MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

London police promises to track down and prosecute violent protestors

Anti G-20 summit protestors rioted in downtown London but Scotland Yard has said that all violent protesters who attacked police and stormed a bank will be tracked down and prosecuted.

The Metropolitan Police said officers faced “high levels of violence” in isolated incidents throughout the day. On Wednesday night police continued to clash with some protesters outside the Bank of England.

Police said there had been a total of 36 arrests linked to the protests, including four on Tuesday night, and others involved in violence should expect a “knock on the door”.

Two people were held for aggravated burglary, and another for arson, over the raid on the RBS building. Others were held for public order offences, threatening behaviour, possession of drugs, violent disorder and blocking a road.

Eleven people were arrested this morning after police uniforms were found in the back of an armoured vehicle. Investigations are already under way after masked anarchists smashed their way into the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branch in the City of London.

The angry mob trashed equipment, daubed graffiti on the walls and threw a chair through a window after more than 4,000 demonstrators, most of them peaceful, gathered near the Bank of England to demand action from world leaders.

Ugly scenes continued on Wednesday night as Metropolitan Police Commander Simon O'Brien said small pockets of criminals were responsible for the outbreaks of trouble and would be tracked down. But he added that the vast majority of participants were good-humoured.

Speaking at New Scotland Yard, the senior officer, who is a member of the command team for the G20 security operation, said some of the apparent ringleaders were followed by helicopter as they left flashpoints. He said there were some people in the crowd were “determined to hijack” the protests and “wanted to get involved in a violent protest and not lawful protest”.

Mr O'Brien also warned that there may be more violence on Thursday as the focus of the protests moves to the summit itself at the Excel Centre in London's Docklands.