Arab Spring seems to have hit London, is America Next?

Riot police have again been deployed to the streets of London as violence broke out for a third day running.

Cars were set on fire in Lewisham and a bus and shop were set ablaze in Peckham. A large furniture shop in Croydon is also well alight.

In Hackney, police have sealed off part of Mare Street after youths smashed police car windows.

The trouble flared after a man was stopped in Hackney and searched by police but nothing was found.

There were also fears trouble may spread further afield as police in riot gear were deployed in Birmingham city centre after scores of youths rampaged through the shopping area, smashing windows.

The fresh violence prompted Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Tim Godwin to called on parents to contact their children and urged the public to clear London's streets.

Up to 200 police officers in riot gear are in the Hackney area and are clashing with youths, who have tried to set fire to vehicles.



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Groups of people began attacking the police in Hackney at about 16:20 BST, throwing rocks and a bin at officers.

Police cars were also smashed by youths armed with wooden poles and metal bars.

Looters also smashed their way into shops, including a JD Sports store, before being dispersed by police.

Planks of wood taken from a lorry were then hurled towards lines of riot officers.

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At the scene

Alix Kroeger
BBC News
In a lane off Mare Street the wreckage of a burnt-out car still smoulders, surrounded by riot police.

At least for now, the violence in this half of London seems to have abated. I was talking to one young man who had received on his BlackBerry a list of places where he said there will be further trouble tonight.

He didn't tell me which places and stressed it is speculation. But he and a friend told me frustration with poverty in the area was boiling over.

On Mare Street there is the sound of crunching as police vans run over broken glass. Much of it from a bottle bank which was overturned providing makeshift missiles for rioters who lobbed the bottles at police.

Violence has broken out in Peckham, south London, where a shop and a bus have been set on fire.

In nearby Lewisham, a number of vehicles and a trail of bins on fire.

At least 215 people have been arrested and 25 charged following the riots across London over the last two days.

In Birmingham City Centre looters have attacked several shops, smashing windows and stealing items.

An eyewitness said windows have been smashed in McDonalds and Jessops near Birmingham Cathedral and a sign has been thrown through a gym window.

London's mayor Boris Johnson is cutting short his holiday to return to the city.

Home Secretary Theresa May also returned early from holiday, to meet Metropolitan Police (Met) chiefs to discuss their response to the violence.

Mrs May condemned the riots as "sheer criminality" and said those responsible would "face the consequences of their actions".


The fire quickly swept through the furniture store
The trouble follows two nights of violence over the weekend which started after police shot a man dead in Tottenham.