England riots: Huge police presence amid unrest

Riot police have been defending areas of several major towns and cities across England as trouble continued for another night.

In Manchester, a shop has been set alight and in Salford shop windows have been smashed and cars set on fire.

It follows three nights of violence in London and trouble in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon.

The man was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, Scotland Yard said.

Large police presence

A total of 685 arrests have been made in connection with rioting and looting in London while 229 people have been arrested in the West Midlands.

Police have begun releasing footage of people they want to question over the disorder.

In Nottingham three police stations were attacked and one was firebombed by a gang of between 30 and 40 men.

Mobs of up to 50 people have also damaged cars, pubs and shops in certain areas of the city.

Thousands of police officers are on the streets of London after three nights of rioting in the city.

Forces from across the country are sending officers to the capital to support the Metropolitan Police, which has 16,000 officers on duty.

The situation across England:

• In Manchester city centre, rioters have set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop in Market Street

• A BBC radio car has been set alight in Salford

• In Nottingham, eight people were arrested over the firebombing of Canning Circus police station

• In Liverpool, youths throwing missiles caused damage in Toxteth

• West Midlands Police have charged 23 people and arrested a total of 87 people on the second day of disorder in the area

• Eyewitnesses in Birmingham reported that a newsagent in Newhall Street in the Jewellery Quarter had been ransacked

• Shops in Birmingham closed early and riot police surrounded the Mailbox shopping complex

• Cars were set alight in West Bromwich

• Disorder broke out in Gloucester with gangs of youths setting fire to bins. The fire service said eight engines tackled a blaze in Brunswick Road

• Much of London shut down early amid fears of a fourth night of violence. A number of arrests were made in Canning Town after groups of youths threw stones

• Coaches operated by National Express are not serving routes into Birmingham or Wolverhampton "until further notice", the firm said, while Birmingham coach station has been shut

• National Express services to Manchester have also been suspended, with passengers being dropped off at Manchester Airport, Oldham or Stockport instead of in the city

'Deeply distressed'

Tom Steedman, who watched the disorder in Salford from a flat which overlooks a retail park, described a fire and looting at a supermarket.

"There's a lot of black smoke," he said. "Something's been set on fire, I can't see what it is, it's behind a building.

"But there's a lot of people walking out of Lidl. It's been smashed through the shutters and a lot of people are walking out with Lidl bags.

"It's not just youths, there was actually a family drove up in a car and filled up their boot with stuff from Lidl and drove off."

A 26-year-old man shot in his car in Croydon during Monday's rioting has died and a murder investigation has begun.

Police have not confirmed whether the shooting was linked to the riots.

On Monday night hundreds of people attacked and looted shops in four cities across England - Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham and Liverpool - in what police called "copycat criminal activity".

There were smaller disturbances in the Medway towns in Kent and also in Leeds.

The third night of violence in London started on Monday afternoon in Hackney.

Violence began in Tottenham on Saturday over the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan.

His family released a statement which said they were "deeply distressed by the disorder affecting so many communities across the country".

All leave has been cancelled for police officers in the capital after another night when shops were looted and buildings set alight.

On a typical Tuesday night there would be fewer than 3,000 police officers on patrol.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said 30 forces had sent officers to the capital including North Yorkshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Kent, Sussex and Surrey.

The prime minister has recalled Parliament in the wake of the continued unrest.

David Cameron returned early from his summer break to chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee in Downing Street on Tuesday.

Met Commander Christine Jones described the violence as "simply inexcusable".