'It’s a disgrace. This must stop': Locals survey damage after north London riots

Scotland Yard has confirmed that 26 police officers were injured in last night's riots in Tottenham in north London, and that 42 people were arrested for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.

The violence came two days after a man named locally as Mark Duggan, 29, was shot by police in the area.

After a peaceful protest by community members demanding “justice”, the mood turned nasty and buildings and vehicles were set alight.

Starting about 200 yards from Tottenham Police Station, the riots then spread to other parts of the local area and by the early hours of the morning, crowds of looters were smashing shop windows in a retail park near Tottenham Hale tube station and plundering goods from almost every store.

Teenagers and adults were said to have turned up in cars and filled their boots with stolen items, unimpeded by police.

Others arrived on foot and piled shopping trolleys high with looted televisions and other electronic goods, a woman who has lived locally for 10 years but did not want to be named said.

Deputy Mayor for policing in London Kit Malthouse told Sky News that officers had coped "with the cards they were played very well" and insisted they were adequately prepared.

“Nobody predicted the level of violence, arson and looting that was going to take place,” he said.

“Nobody thought that the protest would necessarily degenerate into that kind of activity and there’s no reason why they should have done.

“The critical thing is, were we able to mobilise forces fast enough to deal with what did arise?”

He added: “We did get a significant number of officers out there to deal with it in good time.”

Mr Malthouse insisted there was “no comparison” with the Broadwater Farm riots in 1985 during which a police officer was stabbed to death.

He said that there was a “criminal element” in the crowd last night who were intent on breaking the law rather than protesting over Mr Duggan’s death.

Local MP David Lammy, speaking from behind the police tape, today called for calm to be restored to the community.

“What happened here on Thursday night raised huge questions and we need answers,” he said. “The response to that is not to loot and rob. There are homeless people standing back there.

“We have officers in hospital, some of whom are seriously injured. It’s a disgrace. This must stop.”

It was nothing like the situation in Tottenham some 25 years ago, he said, apparently referring to the Broadwater Farm riots of 1985.

“This is an attack on Tottenham, on people, on ordinary people,” he went on. “Women who are now standing on the streets homeless. These are ordinary shop keepers who live above their shops.”

Questions remained over how a legitimate, peaceful protest had been able to escalate in the way it did last night, he added.

Cries of 'The police want to see the place burn' greeted Mr Lammy's speech.

Local council leader Claire Kober also addressed the crowd from behind the cordon but was shouted at by angry local people.

She said: “I walked along the High Road this morning and it’s nothing short of heartbreaking...Our next job is to rebuild Tottenham. I urge the community to stick together and work towards rebuilding.

“We will work with you. This violence needs to stop.”

Theresa Monuro, 54, a support worker, said: "I've lived in Tottenham 20-odd years and I've never seen anything like this. They were burning everyone’s property. It’s disgraceful.”

The sense of anger at what the looters had done was clear.

Nadine Knight, 24, who works in administration at a planning and architecture firm said: “I’m completely and utterly disgusted by what the community has managed to do here. They need to come together a bit more and help the community, not damage it. I’m so upset, I can’t believe it.”

Another local resident, Norman McKenzie, 37, who works as a security guard at the Next clothes store in the retail park, was also appalled.

He said: “I can understand they’re angry and above all that there’s unemployment and cutting benefits so everything comes together and the cup is full.”

He had been told by his employer not to go to work today “because of the riot”.

Christian Macani, 22, who works in environmental sciences, asked a question that was on the lips of many in his neighbourhood this morning.

“What does this achieve?” he said. “They can’t get away with this, can they? People really don’t think. It’s stupid, this. They’ve achieved absolutely nothing. It’s a joke.”

"There'll be no shopping today, no working today," a police officer told a woman anxious to know how to access the road.

Asked how long she would be prevented from walking freely down her local high street, he replied: “Until further notice.”

A third policeman told an onlooker: “It’s a crime scene, I can’t let you just go and look at it. There’s so much forensic evidence. You don’t want to become a suspect.”

Metropolitan Police Federation Chairman Peter Smyth said: ``Once again, police officers in London have had to confront extreme violence and criminality and have demonstrated the bravery and professionalism which law-abiding Londoners expect from them and upon which the capital relies.

“We trust that the officers involved will receive the thanks and recognition which is their due from political and community leaders at every level.”