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Matt Wells writes that there are developments in a number of areas around London at the moment. Two Guardian reporters have been in touch with news of a large disturbance in Peckham, south-east London. Police are blocking the main street in the area. Adam Vaughan says there are about 50 young men, some in ski masks and balaclavas on Rye Lane.

James Walsh is hearing reports of shops shutting down across the city, including those around the Angel, Islington, in north London as well as Stoke Newington, to the north-east, Wood Green – scene of looting on Sunday morning– and Lewisham, in the south-east of the city.

In Islington, branches of Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and the Co-operative have all closed their doors.

On Stoke Newington High Street, the Sainsbury's store has pulled its shutters down, as have some of the smaller shops and corner shops. "There's a really odd, gloomy feeling – everyone is just standing around talking about when it will kick off here", James says.

The Victoria line has been suspended between Stockwell and Brixton "due to civil unrest", according to this picture.

PenGuy has used Blottr to post photos from Lewisham. The images show groups of youths, and police, on the streets. In one a chair appears to have been thrown across the road.

On Twitter @gillianhawke has posted an image from Lewisham showing a police line blocking a road. The line appears to be preventing a bus from passing. Officers are not wearing riot gear, suggesting the disturbances may be low level at the moment.

Dave Hill, the Guardian's London blogger, is in Hackney, east London, where skirmishes have been occurring this afternoon.

A local police officer said shops in Hackney began closing their shutters after hearing "rumours" of trouble initially emanating from BlackBerry Messenger exchanges. Most had locked up by early afternoon as support officers began arriving in increasing numbers in the vicinity of Hackney Central railway station and three masked youths riding bicycles appeared on the main shopping thoroughfare of Mare Street. A series of stand-offs with members of the public began shortly after a large group of police detained two men against the wall of Hackney's Old Town Hall building, now a betting shop, and a crowd gathered to watch, many of them photographing the events. After some brief skirmishes and an angry verbal tirade against a police cluster by a young woman in the graveyard to the rear of the betting shop, an officer shouted to a colleague to "get the Natos," a reference to riot helmets. Police vehicles and officers in helmets holding riot shields eventually blocked off access to Mare Street south of its pedestrianized Narrow Way section and the railway bridge, as buses backed up along adjoining Amhurst Road and a helicopter buzzed overhead. Reactions of onlookers varied from a man telling an officer moving a youth on to "get your hands off him, pig," to an afterschool club worker declaring to police that "these kids shouldn't be out here, they should be back in their yard," and saying that if she was in charge of dealing with rioters she'd "tear gas their asses".

The news channels are showing pictures of fires having broken out in Lewisham. It appears a car and a row of bins, all along the same street, have been set ablaze. The footage shows police officers dragging large wheely bins which are not on fire away from the others, as officers with shields and Nato helmets form a line behind them. From the helicopter footage there is no sign of any people in the immediate area.

The Guardian's Duncan Clark reports from Hackney:

The police have cleared Mare Street but have told me the rioters have broken into groups. One group appears to have gone down Morning Lane which is currently protected by three police lines plus horses. I got through to the second line where the sergeant said there is continued rioting further down but can't get closer. The other main trouble is "up at the top", which I think means top of Mare Street.

The Observer editor John Mulholland is in Hackney, and he reports that violence has flared once again.

There are close to a hundred or so in running battles with police at the Bethnal Green end of mare street. Youths looting shops, including the boarded-up Texaco garage. Bottle banks on Mare Street have been upended to provide ammunition for launching at police. Many youths

walking around with spoils of their looting, swigging from bottles of Martell. Youths just arriving chant "Bethnal Green" and appear to be joining the affray, moving south down Mare Street from Hackney to Cambridge Heath Road. Pale, the owner of the looted Texaco garage on mare street, told me: "They just barged in, took everything ... that's 24 years of my life gone. I've never seen anything like that. I didn't try and stop them, my life is worth more than that." Even the Co-operative Funeral Care Home on Mare Street is boarded up - next door they are looting the Cash X-Change.

Paul Lewis has published his BBM details in a bid to understand what is happening around the capital.

We're grateful for any BBM messages you might be able to send, which will be used in confidence. Paul's BBM name is 'Paul', and his PIN number is 22416EC1.

The news copters are showing that fires are continuing in Lewisham. These are not blazes to the extent that we saw in Tottenham. They look to be small fires which appear to have been started in or near dustbins, although it looks as if two cars, metres away from the bins, are also ablaze.

In Lewisham town centre – not immediately near the fires – police are lined up across the main street.

Separate pictures show a small fire in Hackney. A wooden pallet appears to be part of the blaze. A small group of people are stood nearby.

A Twitter update from Sky's crime correspondent, Martin Brunt, on the death of Mark Duggan. Brunt's sources say police fired two shots: one bullet hit Duggan, the second missed or went through him into a police colleague's radio.

This clears up the confusion about the bullet lodged in the officer's radio – initial reports suggested it may not have been fired by police. Importantly, Brunt reports that the officers involved in the incident have never claimed they were fired upon first.

According to Brunt, the firearms officer who shot Duggan apparently feared his life was in danger from a lethal weapon.

John Mulholland reports that "police have regained control of Mare Street, at least for now".

There are still large numbers of masked youths in the area. Car burned out on Ellingfort road off Mare Street. A policeman says they are busy 'sterilising the area'.

Sandra Laville reports that the weapon being carried by Mark Duggan on Thursday was a converted handgun capable of firing real ammunition.

Expedited forensic tests are being carried out on the handgun found at the scene of Duggan's fatal shooting and bullets fired by the police. It is understood that ballistics experts have established that the firearm being carried in the minicab was a lethal weapon. It was a handgun which once in its life had not been capable of firing – a replica, a starting pistol or a collector's weapon. But the firearm had been converted – as many illegal firearms purchased on the street are – in order to carry live ammunition. The IPCC has said that they hope to have a fuller ballistics picture within 24 hours. But it is understood to be a complex picture, involving a number of tests to establish trajectory of bullets and how many were fired. According to Sky the C019 firearms officer has said that he never claimed Duggan had shot at him. The firearms officer is understood to have told investigators that he opened fire because he believed he was in danger from a lethal weapon. Two shots were fired, it is understood; one hit Duggan and one missed lodging in another officer's radio. Forensic tests will establish finally whether Duggan fired his weapon at all during the attempted arrest on Thursday evening. Rachel Cerfontyne, the IPCC commissioner in charge of the independent investigation into Duggan's fatal shooting said: "IPCC investigators are currently liaising with scientists at the Forensic Science Service regarding analysis on ballistics. We would anticipate being in a position to share verified results within the next 24 hours." The Guardian reported on Monday that initial ballistics tests on a bullet found lodged in a firearms officer's police radio was a police issue bullet – indicating that Duggan had not opened fire at the officer. Establishing precisely what happened when Trident officers, supported by members of the Met's specialist firearms unit stopped the minicab carrying Duggan on Thursday evening relies heavily on the ballistics results and the trajectory on the bullets fired. Tests are also carried out to establish the range at which the shots were fired at Duggan. The Met police joined the IPCC to say that any suggestion he was killed in an execution style shooting by shots to the head was "inflammatory" and inaccurate. The family of Mark Duggan is being kept up to date with developments, the IPCC said yesterday. Cerfontyne said the family's concerns were not about contact with the IPCC but the lack of contact from the police in delivering news of his death to Duggan's parents. "In the course of our contact (with the family) I know that the family – and indeed the community still have many unanswered questions," Cerfontyne said.

Television pictures now showing a building ablaze in south London.

It began with a small blaze outside what looked to be a terraced house, but the flames quickly spread and now appear to have engulfed all three floors. The row of terraces contains a Gregg's which is next to the blaze.

Helicopter footage shows people exiting the neighbouring buildings via fire exits at the rear and clambering over rooftops to safety.

The fire is in Peckham, both BBC and Sky have confirmed. It appears to have spread to the Greggs next door and looks in danger of engulfing the entire building. Lot of smoke.

Peckham: The fire has spread through the the back of the building. Fire engines are slowly working their way towards the building, but it looks as if police are having to ensure the street is secure before the fire brigade can get in close.

Peckham: fire crews have now arrived and are attempting to put out the blaze.

Tweet by @sallygainsbury – "Leaflet found outside Dalston Argos this a.m: advises on disposing of clothes,avoiding arrest http://yfrog.com/h07mxcyzj"

Here's the leaflet in question:

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Matt Taylor has just called in from central Peckham, where is with a large group:

There is group of several hundred people on the streets, members of which have just looted an ABC pharmacy in middle of Peckham. A line of riot police have just charged the group, and it seems as if we're now in a running battle with the police. It's a very tense situation. Over last the couple of hours the group had smashed windows while a bus was burnt out and at least four other buses damaged after they had been abandoned.

Lisa O'Carroll reports that a "general air of panic" has descended on Camberwell, just a mile or two from both Peckham and Brixton.

One restaurant has already taken precaution of boarding up his windows in the event of trouble and hundreds of people disgorged from buses are walking church street in both directions. Several knots of youths wearing black scarves around their mouths are walking away while other on bikes are weaving in and out of traffic heading towards elephant and castle.

Bus driver from Peckham is reporting that morrisons was ransacked. 'my son told me. I spoke to him 45m ago.'

Helicopter pictures now showing clashes between police and protesters in Hackney. Police and rioters can be seen lining up at opposite ends of a wide street in Hackney, with the occasional missile being thrown. Police edging forward slowly. Hard to know where to report on at the moment.

Meanwhile the journalist Joseph Stashko is accumulating news from Lewisham in this Storify page.

Paul Lewis is tweeting from Hackney – here's his last few updates.

• I can see TV cameras and police the other sides of barricades. Explosions here. #Hackney http://yfrog.com/h2jumppj

• Journalist here been beaten and camera stolen #Hackney

• Stolen vans being trashed. #Hackney http://yfrog.com/h4vf3mmpj

• White van on fire. Only a matter of time until it blows. #Hackney http://yfrog.com/kfs9kajkj

• Much of #Hackney Pembury estate swirling black smoke. http://yfrog.com/kiz60irj

• It is 7.50pm and already I would say #Hackney violence worse now than last night in north London http://yfrog.com/h0keddxj

Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulLewis

Peter Walker in Catford:

Big crowd of few hundred youths here (Catford is about a mile or so from Lewisham centre) now. Police in riot gear, lots of taunts and scuffles.

It appears the violence may now have spread to Birmingham. Martin Wainwright reports"

The first sign of trouble spreading beyond the London area came in Birmingham where up to 200 youths confronted a police cordon in the city centre and shop windows were smashed. Eyewitnesses said that police appeared to have the situation under control and it "does not look like London." An exclusion zone was established up to half a mile round the Bullring shopping centre which closed early. Youths wearing hoods and scarves gathered after rumours on social network sites and via texts that things were "going to kick off" in the Midlands city Bins were thrown through the windows of Jessops, LA Fitness and a McDonald's but attempts to follow this up by looting as in Tottenham and another parts of the capital were stopped by police. The West Midlands force said that extra officers had been deployed after Tweets and other internet messages spread messages during the afternoon. A pub landlord stood on guard at his doors during a brief flurry of missile throwing but by 7.30pm the police appeared to be in control of most of the city centre, with the large Pallisades mall by New Street station also closed and cordoned off.

This Tumblr account appears to have been set up to document the trouble in Birmingham. It shows shop windows smashed. The pictures are time-stamped from this afternoon.

On Twitter @leestanleybhm tells me the Orange shop in Birmingham was attacked. He says he saw "people running from police and police donning public order kit".

@BeckyJohnsonITV has also posted: "Hundreds of young ppl on streets in Birmingham. damage to shop fronts"

Kilburn, in north west London, has also seen trouble reports Simon Rodgers. He says there have been 20 arrests near Kilburn High Road. Youths are roaming around the area, Simon says.

Met police acting commissioner Tim Godwin is speaking outside Scotland Yard.

Godwin urges parents to begin contacting their children. He police to be able to do their job on the streets. He says we are seeing "communities blighted by the actions of a few".

Godwin says police are publishing CCTV footage and other images of those who may be involved in the violence. He urges Londoners to get in touch with police in a bid to identify those involved.

Streets in Croydon are "in complete lockdown" according to the Croydon Guardian.

The paper is running a live blog on disruption in the area. Their reporter Peter Truman writes: Swarms of youths in hoods and masks are confronting the police from every junction to London Road. Bricks, bottles and sticks were thrown at the police line, who are armed with batons and riot shields. Tactical support, in full riot gear, are also on the scene. The police have set up a sterile zone between the Fox and Hounds pub and North End. West Croydon station has been shut.

Audio from Paul Lewis on the Pembury estate in Hackney:

Paul says youths were setting fire to cars on the estate for an hour before police arrived. Once police did get here attention turned and anger "became more focussed on the police", Paul says. Journalists are not welcome either – Paul has witnessed four reporters being attacked - one quite severely.

As the violence worsened Downing Street said that David Cameron had no plans to cut short his holiday in Tuscany, reports the Guardian's Nick Watt.

One source said: "The prime minister is watching it. He is keeping a close eye on it and getting constant updates. Theresa May is back, Boris Johnson is cutting short his holiday and Nick Clegg is in town."

Jo Adetunji is in Hackney.

At five lane junction outside the Three Sisters pub a police car just tried to drive down a road blocked by a gang of youths. The windscreen was smashed and pelted with bricks before the driver managed to speed off. Someone screamed that the police car had run a person over but it wasn't the case. Extremely dangerous for any police to go near.

Violence is escalating on the Pembury estate in Hackney. Here is a selection of Paul Lewis's recent tweets from the scene.

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Barry Neild is witnessing worrying scenes in Hackney:

Police officer in riot gear being treated on ground behind police barricade off lower Clapton Road in Hackney. No visible injuries but her ankles were trussed together

Caroline Davies was jotting down the full statement from Met police acting commissioner Tim Godwin earlier:

We have to report, as you have seen from your own media coverage, that there is significant disorder breaking out in a number of our communities across London . As a result of that we have a lot of police officers on duty . But I do urge now that parents start contacting their children and asking themselves where their children are . There are far too many spectators who are getting in the way of the police operations to tackle criminal thuggery and burglary . And I am imploring that people within those communities actually start clearing the streets to enable my police officers to deal with the criminality that is occurring in front of them. I can understand grievances and we've heard lots of debate about what the various issues are that are making people commit these acts . But what I have seen is pure violence, is pure gratuitous violence it is criminal damage and it is burglary . I and my officers will pursue all those engaged in criminality and we will put them in front of the courts and we will be asking the courts to send down significant sentences in relation to this form of activity. There are many thousands of young people in London who do not commit crime and we are seeing this is blighted by the actions of a few. But I do implore we do ask to clear the way for us to allow us to arrest those that are engaged in that activity. Grievances, concerns, challenges in communities are things we ought to be talking about. They are conversations we need to have. It does not in any way excuse the levels of violence, the levels of damage and offences that are being committed. I can reassure Londoners we have a lot of police officers out there. We remain steadfast and determined. I have a lot of very brave officers who will continue to police this. Just give us the space now to deal with the people that are doing it.

A large building in Croydon is ablaze. Very intense fire. More shortly.

The violence has sprad to Leeds, reports Martin Wainwright:



There was a tense situation in the Chapeltown area of Leeds where police were called after a man was shot and suffered facial injuries. Up to 100 youths, some wearing masks, gathered in the area which has seen street violence in the past but has enjoyed a better reputation in the past decade. The UK's second biggest Caribbean carnival is held in the local Potternewton Park on August bank holiday with a parade through the city centre.

The fire continues in Croydon. Trying to get more info from the area. If you are there, please contact me on Twitter @AdamGabbatt

The prime minister will return to London, the BBC is reporting. He will fly overnight. Earlier Downing Street said Cameron had no plans to cut short his holiday.

Peter Walker has more from Catford.

I just watched an extraordinary scene in Catford, maybe half a mile from the main trouble. With the police occupied a small group of young men decided to kick down the door of a Halfords store, in full view of the busy South Circular road. As they tried and tried - the shutters were tough - a crowd formed, and cars stopped. One young woman leaned out of her car, laughing: "Satnav! I want a satnav!" she yelled at them. Eventually - maybe 20 minutes later - riot police with dogs arrived and the slower-running looters (some people did carry off goods) were caught.

Earlier Peter told me he overheard a police inspector saying on a radio that the trouble in Catford is the work of 150 people at most.

"But the trouble is, they're so mobile," he told his boss. "You clear them out and they pop up somewhere else."

Video apparently showing looting occurring in Birmingham.

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Lizzy Davies is filing from Hackney:

Full scale looting going on at Clarence convenience store right by the burning car on clarence road. "One by one" shouts one man as people crowd round to get into the shop, whose entrance has been smashed in. Women calling: can you get me a magazine? Other people asking for alcohol. A photographer is being threatened by a guy and press moving away. But others still smashing in rest of shop front. The situation is highly volatile. A man was just hit over the head with a bottle and punched in the face. A witness said his assailant was a woman. He was left bleeding down the back of his neck. The apparent motive for the assault was that the man was taking photos. But he told police afterwards that he hadn't been doing that when he was targeted, so the circumstances remain unclear.

Ben Quinn is in Clapham Junction, south London:

Dozens of youths started the night's violence on Northcote Road at just after nine o'clock when they ransacked a Curry's electronic store in Northcote Road. They were joined by dozens of others, many with black hoods and scarves after a small number of riot police left the scene half an hour earlier when they came under light bombardment from projectiles. Onlookers and locals identified many of those present as "blues, yellows and reds", members of local gangs who they said had called a truce for the evening. Along Northcote Road the windows of other stores in including Starbucks were smashed. The gangs ran along the road and at one point a middle-aged man and his wife pointed in the direction of a jewellers further up the road and other potential targets.

Less than 30 metres away dozens of revellers stood outside a local pub drinking beer and looking on. As it became apparent after 20 minutes of looting that the police were not coming back the looters were joined by many more.

Video showing a woman fearlessly telling youths in Hackney to "grow up" in the wake of riots. "I'm ashamed to be a Hackney person," she says. Footage courtesy of Telegraph journalist Matthew Moore - @mattkmoore on Twitter, with thanks to Christian Bennett for the link.

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Brixton: Sam Francis is in Loughborough Junction Brixton, where he witnessed 30 youths, faces covered, being chased into the station by two police officers. Police vans and cars were also in pursuit, and blocked the youths inside the station. More as we get it.

Here's a picture Sam took of the outside of the station, which my colleague James Ball helpfully uploaded to Twitter.

More from Nick Watt – Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, has been commenting on tonight's riots:

I am shocked by the scenes we are seeing in parts of London and Birmingham. This violence and vandalism is disgraceful criminal behaviour. What we need to see is the strongest possible police response to restore calm and security to our streets and for communities to work together. It is right that the Prime Minister is chairing Cobra. We need a coordinated response to ensure public safety and help those people who have lost homes and businesses.

I've been passed this account from someone who witnessed violence in Walworth, between Elephant and Castle and Camberwell, earlier. They've asked not to be named.

I turned up at the Morrisons supermarket branch on Walworth Road, SE17, at about 6.50pm only to find the place shuttered up and one of the few members of staff remaining by the back door telling me that they had closed early as it was due to "go off" in Peckham, four miles away, at 7pm. I left and dropped into a bar to pass on 'the news' only to see BBC World footage on the TV, taken from a helicopter by the look of it, of nearby Lewisham burning, and Peckham soon after. Within minutes, fives and sixes of masked blokes were running past the bar and through to the main street, a handful dumping cars outside the bar on double yellow and charging through to the nearby thoroughfare, which the police had blockaded at the north end in the vicinity of the Tankard pub, along the side road from the police station. Buses were stopped and abandoned, I'm told, and looters were laying siege to Lynne's Electrical, jewellery and pawn shops, the Carphone Warehouse, Foot Locker and later M&S and finally Argos, and that's all that I heard. Others will have been done, although the Turkish supermarket was apparently left alone.The pie and mash shop in the sidestreet of Westmoreland Road was also entered and trashed Young men and the occasional woman then spent the next hour or so running through the sidestreets with their pickings, the first of them with widescreen TVs, boxes that contained kettle-sized electrical goods, trainers and the like from Foot Locker, and M&S clothing. A white 20-something one with a bad limp came to the door of the bar to ask them to call him a cab. The request was declined. Some of the looters dumped gear in nearby gardens and returned to the Walworth Road, others had filled wheelie bins with whatever and were pushing them home, while the professionals returned to the double-parked cars (BMWs and the like, tinted windows in at least two cases) before replacing their masks and returning for any pickings they may have missed. Innocent people turned up at the bar who had been diverted around the sidestreets, one telling me he saw a gang of about 10 youths throw a man off his motorbike at Albany Road traffic lights before another rode it on in the direction of Camberwell. then the cyclists around him at the traffic lights who tried to help were attacked with weapons by hooded and/or masked vigilantes coming from the vicinity of adjacent Burgess Park. People in the bar who lived on the other side of the Walworth Road were ringing relatives/kids on the other side of it not to open their doors to anyone - it was anarchy in the literal sense of the word. Two police vans finally made it up to Argos at about 8.30pm, which dispersed the people in and outside there sporadically. They had been in there for about an hour though people were still loitering in nearby streets with intent at nightfall. We can only hope that nothing is torched by late arrivals who find themselves empty handed. That, or the police regain control of the thoroughfare.

Audio interview with Matthew Taylor, who is in Croydon.

Matt says the scene is one of "burned out cars". Shops have been looted too. Some 300 to 400 people were involved in disturbances. Matt says the police seem stretched with controlling the large fire – which we saw pictures of earlier and is believed to have engulfed a carpet shop – leaving very little presence at all in the areas he has passed through so far.

Barry Neild is now in Dalston:

We've detoured to Dalston where a bus was set on fire in shacklewell lane earlier. The single deck bus is now cordoned off and there doesn't seem to be much damage, but the incident has clearly shaken the large Turkish community here. Many shopkeepers are on the street talking about how they chased away the gang of youths behind the bus fire. "We beat up four of them quite badly and they ran off," one man, who wouldn't give his name, said. Another said: "this is not justice, coming here and trying to attack us." Notably several businesses are still open ascot usual here, unlike other violence hit areas. We've just watched a mob of locals chase a gang of hoodies down the main road, with police vans on full siren in pursuit.

Twitter: @BBCNewsnight: No one from the government was available to appear on #newsnight tonight to talk about London riots

ITV are reporting a shooting in Croydon. Vikram Dodd says police are investigating reports but at the moment it is not believed to be linked to the riots.

Video showing looting in Debenhams in Clapham Junction.

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View London riots / UK riots: verified areas in a larger map

@JamesCridland on Twitter, managing director of MediaUK.com has created this Google map charting the disturbances.-

Reliable reports of riots now in Camden, Notting Hill and Colliers Wood.

The Wimbledon Guardian had this from Colliers Wood earlier:

Shops and petrol stations have been looted as Colliers Wood becomes another target of youth violence in London. Gangs of well over 100 youths have targeted the Tandem Centre in Tandem Way, where a police van was attacked by rioters throwing bottles and rocks. A standoff has now developed after police withdrew from the Tandem Centre, where the rioters are now trying to break into the shops, which include Sports Direct, JD Sports, PC World and Mothercare.

They filed the following update a short time ago:

Activity seems to have petered out and it is believed four looters have been rescued by firefighters from PC World. One was trapped underneath the steel shutters with others inside the store.

Good resource for checking situation in various areas. You type in a postcode to see tweets from certain areas - can refine by putting in search terms such as #londonriots. Thanks to colleague Hannah Waldram for sharing the link.

p>: it seems disturbances occurring on Chalk Farm Road, between Chalk Farm tube station and Camden Town tube. Camden New Journal reporter, Richard Osley is tweeting

• That tweet earlier about Camden being calm. It's not any more. Police and groups charging at each other on Chalk Farm Road.

• Group charged the police back, pelting with bottles. One just whizzed past my head.

• You get in the wrong place during those charges and it's not cool.

• Chalk Farm Road between Hartland Road and Ferdinand Street is a stand offf

• Kids getting bolder, marching at police

• '1 2 3... Raaaah' The police shout and charge the crowd again. Crowd splits. Police retreat. Crowd reforms.

The journalist Matina Stevis is reporting from Notting Hill. She says a car was set alight in the area and shop windows smashed – here's some recent tweets:

• On phone to police to rpt disturbances in W11, car burning, my street is full of smoke. Will go out when I've spoken to them #londonriots

• kicking off in Notting Hill, trouble outside my home, have seen 1 car burning in Westb. Grove/Portobello area #londonriots

• Walmer Castle pub staff v shaken up, said it was 6-10 teenagers threw bottles and rocks through windows, pub was busy #londonriots W11

• Smythson shop window smashed on Westbourne Grove #londonriots http://yfrog.com/h39a1mxuj



Hackney – worrying account from the Guardian's Jason Rodrigues, who has just been accosted by youths on his way home:

I've just returned from Hackney riots and was ambushed just off Essex Road and had my bike snatched by a group of six masked teenagers waiting on Ecclesbourne Road who were shouting "take the bike, take the bike". I was forced to swerve away from them but crashed to the ground. Just as one of the thieves grabbed my bike from under me a red van raced screeched around the corner and smashed into a parked car. Two young men then got out and the man in passenger seat then put his hand in his pocket and threatened to pull a on knife on the thieves, accusing them of stealing his bike earlier. A violent scuffle broke out and the thieves gave up the stolen bikes. Everyone seemed to walk away from the incident, but criminal minded local youths seem to be taking advantage of the lack of police presence due to trouble elsewhere.

p> My colleague Mustafa Khalili is in. He is tweeting from the area and describes "tense" scenes:

• Camden high St sealed off by police, heading up towards kentish town #londonriots

• Evans cycles chalk farm rd being looted 50 youths no police #londonriots #chalkfarm

• Police moving in on youths dispersing up Adelaide rd. riot police securing Evans cycle. Really tense #ChalkFarm #londonriots

Follow Mustafa @muskhalili

Ben Quinn reports from Clapham Junction – where a severe looking fire has broken out in a ground floor shop.

Ben says hundreds of people have been roaming the area looting. Mostly young, mostly male - some distinguishable as being gang members by the colours of their scarves, Ben says.

Stephen Khan reports from Bethnal Green, where there was violence earlier:

I've just walked from Liverpool St to Roman Road - so along length of Bethnal Green Road. All a bit of a mess. Shops smashed along Bethnal Green Road including a Cash Converters and an amusement arcade. Small groups of guys wandering around along length of the road. Other groups standing guard outside small shops such as off licences, grocers and newsagents. Far from scenes we're seeing in Croydon or Hackney, but tense. No police on ground there.

p> Simon Brooke was taking his mum out for a birthday meal intonight when they and fellow diners became trapped in the restaurant as rioters gathered outside, smashing a window and setting fire to a car.

Here's an audio interview with Simon, who said it was "really frightening".

Ironically Simon lives in Hackney. He and his family had decided to dine in Ealing as he lives in Hackney and thought it would be safer further west.

He has now been advised by police to stay in the restaurant as "gangs may be coming in from the suburbs".

I'm getting reports of violence in Liverpool, on Smithdown Road and Lawrence Road. Attempting to clarify.

Mike White writes from Ealing:

Police blocked the main Gunnersbury Road into Ealing town centre after the disturbances and searched all pedestrians trying to get past to go home. Local residents whose cars had already been smashed by rioters complained that the police had taken no interest in protecting their property and been aggressive. "The rioters who had tried to build a barricade just melted away."

p> ITV news trainee Ben Schofield has confirmed that disturbances are taking place in, in the Toxteth area. Also reports of violence in nearby Smithdown Road and Lawrence Road.

Ben's tweeting @benschofield:

• Yes - Liverpool now burning too. That's my car on fire. #riots http://t.co/Fprk0Zi

• #riots in Liverpool. Toxteth area. This photo is on Grove St. http://t.co/gstPVI6

• Barricading ourselves in. Fire brigade is here. Front of building hot, smoky

• Fire brigade now on Grove St in Liverpool. At least 6 cars torched. They blew up lots of scared ppl http://yfrog.com/kjun8stj

• Where a brick came through our shared front door window. Liverpool #riots http://yfrog.com/key3czgj

• Where the brick that came through our front door window landed. We live on Grove St in Liverpool. http://yfrog.com/h3mslpfj

An unmanned police station has been set alight in Birmingham, Vikram Dodd reports.

Vikram said police say there has been disorder in the Handsworth area of the city. The police station which has been set alight is on Soho road.

Lexy Topping has this from Hackney:

Spent some time this evening talking to a police unit who had been in the fray in Hackney outside Homerton hospital. They had gone to the hospital because three of the officers were injured, none seriously. A sergeant was suffering from concussion after being hit in the head with a brick. Officers described how when another policeman had fallen to the floor, two paramedics had rushed to their aid and were met with a hail of missiles from rioters. The two officers I spoke to had worked 24 hours yesterday, and were into the 15th hour of their shift today and expected to keep on working throughout the night. They had deployed mini vans used only for non-threatening transportation, but which left them vulnerable to attacks from missiles thrown by rioters. "It can feel a bit thankless at the moment, to be honest," said one officer with ten years experience. "It seems that the blame is coming at the police from all sides. But all the officers here would much rather be at home with their families than having bricks chucked at them." Another officer compared the riots to the student demonstrations. "It's completely different. There was some violence then, but you didn't have people basically wanting to murder you."

Barry Neild in Woolwich:

We've just spent about 45 minutes driving around two retail parks on the outskirts of Woolwich, watching gangs of youths looting two stores. As we arrived, a large gang was gathered outside the Stone Lane Retail Park branch of PC World, trying to force open the doors. We made several drive-bys - it seemed to risky to get out and film or speak to anyone - and watched as they gained entry. Within minutes, large flat screen TVs and other electronic goods were being carted out. Some had cars parked nearby to load the goods into. Nearby in another retail park, we saw people carting shopping trolleys full of goods raided from a branch of JD Sports. We drove over boxes of brand new trainers scattered in the road. It felt pretty lawless out there. We didn't seen any sign of police in the 45 mins we were there.

Alex Hudson, a BBC journalist who was beaten up this evening and had his phone stolen as he reported on the riots in east London, tells me that as he finally made his way home a group were on their way to Hackney police station, planning to set it alight.

BBC reporting that there have been 87 arrests in Birmingham.

Merseyside police are advising people to steer clear of Liverpool centre.

Channel 4 Midlands correspondent Darshna Soni on Twitter:

Things are kicking of in Handsworth, a car has been set alight and there's a stand off between police and around 50 local youths #Birmingham

p> We've not heard anything fromyet tonight, but Tom Finn reports that there have been disturbances:

@Tomfinn2 Down at stokes croft, dustbins set on fire, riot police everywhere, dogs barking #bristol

Stokes Croft was the scene of protests earlier in the year over a proposed Tesco.

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p> And this was shot by Mark Stone, from Sky News, in- showing people looting businesses:

Worrying video apparently filmed in Woolwich earlier tonight show a group completely overwhelming riot gear-clad police:-

p> Paul Lewis's audio report from Enfield fire at Sony distribution centre:

Paul describes a 70m building engulfed by flames. Unlike the other blazes we have seen over the last few days this fire is in the middle of an industrial estate – it looks as if it may have been targeted, according to Paul.

On Twitter @mattburgess1 has shared this BBC image of the blaze.

Police say 150 people are rioting in Bristol city centre, according to PA:

Copycat rioters rampaged through Bristol today with police chiefs warning of "volatile" scenes in the city centre. More than 150 young rioters were causing disruption in the areas of St Paul's and Stokes Croft, the scene of rioting earlier this year amid anger over a new Tesco store. People were warned to stay clear of the city centre as police launched efforts to bring the scenes under control.

More on Ealing from Anisha Ahmed:

The cars parked in front of my house have been smashed. There was a small fire in one. I could hear the laughter and what sounded like youthful voices. At least one girl and some guys, they sounded gleeful, if that's possible. When my friend heard (he lives in West Ealing) he ran outside to park his car somewhere safe - had a close shave too. There were gangs of young boys with hoods and scarves roving the streets in gangs near Waitrose. They spotted him but he managed to leave his car and make it back indoors.

The Tesco Express in Ealing Broadway has been broken into, Haven Green the park is on fire and the Ealing Broadway shopping mall has been attacked. I can't believe this is happening in Ealing. I've been following the news and heard police sirens and then angry voices. Within an hour all this unfolded. I never expected it to happen in Ealing too.

p> Here's link to another picture of that Sony distribution centre blaze in Ealing - earlier one might be struggling. Thanks to colleague Jonathan Haynes for pic.

Tim Samuels, presenter on the BBC Two Culture Show/5 Live's Men's Hour, has sent this video showing people damaging windows at Evans cycles on Chalk Farm Road, Chalk Farm

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My colleague Richard Adams reports that the Enfield Sony building, according to its website, is a CD manufacturing plant.

"Looters may have thought it was full of PlayStations, in which case they would have been disappointed," Richard says.

From the website:

Sony DADC Enfield, UK offers seamless one-stop-shop distribution services for the United Kingdom. With close ties to the Sony DADC manufacturing company in Southwater, customers are offered a convenient combination and handling of their disc replication and distribution. As your single point of contact, Sony DADC covers the entire supply chain – from the receipt of your input data to the delivery of shelf-ready products to stores. Furthermore, you will profit from the synergies between the close link between our manufacturing and distribution, ensuring that you receive the flexibility you need to respond to market requirements.

p> Matt Taylor has just driven through Crystal Palace on his way back from Croydon, and saw a group of youths there smashing a shop window with golf clubs. He says in almost every area he passed through there were signs of damage – an indication of how widespread the violence has been.

Samuel Hunt and Murat Gokmen have shared this footage from Mare Street earlier today, which gives a sense of the edginess and violence in the area this afternoon.

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Vikram Dodd writes that the Met police have tonight revealed they have used the new tactic of "armoured police vehicles", driven at people to push them back.

Vikram says they have declared it a success in Lavender Hill against 150 people, and police

say they may use it again.

p> A Facebook group has been set up to encourage Londoners to rally round and help with the post-riot clean up tomorrow.

"Post riot clean-up: let's help London" was only set up a couple of hours ago but already has over 350 followers and growing.

Perhaps some good will come from the riots after all.

Right, I'm off home. Thanks for reading and for all the contributions and comments. Hope all are safe.

Paul Lewis and Mustafa Khalili are still out reporting from London on Twitter – they're heading to Ealing, where some reports have suggested violence is still continuing, and expect to arrive in about 20 minutes or so.

They will both be tweeting – follow them @PaulLewis and @MusKhalili.

p> Good morning, this is Richard Adams taking over live-blogging duties.

Although things are quietening down in most areas, there are reports of major police activity in Ealing and disturbances in Southall, although the latter is unconfirmed.

PA has some details of the shooting in Croydon earlier in the evening:

Amid the disorder Scotland Yard said it had found a 26-year-old man in a car suffering from gunshot wounds. Police were called at about 9.15pm last night to reports the man had been found injured in Warrington Road, Croydon. A spokesman said: "Two other people, believed to be in their late 20s, were also at the scene. They were arrested for handling stolen goods and taken to a south London police station."

p> The Guardian's Paul Lewis and Mustafa Khalili have arrived in Ealing – and Paul reports on some scenes of devastation there, via his Twitter account @PaulLewis

• Ealing Broadway - Haven Green - every single shop in sight has been smashed. http://yfrog.com/h45u5xhj

• Passing burnt out cars, rubbish-strewn streets in Ealing

• This (was) a C-Class Mercedes. Most cars on Culmington Road smashed. #Ealing http://yfrog.com/kjlyjowj

• Most cars parked on Ealing Broadway look like this http://yfrog.com/h2fugkzj

p> An eyewitness account of some of what happened in Ealing Broadway from Roman, a builder outside a wine bar, talking to Paul Lewis:

Basically, everything started at 10pm. The youngsters gathered by the main road. They were trying to get into the shopping centre, but there were shutters on all the doors. Really mobile groups were coming here. Then the main riot started on this street – New Broadway. This is my friend's bar - Crispins Wine Bar. I was watching from the other side of the road as they started setting alight the fires. The worst was the fire above the Budgens. We saw fights, as the main crowd spread. A few people the mob didn't like, they beat up. One person had a slashed hand. I heard it was done with a knife. I am a builder, and I used planks of wood, whatever I could find in the house, to put over the windows and door of my friend's bar. They rioters got into the wine bar. A few bottles were smashed. The tills were smashed. The shop owner had to escape through the back door. Surreal is a good word I think for this. Hollywood does not know what can happen in real life.

The Guardian's Vikram Dodd supplies an official update from the police in London:

Latest arrest and charge figures: 334 people have been arrested, 69 people have been charged and two cautioned, says the Met as of 3.50 am BST

p> This YouTube clip has been doing the rounds and exciting much comment, as you'll understand when you see it.

Unfortunately, we don't know any more details – and of course you have take any unverified digital media with a pinch of salt. It appears to have been posted recently - perhaps two hours ago, and seems to have come from today.

If you have any more details about where this came from – or if you shot it yourself – then get in touch. (Especially if you are the poor kid.)

Like most people you are probably wondering, what's Piers Morgan thinking about these riots? No, me neither. Well you haven't missed much:

p>• Cameron should order the army in tonight. I'm sure they'd relish the chance to protect British citizens on home soil from these thugs

• What is going on in Britain tonight is a form of terrorism and should be treated as such.

Oh dear, on Twitter someone named @Denz1407 is not impressed by Piers Morgan's equation of looters with terrorists:

p>• @piersmorgan what u gona do? Slap everyone with a terrorist badge and send them Guantanamo - #stupidtwittersuggestions

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