, broke into a truck and pulled out planks of wood for use as missiles, a reporter on the scene said. Some of the youths broke shop windows, including that of a Ladbrokes betting shop.

The BBC said the clashes broke out after police stopped and searched a man.

London has been hit by two nights of violence which erupted on Saturday night in Tottenham, north London, after a protest over the fatal shooting of a man by armed police turned violent.

British government officials branded rioters who fought police, looted shops and set fire to buildings at the weekend as opportunistic criminals and said the violence, the worst in London for years, would not affect preparations for next summer's Olympic Games.

Home Secretary Theresa May, who cut short her holiday to take charge of the government response to the riots, said arrests had climbed to 215 and 27 people had been charged. “Let's be absolutely clear, there is no excuse for violence, there is no excuse for looting, there is no excuse for ‘thuggery’” she said.

Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh said the force was putting more officers on the streets in Hackney and other areas this evening. “What we can see is the Metropolitan Police is getting police officers there in numbers as we have large numbers of criminals’ intent on that kind of violence,” he told the BBC.

A small group of people had barricaded themselves inside the 110-year-old Hackney Empire theatre where past performers have included Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.