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Journalist Paraic O'Brien told BBC Radio 5 live that he saw up to 200 youths charging at riot police
More than 100 people have been arrested as officers were
attacked, police vehicles damaged and shops looted and damaged in parts
of London.
Disorder spread to Enfield, Walthamstow and Waltham Forest in north London and to Brixton in the south of the city.
Some 35 officers have been injured over the two nights of rioting.
Three officers were hurt when a vehicle hit them as they tried to make an arrest in Waltham Forest, east London.
Clashes broke out in Enfield, north London, on Sunday evening where shop windows were smashed and a police car damaged.
'New trainers'
There have been reports of a gang of up to 200 youths looting
shops and charging police in Coldharbour Lane and the High Street in
Brixton, south London.
Metropolitan Police Commander
Adrian Hanstock said: "This is not groups of people acting on behalf of
communities or with any consent.
"This is individuals who are actually attacking communities,
businesses, properties and houses and actually causing a huge amount of
upset and criminality."
The Met said it had dealt with several incidents of "copycat criminal activity" across the city.
These included:
- Three officers injured after being hit by a vehicle in Chingford Mount, Waltham Forest, at about 00:45 BST
- More than 30 youths vandalising and looting a number of shops in Walthamstow and Waltham Forest
- Vandalism carried out by about 50 youths in Oxford Circus, central London
- A police vehicle being attacked in Islington, north London
- A Tesco store in Ponders End being attacked and items stolen
Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor of London and Chair of the
Metropolitan Police Authority, described the scenes of the last two
nights as "disgusting and shocking" and said the police did a good job.
Rioting broke out in Enfield, where shops were looted and police attacked
He added: "Obviously there are people in this city, sadly, who
are intent on violence, who are looking for the opportunity to steal and
set fire to buildings and create a sense of mayhem, whether they're
anarchists or part of organised gangs or just feral youth frankly, who
fancy a new pair of trainers."
Talking about the impact on the capital's image, one year
ahead of the Olympic Games, he said: "It's pretty rotten for London, it
does not look good.
"What we need to do over the next few months is to underline
to people the fundamental truth about London which is that it is one of
the safest, great big cities on earth.
"We have a low murder rate and this kind of violence is very rare."
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, said: "Last night, police
officers again put themselves in harm's way to protect Londoners and
their property.
"Londoners have made clear that there are no excuses for
violence, and I call on all members of local communities to work
constructively with the police to help them bring these criminals to
justice."
'Rocks and bottles'
BBC London's Paraic O'Brien said he had witnessed widespread looting in Brixton.
He said: "They smashed a William Hill, they set bins on fire.
"And now what we're seeing as the night progresses is that replicated, sort of flashpoints all along Brixton High Street.
What might have been started in Tottenham by youngsters
aggrieved about what they saw as police persecution has become something
very different in nature.
Last night there was a sense that the looting, and violence and disorder across London was being co-ordinated on social media.
There were people in their cars, youngsters on bicycles,
moving very rapidly, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. As soon
as you moved to one location they would move on to the next one.
The police were doing their best to catch up with them. You
had police vehicles going backwards and forwards, blue lights flashing,
riot police coming out of their vehicles.
Ten minutes later they'd get back in again and go off to the
next location - essentially trying to fight the fires, metaphorically,
that were spreading all over London.
"I'm standing outside Halfords on
the other side of the road and they've just smashed through the doors
of Halfords. They're taking bikes out the front entrance.
"I have to say, what really struck me was the small number of
police officers that there actually seem to be on Brixton High Street
responding to this."
Press Association photographer Lewis Whyld saw looters battle police at a Currys store in Brixton.
He said: "A couple of hundred youths were rioting and
looting. Riot police went in to get them out and there was a big fight
in the street.
"Youths were throwing rocks and bottles and there was a bin
on fire. They used a fire extinguisher to push the police back so they
could get back into Currys and continue taking things out."
Met Police Commander Christine Jones said: "Officers are shocked at the outrageous level of violence directed against them.
"At least nine officers were injured overnight in addition to the 26 injured on Saturday night."
London Fire Brigade said it had been called to a number of
fires in Enfield, Brixton and Walthamstow, including a fire at a shop on
Brixton Road, which is now under control.
'Greed and criminality'
The disorder follows rioting in Tottenham which broke out on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning.
A peaceful protest over the fatal shooting by police on
Thursday of 29-year-old Mark Duggan descended into violence later in the
evening.
The unrest spread into nearby Wood Green and Tottenham Hale.
Shops were attacked and looted, 26 police officers and three others were
injured and buildings and vehicles were set alight.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh told the BBC
Radio 4 Today programme that there were too few officers in Tottenham on
Saturday night, but blamed Twitter for fuelling looting and violence,
saying: "Social media and other methods have been used to organise these
levels of greed and criminality."
Mr Kavanagh pledged that more officers would be on London's streets on Monday night to prevent or tackle further outbreaks.
The Currys store was one of many in Brixton that were attacked
Parts of Tottenham are still cordoned off, as officers and forensic specialists continue to examine the riot scene.
A total of 61 arrests have been made in connection with the
first night of rioting. The majority were for burglary, and other
offences including violent disorder, robbery, theft and handling stolen
goods.
Sixteen people have been charged for offences including
burglary, violent disorder and possession of a pointed or bladed weapon
following the Tottenham riots.
As well as Mr Duggan, a police officer was also shot in
Thursday's incident, which happened in what was called a "pre-planned"
event, under Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime in London's
African and Caribbean communities.
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