Again, I don't want to sound like I'm jumping to the defence of the police, but I heard something incredible about what they did and I just had to make sure people knew about it.

I was talking to one of the people working in Recipease about what happened and they actually only had their windows smashed rather than any looting because they were one of the few places open at the time, as there was a cookery demonstration going on. Because there were people potentially in danger, the police formed a human shield in front of Recipease, so all of the damage to the store was caused by looters/rioters throwing things at the police.

Nobody was hurt and everyone got away fine, although no doubt pretty shaken.

It may seem like the police just let the rioters get on with it, but actually their duty is to protect the public, not the contents of Debenhams etc. There was a conscious decision not to put officers at risk for the sake of protecting property so they could do the much more important job of protecting people.

In my opinion, that was absolutely the right thing to do.

Guys - it was indeed shocking behaviour but i do wonder what has happened to the great British backbone. By cancelling business trips, holidays etc you are giving into/ giving way much power to what is essentially a bunch of kids who saw an opportunity and took it. I am not condoning in any way or underestimating the damage - but some people are over-reacting. Get on with your day and get on with your lives. If you don't what kind of message is that sending out to these chavs? That you are powerful and you can control people that's what

I agree Ckwmum. I might feel differently had my house been the one under attack but I do feel like cheering on the police going into another night of what may well be more mayhem. While it doesn't help the poor sods with damage and slippery insurance providers, these riots are unprecedented and in these financially strapped times i suspect the city of london didn't have the budget to allow them to properly resource for a scenario that was probably considered unlikely to happen. Hindsight is a great thing. Other cities in Europe should take note.

However, i do echo ordinary girl and we need to go to plan B when plan A fails - bring in the army. Or better yet, the A Team.

Never thought I'd be one to jump to the defence of the police but the sheer scale of the mayhem in London could never have been anticipated. There's no way the actual official policy would be to stand back and leave the thugs to it, but the forces were being pulled in all different directions.

I saw a whole string of police vans heading towards clapham j earlier this evening and I kind of wanted to cheer them on a bit. We rely on them to protect us so vilifying them when they're faced with a huge and terrifying task won't help. These are hideous times but hopefully, with the help of the police, it will all soon be over.

Hope everyone is safe and well. Lots of love and strength to any local businesses affected.

Where are their parents? For some kids, they dont have Parents... No parents with thir full abilitybwould tolerate their children to be out on the street looting. These kids parents were for some incapable of controlling their kids, or drunk, or some might have enourage them, or stoned, or simply at work on their 2nd or 3rd job?
That is why i think the immediate answer should be instigating a curfew. In the long term, it will impeding to tackle the deep and profound issues that some less well off neighbourhood are feeling. But whilst this is important to understand the causes, it is categorically inacceptable and targetting in our answers both the kids who did it and their parents might be the way to go... I am not sure but why not?

Apparently 40 or so residents on one of the streets off Northcote Road blocked off the bottom of their road from the yobs last night - just stood up to them and said "sod off" basically. And the yobs did indeed sod off.

The police have said they were stretched to capacity last night and that is why it took them 90 minutes to respond to 999 calls relating to Clapham riots.

My daughter's nursery is closing today at 4pm on advice from police, my husband has cancelled a business trip abroad to come home to us, and my sister with her baby daughter is now reconsidering visiting us this weekend from France because of the trouble. This is all very minor compared to some poor people who have lost their livelihoods or who have been injured in these riots but it is affecting us as a family and this is very wrong.

These thugs need dealt with harshly and if the police are unable to cope then the army must be involved.

I do agree but....we live in a civilsed country (or so I thought!) and I am not sure how the police could have be prepared for something of this magnitude ?

What I would love to know is where the parents of these kids were ? Most of them seemed so young...

You say it's better for the police to clean up an insured mess .... actually most insurance companies do not include damage caused by riots on residential properties and so it may well be the same for businesses. You have to actually request coverage for it. A lot of people will be seriously out of pocket now and lives destroyed.

I'm so angry with the yobs and their parents.

Totally agree. I think the scary thing is just how powerful these thugs are...we were all helpless.

Well said, TXmum. Totally agree. Absolutely awful.

I feel as though the community was abandoned last night in an attempt by the police forces to avoid potential scandal. Far easier to clean up an insured mess than to deal with the aftermath of violent police clashes with gangs of children.
They knew what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, and where it was going to happen. Why then, did the strong police showing from earlier in the afternoon disappear completely at the start of the looting? Why let it even begin only to escalate later?
We are a community of families. These thugs learned last night just how powerful they really are. Last night it was about looting, but when will they come back to our homes?
It was painfully apparent last night that the police were helpless to protect the community. These thugs were in charge of when it started and when it ended.
We need answers as to how we are to protect our families and feel safe in our community again.