Hundreds held as violence spreads

Hundreds of people were arrested as Britain’s worst rioting in a generation spread from the capital to cities across the length and breadth of England.

There were ugly scenes of rioting, looting and violence in Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham overnight, while trouble also erupted in areas including Liverpool, Salford, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Bristol and Gloucester.

A total of 81 people were detained in London as Scotland Yard brought in 16,000 police officers to patrol the streets – bringing the total number of people arrested in the capital since the violence erupted on Saturday night to 768.