Good afternoon and welcome to the Guardian's continuing live coverage of the unrest in London and the rest of Britain. The cleanup from last night's trouble is well under way, and preparations are being made for tonight. It's clear that the police, particularly in London, are preparing a far more robust response.

Here's a summary of events so far today.

• The riots that have plagued London for three consecutive nights have claimed their first life. A man shot in his car during last night's rioting in Croydon, south London, died after being admitted to hospital. He was discovered in a car suffering from gunshot wounds at about 9.15pm as trouble flared in the area.

• David Cameron has announced that 16,000 police officers will be deployed in London tonight, in an effort to get a grip on the violence. This is up from 6,000 the night before. The prime minister promised a tough response to any trouble tonight: "I have this very clear message to those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality: you will feel the full force of the law. If you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishments."

• Police have disclosed that live baton rounds – non-lethal plastic bullets – may be deployed tonight. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan police told our crime correspondent, Sandra Laville: "If we need to, we will do so." He said 525 people have been arrested since rioting began on Saturday, and about 100 have been charged.

• Rioting spread to other cities in Britain for the first time, with unrest in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham. West Midlands police made 138 arrests. Chief Constable Chris Sims said of the looting in the city centre: "This was not an angry crowd, this was a greedy crowd."

• A clean-up operation has got under way across London, with many residents turning out to help. A number of websites and Facebook groups have been set up to co-ordinate the volunteer forces.

Boris Johnson is speaking in Clapham Junction. His message to the rioters is: "They will face punishments they will bitterly regret."

The mayor of London is facing a lot of heckling. People are asking where the police were yesterday.

Boris Johnson says he does not want to hear social and economic justifications for the rioting.

Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, is speaking now on BBC News. She says people's No 1 concern is to feel safe. They do not want to have to close their businesses at three o'clock.

Harman says people in her Peckham constituency are saying that the young people out rioting and looting are not speaking for them. It is not a political demonstration, she says. "Nothing justifies somebody robbing an looting somebody else's business and frightening people on their own streets."

She refuses to be drawn on deeper motives or causes for the rioting right now. The first thing to do is sort out the situation. People don't want to hear "excuses", she says.

People are absolutely expecting that whatever measures need to be taken will be taken ... They don't want to have the fear that things are going to kick off in their neighbourhood.

A few updates from our reporters around London.

Matthew Taylor, who's in Croydon, says shops are closing on police advice and a steady stream of people is heading out of the area via the train station.

Peter Beaumont, in the centre of Hackney, reports hundreds of police near the Empire and the Town Hall. He says he's never seen so many officers in the area — nor so many wearing the uniforms of so many different forces from around the country.

Ian Sample, meanwhile, sends this from Ealing, which is also in shutdown mode:

Fire engines are gathered in Ealing in west London to secure a building burned out by fire last night. Roads in the centre are closed to traffic and police are patrolling the streets as concerns spread of more violence this afternoon. Earlier this afternoon, police ordered the Ealing shopping centre to shut, with hundreds of people being turned back into the streets. The centre is now shuttered until tomorrow morning. Opposite, the Arcadia shopping centre remains closed, its windows smashed and a traffic cone lodged in one panel of glass at the entrance. Workers in hard hats are sweeping up fallen tiles from the burned out building that was set on fire last night.

Meanwhile, one of Liverpool's biggest shopping centres has decided to close early as a precaution:

Following recent events across the country, customers can expect stores at Liverpool One to close from 6pm today, rather than the usual closing time of 8pm, to allow staff to safely make their way home. The top priority at Liverpool One is always the safety of its staff and customers, and Liverpool One will be monitoring the situation closely in partnership with Merseyside police.

Jacob Mukherjee sends this from Walthamstow, north-east London:

Palpable tension on Walthamstow High Street at the moment. Sainsbury's and Selbourne Walk shopping centre have closed, anticipating trouble. Groups of nervous security guards and shop assistants keep watch outside Sainsbury's and the mall; Asian and Turkish shops remain open, with their own makeshift security force of young and middle-aged men.

Here is a bit more from Ian Sample in Ealing:

Ealing police have drafted in support from areas, including neighbouring Acton, with some officers being called in on days off. An officer at the station on Uxbridge Road said he could not comment for fear of compromising the operation in progress but said the force was stretched. Another officer at Ealing confirmed that shops had been ordered shut as a precaution following intelligence that suggested the area might be targeted again this afternoon.

Jasmine Coleman tells us that the majority of shops are now closed in Kingsland High Street, Dalston, on police advice. There are a lot of officers around Dalston Kingsland station but no sign of riots yet.

There is reportedly a heavy police presence in Birmingham, where shops are closing early.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence party, has just been on BBC News saying David Cameron's announcement that parliament will be recalled on Thursday is almost like permission for 48 hours' more rioting. He is worried about the rest of the UK as officers from around the country are redirected to London, and calls for the army to be called out under police control.

If plastic bullets are used tonight, BBC News is reporting that it would be the first time they are used on the mainland.

David Cameron is in Croydon looking at the damage there.

Adrian Gatton, a freelance TV producer and journalist, has emailed a few stories from south London that seem to have gone unreported today. In Norbury, two dozen shops were looted or damaged along London: jewellers, a petrol station, cash converter shops, takeaways, tool shops, tile shops, a bike shop and a pizza takeaway shop. In West Croydon, kids hijacked cars and drove them at police, and shops were attacked. In Purley Way there was repeated and massive looting of big stores in a retail park. Walworth Road was also quite badly hit.

All is quiet in London Fields, Hackney, according to Mark Brown. Most of the shops have pre-emptively closed but the streets are busy with people going about their normal business.

The family of Mark Duggan has given a statement following the opening of the inquest into his death. They said: "We want to establish the truth about Mark's death. The disorder going on has nothing to do with finding out what happened to Mark." They said they were "deeply distressed" by what had happened.

Back to Birmingham now, where, according to Martin Wainwright, the mood is very jumpy with shutters coming down over shopfronts and rumours of trouble swilling around:

The majority of local businesses are open but with groups of burly men standing outside, constantly on the phone, texting or tweeting. "Pretty much everyone came down this morning determined to open," said one of a group outside Chohan jewellery shop. But you can see things aren't quite right with all these shutters and people open one minute and closed the next." On the corner of Grove Road, police tapes sealed off the Handsworth branch of Lloyds bank whose staff have rather superfluously pasted the windows with notices saying: "Closed due to circumstances beyond our control." Two policewomen chatted with passers-by in hot sunshine beside the ripped-out frames of the bank's two cash machines which had otherwise resisted a mob's attempts to break them open. The area's mixture of normality and edginess was shown by the other two banks near the junction. The Nationwide is open as usual with only low profile security, but the NatWest is closed an shuttered. The high street's Asian greengroceries were all trading busily, with families out shopping in the warm weather and plenty of children on school holidays darting about. Council benches in an area full of optimistic promotions of "Hands-On Handsworth - keep it clean and green" were full of older locals. One of them, Theo Parker, a retired bus driver, said: "We're just like most people, bro. Just enjoying the lovely weather. This stuff last night, it's all to do with drugs and youth getting bored. Most of us get along here fine and that's the way we want it."

My colleague Michael White has just sent over this statement from Jenny Jones, Green member of the London assembly and the party's candidate for mayor in 2012:

What we are seeing is mindless vandalism, spreading first within London, and now in other cities, with no regard at all for the safety of other people. Violence, arson and looting can never be justified. The actions by rioters are endangering people's lives. It's sheer luck that no one has died so far. The priority of the police has to be to protect the public in their own homes and businesses. The vast majority of young people have nothing to do with this. But we do need to look at why the perpetrators of this violence are so alienated from society. This is about young people who deeply feel that they do not have a stake in society, some of whom were already engaged in criminal activity. Just as we have projects that engage with extremists to draw them back into mainstream society, we need to re-engage with alienated young people in a variety of ways, such as creating employment and training opportunities, advice, youth centres, and community services.

The Metropolitan police is preparing for "mass disorder" this evening, according to Vikram Dodd.

Ed Miliband, who's been to Peckham to visit riot-affected areas, has called for "firm action" from the police. The Labour leader said:

There must be no no-go areas and public order is the immediate priority. The public safety of our citizens, the ability for them to go about their business in a lawful way, is an absolute priority for any government and for any country. There can be no excuses for the violence and the intimidation of people that we have seen over the last few days.

He also appealed for parents to keep their children at home:

Everyone has been shocked by the age of some of those involved in violence in recent days. Parents, many of whom will now be incredibly anxious, have a big role to play. I say to mothers and fathers, make sure you know where your kids are, make sure they are at home tonight, away from any violent activity and safe.

Theresa May, the home secretary, is speaking to people in Clapham Junction. She called the level of looting and violence "appalling". Police will be arresting people now because people need to know their actions have consequences, she says.

Boris Johnson is there too. The mayor says: "The city has been completely let down by a tiny number of people. We've got to reclaim the streets."

The Guardian has created a Crowdmap to connect people needing and offering help.

Reports say eBay will remove listings linked to the looting.

Julia Timms, a reporter from Channel 9 in Australia is in Streatham and says there is tension in the air. She said:

We've just seen seven or eight silver and ordinary police vans tearing down the street. Everybody in Streatham is boarding up and closing down. People are chucking water over the wood in case people set fire to their premises. It is very tense.

Henry McDonald, our Ireland correspondent, says that if the English police start firing plastic bullets to quell the rioting engulfing cities in Britain then they potentially risk opening a Pandora's box.

Paradoxically the reluctance thus far to deploy the anti-riot control weapon only confirms the view in Northern Ireland especially in working class republican communities that there is one law for one side of the Irish Sea and one law for the other in the United Kingdom. According to the main indices of Ulster Troubles' deaths 17 people have lost their lives after being struck by rubber and latterly plastic bullets. Worrying still is the fact that eight out of these victims have been children. Even during this summer's Ulster loyalist marching season the Police Service of Northern Ireland continued to deploy plastic baton rounds during riots in Belfast. Dozens of plastic bullets were fired during two night's of rioting at the edge of the republican Ardoyne area of north Belfast. As the PSNI riot squad heavily protected in ninja-style armour and helmets with visors started letting off baton rounds and deploying water cannon on a small but dedicated gang of young republicans opposed to a loyalist march passing by Ardoyne on 12 July, a local priest contrasted the attitude of police in his city to those handling last autumn's violent student protests in central London. "There would be an outcry if these types of weapons were used on the streets of Brixton, Toxteth or any English city," noted Fr Gary Donegan whose Holy Cross church was caught in the middle of the violence over those 48 hours. We now await to see if the authorities in England are prepared to follow the PSNI's strategy in coping with rioters or not.

Nick Clegg has been heckled and told to "go home" during a visit to Birmingham. Boris Johnson is still being aggressively heckled in Clapham Junction.

My City colleague Rupert Neate tells us that Visit Britain, the UK's tourism authority, has pulled a video promoting Britain with the tag line "You're invited" from adverts running alongside BBC iPlayer programmes overseas.

A spokesman for Visit Britain said: "We have taken the videos down; they are not appropriate at this time."

The spokesman said there had been no reports of tourists leaving Britain early or cancelling trips to visit the capital. "At the moment these are isolated incidents occurring away from tourist attractions," he said.

This blog shows pictures of the damage in Croydon and the superstores of Purley Way.

Earlier in Peckham, Ed Miliband said issues that needed to be looked into were to do with "parenting, aspiration, and prospects for people ... but there is never any excuse" for this violence and the "immediate priority" was to restore public order.

He was asked whether he felt scared. He said:

The area I grew up in, Camden, the area I used to walk to school, has been one of the areas partially affected ... We cannot allow parts of London to have no-go areas.

More than 30 people charged in connection with the riots have already appeared in court, Scotland Yard said today.

The latest figures released by the Metropolitan police show that 32 cases have already been heard in court, with 18 people remanded in custody.

It comes as a senior officer revealed that police and the CPS are considering using "virtual courts" to deal with high numbers of offenders.

In total, 525 arrests have been made across London in the last few days, and of those, 99 individuals have been charged.

Here is a gallery of pictures you have sent us from the riots.

Computer hackers have defaced the official website of BlackBerry owner Research In Motion, in a retaliatory attack over the company's pledge to assist the police investigation into the London riots.

Our colleague Josh Halliday has more details:

The Inside BlackBerry blog was hacked into on Tuesday afternoon by a group calling themselves TeamPoison. In a statement posted on the BlackBerry website, the hackers said:

Dear RIM; You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment ... if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don't think that the police will protect your employees, the police can't protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don't be a puppet.. p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says "the blackberry employees are innocent" no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police.

The hackers said they defaced the website "in response" to this statement made by RIM on Monday: "We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can."

A spokesman for RIM said the firm was looking into the apparent website hack.

Alok Jha, who's on his way down Walworth Road towards Camberwell and Peckham, says things are very quiet, with almost every shop closed and a few groups of police here and there.

Sheila Pulham says many shops in the Nag's Head shopping area of Holloway are closed, including banks, mobile phone shops and the post office as well as Marks and Spencer and the James Selby department store. No cars are being allowed into the car park of the Morrisons store on Holloway Road, and there are five police officers at the nearby branch of Waitrose.

As Alex Hawkes reported earlier, businesses and home owners who have suffered losses as a result of the riots can claim it back, but they will have to act quickly, writes Maya Wolfe-Robinson.

According to David Turner QC, who specialises in professional liability, the situation does not need to be officially described as a riot for the Public Order Act 1986 to kick in. Section 10 provides that the terms "riot" and "riotously" in the Riot Act 1886 is when "12 or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present to fear for his personal safety, each of the persons using unlawful violence for the common purpose is guilty of riot." Under the 1886 Act, the Metropolitan Police Authority will be liable to pay compensation to those whose property has been damaged, destroyed or stolen in the rioting within London borders, but claims have to be made within 14 days after the day when the damage, destruction or theft occurred. However, it is unclear whether "consequential losses" will be covered, ie where the loss of profit incurred as a result of property damage.

Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, has sent an email out asking parents in her constituency to keep their sons and daughter at home over the next few nights.

The Metropolitan police has put up a "most wanted rioters" webpage, all from West Norwood and Croydon.

The London mayor, Boris Johnson — who was forced to return from holiday early by the riots — visited Clapham Junction, scene of some of the worst unrest, where he came under severe criticism from local residents complaining that they hadn't had enough protection from the police, Caroline Davies reports.

Straining to make his voice heard over the heckling, he thanked everybody who had come to clear up. "That is the real spirit of London," he said, before telling those who owned a shop or business in the area "how very sorry I am for the loss and damage you have suffered". But the local people gathered refused to be placated by his words shouting over him: "What happened?" and "where were the police?" Shouting above them, the mayor tried to continue with his set speech, saying: "I also want to say to the people who have been involved in instigating these riots, those who have been robbing and stealing, that they will be caught, they will be apprehended and they will face punishments that they will bitterly regret." But the heckling continued. "I know there are questions about the police response and about police numbers," he shouted over the noise. "I understand that, and we are certainly going to be dealing with those". A woman interrupted: "You talk about robust policing. What does that actually mean?" "Tonight we are going to have huge numbers of police on the streets," he replied. "But where were they?" shouted another woman. "By 5pm we knew they were going to hit. I was in my salon when a brick came through the window, and no one was there to defend me". The mayor replied: "I know, I know, I understand; that is why we are putting many more police on the street." He continued: "It's time that people who are engaged in looting and violence stopped hearing economic and social justifications." Further down the street he received a warmer response from up to 300 residents brandishing brooms and waiting for police to finish forensic examination and open up the road for cleaning. They cheered him as he thanked everybody "for coming out today to help clear up the mess of last night". When asked by one angry resident why he had not come home from his holiday earlier, the mayor replied: "I came as fast as I could."

Jessica Shepherd is in Notting Hill where shops are putting down the shutters after advice from police. Pubs, boutiques and cafes are closing. Some, like Pepe Jeans, didn't even open today, she says.

A taxi firm in Stoke Newington High Street has told Jasmine Coleman that police have asked them not to take more than four young people in their vehicles at a time.

They also say lots of their drivers are nervous about taking jobs — particularly to areas such as Lewisham and Enfield.

Manager Emre Agca said he was among the more than 100 people who chased down a group of 30 rioters at Dalston Junction at about 10.30pm last night. He also said he was ready to do it again tonight.

We saw police just getting attacked for nothing and they weren't able touch the kids so we ran towards them and they just ran away. I don't think they will come to Stoke Newington and Dalston again but we will be out again tonight.

Here is some more sports news, courtesy of PA:

Everton are waiting to discover whether Saturday's Barclays Premier League opener at Tottenham will go ahead after three nights of rioting in London. The borough of Haringey, in which White Hart Lane is situated, witnessed the start of the trouble on Saturday night and this weekend's game could join tomorrow's England friendly in being called off if police resources are needed elsewhere.

Shops are shutting across Birmingham. The Bullring shopping centre is to close at 5pm.

Boris Johnson is speaking in Croydon now. He says he felt "ashamed" that people could feel such disdain for their neighbourhood as to burn down buildings there.

It's "just amazing" to see how a "tiny minority" in London can let down and frighten the rest, the mayor says. He says there is no "ideological justification" for the rioting, and repeats his view that he does not want to hear socio-economic reasons for the violence.

"London will cope brilliantly with the Olympics," he says. He calls this a "dark day" for the city – yet everything functioned perfectly on the day of the royal wedding, he says.

He says he wants rioters "to experience punishments that they will bitterly regret", and says "we will do our utmost to make sure nothing like this ever happens again".

Patrick Barkham was present for Boris Johnson's bittersweet address to the people of Croydon earlier this afternoon.

Patrick writes:

If local rioters craved attention in Croydon, it worked. An hour after David Cameron visited, Boris turned up to look at destroyed shops. "I'm very sorry about what happened. Thank you very much for coming," he told a crowd of 200 people. Not everyone was pleased to see the mayor. "He's not the hero. Don't love him, bruv," shouted one young man, who said people were struggling to pay their mortgages or fill their cars with petrol. "If shops are getting burst and people are walking past, take that shit, because no one is giving you shit." The mayor grinned and fled beyond the police cordon.

Shops in East Dulwich are closing their doors, according to reports on Twitter.

Mark Brown's latest dispatch from Hackney, east London:

There's something of a battening down the hatches feel to Hackney. The pub on the park at London Fields is boarding up windows. McDonald's, the last place open, has now shut. Lots of police, Geordie and Welsh, no bother.

A fairly dramatic statement has just reached us from Peter Marks, chief executive of the Co-operative Group. He is furious at how his staff — and stores — have been treated during the violence of recent days:

There is no justification for this wanton and senseless violence, which has endangered people's lives and destroyed property ... Two members of staff were attacked during looting at one of our petrol forecourts in Streatham and staff in other locations narrowly escaped mob violence, which is completely intolerable.

Our colleagues Lisa O'Carroll and Caroline Davies have been looking at the dangers facing journalists and photographers who are trying to cover the riots.

One war reporter, who has just returned from the frontline in Libya, was mugged by three hooded looters outside Curry's in Brixton on Sunday night with £2,500 worth of video equipment stolen.

Another photographer was kicked to the ground and beaten by four youths on the Pembury Estate in Hackney yesterday while in Birmingham two photographers being mugged, one suffering a vicious attack by an angry mob of more than a dozen.

A video journalist in Tottenham needed 10 stitches after an angry mob broke into his home and started bashing him with bottles left in his hallway for recycling.

A Mail on Sunday photographer had £8,000 worth of equipment robbed by a gang during what was described as a "lawless" scene near Bruce Grove in Tottenham.

Guardian reporter Paul Lewis who has been covering riots late into the night says photographers and journalists are being set upon despite their best efforts not to stand out.

Anyone even taking pictures with mobile phones was liable to be confronted and asked if they were "feds", said Lewis.

The British Retail Consortium has put out a press release condemning what it calls "the shocking levels of lawlessness breaking out across the UK". "Those responsible must be prosecuted and punished. Retailers and their staff are particularly vulnerable and need protecting."

Amazon.co.uk's top sports and leisure sellers in the last 24 hours include police batons, baseball bats, my colleague Mary Hamilton reports.

An Egypt-based former Croydon resident, Sarah Carr, has written thoughtfully about the media coverage of the events of the past few days, and in particular the failure to get first-hand accounts from the rioters.

In summary I'm confused, and I wish I was in London so I could ask the kids what the fuck they're doing and why. The media is showing us hour after hour of Outraged Upstanding Citizen all saying the same thing because Upstanding Citizens tend to hit journalists less. There is an echoing void when it comes to the other side of the story, a void that is being filled with image after horrible image and calls for looters to be flogged in public squares and theorising about the legitimate social political grievances that drove them to commit inexcusable acts. Both camps are as bad as each other. Martin Luther King said that a riot is the language of the unheard, but Ralph Waldo Emmerson said what you do speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying. The media is not even trying to listen.

Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, is asking his constituents to look out for each other:

It is also really important that we ask where are sons and daughters, nephews and nieces and younger siblings are today – I would advise residents to stay indoors this evening. A lot of people are scared – if you have any particularly vulnerable neighbours and friends locally please check in on them.

We got a French view of the riots from Kim Willsher a little earlier. Now, our chief political correspondent Nicholas Watt tweets that the French foreign ministry has warned its citizens in UK to take extreme care when venturing outdoors after dark.

The CPS has put out a statement saying it has a team of prosecutors working 24/7 to provide police with charging decisions. Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor for London, added:

CPS London is also deploying prosecutors to police operational sites in London to provide on-the-spot charging advice to officers. We are working closely with the courts service to coordinate and expedite cases arising from the disorder, and have established designated magistrates courts to deal with them.

Shopkeepers in Camden are also boarding up their windows, freelance writer Tim Smedley reports.

Everything seems shut in Islington except pubs and restaurants, I am told – with the exception of Sainsbury's Local.

Matthew Taylor has more details about the man killed in Croydon last night. He was shot in his car after he and a group of friends were chased across Croydon at the height of the riots on Monday night.

The attack happened as a large group people fought running battles with the police, ransacked shops and dragged people from their cars. Several major fires were lit which destroyed property in the Reeves Corner and London Road area of the town. Police say the shooting victim had travelled to Croydon with friends and had become involved in an dispute with another group of around nine men. The row ended with a car chase through the town and the 26-year-old, who was the passenger in the car, was shot in the head with a shotgun. He was taken to hospital but died on Tuesday. Two other men were arrested at the scene on suspicion of handling stolen goods. Detectives from Operation Trident, the Metropolitan Police's unit that investigates crime in the black community, have launched a murder investigation and are appealing for anyone who witnessed the car chase - involveing a dark coloured estate car and silver hatchback - to come forward. Today as Croydon prepared for the possibility of a repeat of the riots, residents said they were shocked by the killing - and the scale of the devastation. Jalil Al Mohammed who works in a fruit and vegetable shop that was looted on Monday night said: "Where will this end? This boy has died and all these shops have gone. It affects everybody not just the shop owners but people who want to buy milk or just get on with their day... it is just too sad for people who already have enough problems." Police today warned residents and businesses in Croydon of the potential for more trouble as the fire service continued to damp down two of the large fires that destroyed a family furniture store and a row of shops. By 2pm a steady stream of people were leaving as shops closed early - many of them boarding their windows.

This startling picture of riot police moving on an estate in Salford, Greater Manchester, was taken by ITV Granada reporter Mark Tattersal. Greater Manchester police are remaining quiet about their deployments on the streets at the moment, but added that they would be outlining some basics later. "We have got reserves and we are not naive about the situation," said a spokesman.

Rumours have swirled round Twitter all afternoon that Hammersmith, in west London, is next in line for violence and looting. The speculation has elicited this response from Hammermsith and Fulham council on Twitter:

Update 4.55pm: Currently no trouble reported in H&F borough. Rumours are false and unhelpful. Please RT. http://t.co/dJNOD6I #londonriots

Helen Clifton sends this update from the north of England:

There have been some erroneous reports of looting in Salford Precinct that have been thoroughly quashed by Greater Manchester police. Shops there have been closing early, according to some reports. According to various tweets, there is a heavy police presence in Manchester city centre - specifically outside the Arndale shopping centre and in Piccadilly - but no reports of any trouble so far. Over in Liverpool, there is also a heavy police presence in last night's trouble spots around Smithdown Road, Grove Street, and outside the Myrtle Street Tesco - which is now closed. Many other shops have closed early, with the shutters firmly down in most units in the

Myrtle Street precinct. There are many Autoglass vans working to repair damaged windows in local businesses. A few youths, some masked and with hoods up, are gathering around shops off Princes Avenue, near the Kuumba Imani Millenium Centre, and near the Tesco. But it is literally a handful of people. People do seem to be bracing themselves for more trouble in Liverpool, although it is difficult at the moment to make any predictions."

The Islington Gazette website is carrying a statement by Islington police urging people to stay at home tonight:

Do not be on the streets unless absolutely necessary. We appeal to parents and all those responsible for young people to work together with police to ensure that youngsters do not get drawn into the kind of disorder we have seen.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland have offered a number of Land Rover vehicles to the Met but are currently unable to provide any manpower, according to the PSNI.

A spokesman for the PSNI said: "At this stage, due to operational commitments, we are unable to provide any officers. However, we have offered a number of Land Rover vehicles for assistance."

Those Land Rovers could come in handy. Bill Kenber of the Times tweets that police in Lewisham are in a hired minibus.

There's a nice piece running on Comment is free by Dan Thompson, the man behind the #riotcleanup hashtag. He writes:

The action has changed things. People have said they woke up this morning feeling fear, but they now feel optimistic. There's talk of reclaiming the streets from violence just by being there and talking. The broom, raised aloft, and cups of tea carried on riot shields have become today's iconic images. How British. How beautifully British. And how very, very London. People have even produced "Keep Calm and Clear Up" posters. It's a movement.

Greater Manchester police have now taken to Twitter to knock down rumours of major unrest in Salford: "Reports of 'stand off' between gangs and police in Salford exaggerated. 20 or so youths dispersed by police - one brick thrown, no injuries."

BREAKING: The Independent Police Complaints Commission has just announced that there is no evidence that Mark Duggan opened fire at police officers before he was shot dead, according to ballistic test results, reports the Press Association.

The latest Met figures show there have been 563 arrests to date, and 105 people charged.

Matt Taylor in Croydon says that about 12 police vehicles - some of them armoured - have just spend through the streets with their sirens on.

My colleague Vikram Dodd writes about the Independent Police Complaints Commission's initial ballistics results on the shooting of Mark Duggan, which triggered Saturday's initial riots in Tottenham.

The results show:

• The bullet lodged in the police radio is a "jacketed round". This is a police issue bullet and, while it is still subject to DNA analysis, it is consistent with having been fired from a Metropolitan police Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun.

• The firearm found at the scene was a converted BBM "Bruni" self-loading pistol. This is not a replica; the scientist considers it to be a firearm for the purposes of the Firearms Act and a prohibited weapon and is therefore illegal.

• The handgun was found to have a "bulleted cartridge" in the magazine, which is being subject to further tests.

• At this stage there is no evidence that the handgun found at the scene was fired during the incident. The FSS has told the IPCC that it may not be possible to say for certain; however further tests are being carried out in an attempt to establish this.

West Midlands police have confirmed some disorder in Wolverhampton city centre, says Sky's Neal Mann.

Events in London got scant coverage in the US, writes Richard Adams in Washington, DC, with cable channels preoccupied with financial market turmoil.



Most channels showed clips of the rioting and fires, but talking heads discussing Wall Street's metaphorical bloodbath dominated TV screens late into the night. CNN screened dramatic footage of its reporter, Dan Rivers, speaking live from the streets of Peckham. "That looked like bottles and big lumps of concrete being thrown at us," Rivers told the cameras, dodging missiles. To add to the warzone atmosphere, Rivers was wearing a flak-jacket and helmet. Online it was a different story, with the #londonriots Twitter hashtag trending throughout the US, while others crowed that US-style gun laws would have dissuaded looters. The US news channels and National Public Radio were quick to headline events as "violence happening at site of 2012 Olympics," as Fox News did. The good news was that none of the US media mentioned football hooligans, suggesting that image has faded from the minds of Americans.

Sky News is showing a burning car being put out by firemen in Croydon.

James Robinson sends this picture of black police vans at the junction of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road in Lambeth, about an hour ago.

Our crime correspondent, Sandra Laville, sends this interesting line from Sir Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers:

Orde, one of the only officers in the UK to have deployed plastic bullets, has spoken out against their use in London. He told me he does not see circumstances in which they should be used on the streets of London to quell the rioting seen over the last three days. As chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Orde - now president of Acpo - has used plastic bullets and water cannon against rioters. But he told The Guardian: "I do not think it would be sensible in any way shape or form to deploy water canon or baton rounds in London. Baton rounds are very serious bits of equipment. I would only deploy them in life threatening situations where my officers were under live fire, bombs or massive petrol bombs. "What is happening in London is not an insurgency that is going to topple the country. There are 8 million people in London and it is a tiny proportion doing this. They are gangs of looters and criminals and although it is concerning it has to be kept in proportion. "

Shopkeepers in Putney have been told to close their doors, Jill Treanor reports.

The German magazine Spiegel is likening the London riots to scenes from Mogadishu, Sheila Pulham reports. Marco Evers' dispatch from London begins thus:

A burning capital city. Marauding bands stealing whatever they please. A police force that appears to be impotent. And a fire brigade that can't put out blazes because its rescue forces are attacked by a mob. The television images dominating screens this week could be right out of Mogadishu. As difficult to imagine as it might be, the pictures aren't from Somalia, but from London, right in the centre of Europe. And they will never be forgotten.

Sandra Laville writes about the Independent Police Complaints Commission's findings about the shooting of Mark Duggan:

The initial forensic findings make it most unlikely that Duggan opened fire on the police. But ballistics tests show the gun found at the scene that is suspected of being Duggan's was loaded. One of the C019 officers is understood to have said that he fired because he was in fear for his life and the presence of a loaded weapon belonging to Duggan found at the scene will add credence to his claims. The weapon found was a BBM Bruni self loading pistol - a converted weapon considered by the ballistics expert at the Forensic Science Service to be a prohibited illegal weapon.

There are reports of disorder in Wolverhampton and two cars set on fire in West Bromwich.

James Meikle writes about the powers the police can use against rioters.

Curfews, bans on travel, assembly and "other specified activities", confiscation of property, with or without compensation, and most drastically, the deployment of armed forces on the streets to quell disorder are among options that can be introduced by ministers under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Although ministers have appeared to rule out the use of troops, the sweeping powers in their locker can include "any provision which the person making the regulations is satisfied is appropriate" to protect human life, health and safety and protect or restore property and supplies of money, food, water, energy or fuel. Threats to transport and other forms of communication, to banks and other financial institutions, to land, water or air through contamination, to the the running of parliaments in Westminster and Edinburgh and assemblies in Belfast and Cardiff and to other "public functions" are all covered by the legislation. People disobeying or obstructing such instructions could be hauled before a special court or tribunal.

Half the shops in Kentish Town are shut up early, and all the supermarkets are closed except Tesco, where there are 30-deep queues at the check-out, Michael Hann reports. Police closed the Talacre park on Prince of Wales Road in mid-afternoon, and a local shopkeeper tells me there has been trouble in Queens Crescent, traditionally the toughest part of the area (long time white organised crime home turf). Another local says Queens Crescent has been sealed off. At the moment, all public transport is open - despite Twitter rumours to the contrary. For the moment, though the atmosphere is trepidatious, central Kentish Town remains peaceable, Michael says.

Jeevan Vasagar reports on the Independent Police Complaints Commission's findings about the shooting of Mark Duggan, which sparked the first day of rioting in Tottenham on Saturday.

Mark Duggan did not fire a shot at police officers before they killed him, the IPCC said on Tuesday. Releasing the initial findings of ballistics tests, the police watchdog said a CO19 firearms officer fired two bullets and a bullet which was lodged in a police radio is "consistent with being fired from a police gun". One theory, not confirmed by the IPCC, is that the bullet became lodged in the radio from a ricochet or after passing through Duggan. Duggan, 29, was killed by armed officers last Thursday in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, north London, after they stopped the minicab he was travelling in. The IPCC said Duggan was carrying a loaded gun, but it had no evidence the weapon had been fired and tests were continuing. The officer who fired the fatal shots has been removed from firearms duties, which is standard procedure, pending the IPCC investigation. Officers from the Met's Operation Trident and SCD 11 accompanied by officers from the Met's Specialist Firearms Command (CO19), stopped a silver Toyota Estima people carrier minicab in Ferry Lane, close to Tottenham Hale tube station to carry out the arrest. Duggan, a passenger in the mini-cab, was killed by a single gun shot wound to the chest. He also received a second gunshot wound to his right bicep.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.41pm. The IPCC's statement said that the bullet lodged in the MPS radio is a "jacketed round". This is a police issue bullet and is "consistent with having been fired from a [police] Heckler and Koch MP5". The non-police firearm found at the scene was a converted BBM Bruni self loading pistol. The handgun was found to have a "bulleted cartridge" in the magazine, which is being subject to further forensic tests.

Shops are also closing early in Crouch End, a nice suburb in north London.

There has been some "trouble", leading to road closures, in East Ham, east London, and Gallions Reach shopping centre, Beckton, in the far east of the capital. Roads were also closed in Salford and West Bromwich.

The Metropolitan police has issued a statement after the IPCC said earlier that ballistic tests indicated there was "no evidence" a handgun found at the scene where Mark Duggan was killed by armed officers was used:

We welcome the most recent update from the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the investigation of the fatal shooting of Mr Duggan, and the additional facts this places in the public domain. It is in the interest of everyone, the family of Mr Duggan, the public and the police, that the IPCC are able to establish to all the facts of the events of last Thursday so that there is a complete understanding of what happened. We appreciate that it is frustrating for people to have to wait for the outcome of the investigation but it is important that the investigation is full and thorough, and the MPS doing everything possible to assist with that process. In accordance with post-incident procedures the CO19 officers involved are not currently performing an operational role. We would also like to take this opportunity to appeal for calm, Mr Duggan's family have publicly stated that they do not in anyway condone the violence we have witnessed on the streets of London. There can be no excuses for this behaviour.

Greater Manchester police have confirmed trouble in the city centre, Sky News is reporting.

The BBC is showing pictures of rioting in West Bromwich from this afternoon.

Here's a link to a leaflet that was posted through the doors of residents in Ealing urging them to come out and act as vigilantes on the streets tonight. It says:

After last night's appalling attacks and looting please stand together to protect our streets. From 6pm tonight please show your presence by peacefully patrolling the roads. If you see any trouble please sound your car horn (if you have one). The aim of this is to show these despicable thugs that we will not be terrorised.

BBC News is reporting looting in Salford today.

West Midlands Police has in the last half hour confirmed "pockets of disorder" in Birmingham city centre, Wolverhampton city centre and West Bromwich high street. Stores in Wolverhampton have been broken into, and two cars set alight in West Bromwich. Users on Twitter report seeing a group of 200 young people making their way through Birmingham city centre – but the police did not confirm this to be the case.

West Midlands Police said 400 officers are ready to respond to any developing riots. The city centre was cleared early – with metal boards being put up on shop fronts, and workers leaving early to get home.

Here is an evening summary:

• The Independent Police Complaints Commission has announced there is no evidence that Mark Duggan, whose death in a police shoot-out led to the London riots, fired on police before he was killed. However, a loaded handgun was recovered from the scene. This is all consistent with the account of the officers on the scene, who never claimed to have fired on Duggan first. The officer who fired the shot is believed to have acted because he feared for his life.

• Shops and businesses around London have been closing early, fearing violence later. There have been no reports of disturbances in London, although there is disorder in Manchester city centre, and there has been trouble in West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

• The Metropolitan police will deploy 16,000 officers in London tonight, and revealed that plastic bullets may be used if required. The deployment is significant, is up from 6,000 the night before. David Cameron promised a tough response to any trouble: "I have this very clear message to those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality: you will feel the full force of the law. If you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishments."

• More than 560 people have been arrested in London and more than 100 charged. Several dozen more have been arrested in other cities. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a police officer was hit by a car in Brent, north London. The Met said 111 officers had been injured after experiencing "unprecedented" levels of violence.

• A clean-up operation has been under way in London, with many residents opposed to the violence taking part.

It's easy to talk up the potential of trouble tonight, and there is the danger of self-fulfilling prophecy. Our correspondent Paul Lewis, who was reporting from all over London last night, says it's possible there will be much less violence tonight.

There is widespread concern that the rioting will take root again tonight, and perhaps spread to new areas. I have had over a thousand people message me on Twitter this afternoon, many asking whether their home towns – and streets – will be next. That is impossible to predict, but it is by no means inevitable that the trouble will spread and escalate as it did last night. There is admittedly intelligence we are picking up from BBM Messenger, Twitter and Facebook, indicating that some rioters are announcing new areas to attack and some talk – it is only that – of vigilante groups being set up. We're also getting confirmation of sporadic pockets of violence in places like Wolverhampton and West Bromwich. After the last three nights, I don't think anyone would reasonably forecast that tonight will be entirely uneventful. That said, I don't think we should necessarily assume disorder on the scale of last night. An unprecedented law enforcement deterrence will be in place. The prime minister David Cameron has announced there will be 16,000 police on the streets in London tonight – last night, there were 6,000. Police have said they may use plastic bullets; a worrying prospect for anyone – including us journalists – planning to go out tonight. There is also the less tangible social pressure that will be at work. A huge tide of public opinion is squarely against those who are rioting. I expect many mothers and fathers will tonight be refusing to let their children out of their front-doors. No-one can reliably forecast what will happen next, but there is a chance all of that could result in a reduction in the violence.

David Cameron will chair another meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee at 9am tomorrow, Downing Street has said.

Good evening. This is Ben Quinn taking over the anchoring of the blog from Paul.

You can follow me on twitter at @BenQuinn75 or email ben.quinn@guardian.co.uk

We also have a team of reports spread out across London who will be tweeting and filing copy.

The Guardian now also has a dedicated address for people to upload video of the riots: your.videos@guardian.co.uk

Police investigating those responsible for the London riots will be able to track down and arrest them based on their BlackBerry Messenger communication with others who took part, writes the Guardian's Josh Halliday.

BlackBerry owners using the private social network to message each other and plan unrest could find their personal information – including their names and those of their contacts – handed over to police as part of their investigation.



The BlackBerry-maker, Research In Motion, on Monday vowed to cooperate with the Scotland Yard inquiry following claims that BlackBerry Messenger played a key role in helping to organise the violence. David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, on Tuesday appealed for the Canadian manufacturer to shut down BlackBerry Messenger in attempt to stem further unrest.

Information about those sending messages about the London riots on the covert social network, which is only available to BlackBerry owners, will be of great interest to police.

Three teenagers were arrested earlier on Tuesday on suspicion of inciting rioting via Facebook. Research In Motion (RIM) could hand over information about rioters – including their names, the number of messages sent and received, the names of people they sent messages to, the time they were sent, and the location – without being issued with a warrant by the police. However, police officers would have to be granted a warrant in order to force RIM to hand over the contents of users' "broadcasts".

There are strong indications that police will be busy in Manchester tonight.

The Press Association has filed this :

Rioters have set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop on Market Street in Manchester city centre. Hundreds of youths ran down the street smashing the windows on another clothes store, while dozens tried to force the door of the Arndale shopping centre. Hundreds of riot police had tried to move crowds who had gathered on Piccadilly Gardens, leading to running battles with youngsters wearing masks and hoods.

Here is a link also to a picture of the Miss Selfridges branch on fire (via ITV Granada reporter Mark Tattersall )

Mark Tattersall tweets from Manchester:



Manchester's main shopping street deserted as fire fighters tackle blaze

Some more now from Manchester. The Press Association reports:



Greater Manchester Police said it had been "engaged" with dealing with outbreaks of minor disorder in Salford and Manchester city centre this afternoon, involving "a small number of youths". Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney said: "A handful of shops have been attacked by groups of youths who have congregated and seem intent on committing disorder. "As we have said, we will not allow such mindless criminal damage and wanton violence to go unpunished and we will arrest and prosecute anyone found to be involved in looting or acts of criminal damage. "Increased numbers of officers are on the ground both responding to any incidents and dispersing any groups of youths before they commit any crimes. "We have already made a number of arrests and will continue to target those who seem determined to commit disorder.

A grouping calling itself the North London Solidarity Federation (SolFed) has issued a statement in response to suggestions that anarchists are involved in disturbances.

SolFed, which describes itself as a federation of groups and individuals across England, Scotland & Wales, says in the statement:

We are not involved in the looting and unlike the knee-jerk right or even the sympathetic-but-condemnatory commentators from the left, we will not condemn or condone those we don't know for taking back some of the wealth they have been denied all their lives. But as revolutionaries, we cannot condone attacks on working people, on the innocent. Burning out shops with homes above them, people's transport to work, muggings and the like are an attack on our own and should be resisted as strongly as any other measure from government "austerity" politics, to price-gouging landlords, to bosses intent on stealing our labour. Tonight and for as long as it takes, people should band together to defend themselves when such violence threatens homes and communities.

Mark Brown of the Guardian has been in touch to report that it is quiet in Hackney but that it is "slightly bizarre watching Greater Manchester police vans on London streets given what's going on in Salford."

Here is an update from Guardian reporters on the situation outside of London:

Trouble flared in three new pockets early on Tuesday evening as youths took to the streets in the West Midlands towns of Wolverhampton and West Bromwich and tried to attack a shopping centre in Salford, Greater Manchester. The 'sporadic but volatile' outbreaks came after police crackdowns in neighbouring cities where voluntary clear-ups and arrests based on CCTV data followed the more serious violence of Monday night. Two cars were set on fire in West Bromwich where shops closed early in the afternoon after rumours of trouble were circulated on social networking sites. West Midlands police advised people to avoid the town's high street and inner ring road and to keep away from the Dudley Street area of central Wolverhampton where three shops were attacked by a mob. The trouble followed the increasingly familiar pattern of large groups of young people gathering after messages by Tweet or text, and targeting shops before police arrived in strength. Police are also using social network sites and West Midlands Tweeted during Tuesday afternoon to calm fears after Asda in Wolverhampton closed early, saying that this was not on police advice.

The Guardian's interactive map listing verified incidents of disorder has been updated to take account of recent events in Manchester, says my colleague Hannah Waldram.

There has been a brief but worrying flashpoint in north Enfield - Hertford Road - with apparent attempts at vigilantism, reports Paul Lewis.

It was only a minor skirmish, but a potentially bad sign for community relations. Police, who have flooded the streets, were quickly on the scene when about 70 men

started chasing local youths. I wouldn't mention their ethnicity, but it seemed to be relevant. The men were white - in their 30s and 40s - and shouting that they wanted to get the "blacks" and "pakis". Lots of them seemed drunk. One man being held back by police shouted: "They're rats, they mugged my Auntie the other night." Jay Bradley, 30, a witness, told me: "What happened here? What I just saw - everyone from this area aren't gonna have any looting. What I saw was a couple of ethnic lads, if you can call them that, black lads, and they chased them away. A lot of it is alcohol - I don't think the kids were doing anything. They were just on bikes and in masks. But no-one around here is going to stand for any looting. What are we supposed to do. The Co-op is closed and we're running out of food."

The "real issue" for local people tonight is whether they are going to be secure in their homes, according to Tom Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East.

He told Sky News earlier: "I want to make sure there is adequate police cover tonight so we don't get any more incidents like this happening in the dead of night.

"I would hope that the Prime Minister is dedicating all his time to it. I'm sure he is and I'm sure he's going to get the suppoort of the leaders of other parties.

"Parliament coming back on Thursday is going to send a very clear message that these people are going to be dealt with."

Around 100 youths looted Foot Asylum in the Arndale Centre in Manchester after two raiders smashed open the glass entrance with a large stone slab.

The Press Association reports:

Once the glass was shattered, youngsters rushed in and carried out clothing and shoes. They dispersed towards Deansgate when a police van arrived at the scene and a lone officer in riot gear stepped out. Officers with dogs then began to patrol the area. A line of officers then blocked the bottom of Market Street at the junction with Cross Street. Large groups of people began to gather along Deansgate. Looters helped themselves to bottles of alcohol from Sainsbury's Local at the corner of Bridge Street. The thieving continued for several minutes in front of onlookers. All had grabbed what they wanted and disappeared into the side streets before three police vans arrived.

Amid the overwhelming number of images of looting, arson and violence, individual stories of the human cost of the riots have begun to emerge.

This Guardian report looks at how London communities are counting the human cost of muggings and burglaries :

One of the most callous incidents, captured on video and posted on YouTube, involved an injured boy sitting next to a small pool of blood on the pavement. Some young men approached him and initially appeared to be helping the victim to his feet, but then rummaged through his rucksack and took some of its contents before he staggered away in a daze. It was unclear where the incident took place. Though some of the looters have tried to justify their actions by portraying their victims as rich, many of those hardest hit are family businesses that will struggle to rebuild after being devastated by the rioters. The House of Reeves furniture store, which was founded in 1867 in Croydon, south London, withstood two world wars and even gave its name to the road it stood on. But on Monday night, it was razed to the ground. The apparent lack of resistance faced by many looters has seen some claim that the police response should have been tougher. Giselle Asante, 57, who has owned her tailor-made clothing business in Peckham High Street, in south-east London, for 20 years, complained that as rioters entered her store the police "didn't even stop people who were looting in front of them". "It is truly devastating," she said. "We cannot replace any of these things because we have made them all."

A number of blazes were started by juveniles rioting at a young offenders institution in Bristol tonight, the local fire service said.

My colleague, Beatrice Woolf, reports that up to 10 teenagers at Ashfield set fire to rubbish in one of the wings at about 7.50pm.

It took members of staff about 50 minutes to extinguish the flames, according to Avon Fire and Rescue Service, who were put on standby.

"About seven to 10 people were involved in a riot," a spokesman said. "The prison staff are now dealing with the perpetrators."

The fires were said to be small, with the level of damage done unclear. Some 400 male juveniles aged between 15 and 18 are held at Ashfield after being sentenced in courts across the South West, Wales, the Midlands and the London area.

Paul Lewis has sent in an update from Enfield:

I think it is important to dampen down some of the speculation circulating about our reports and tweets on vigilantes in Enfield. It is always a tough balance to get the tone right, and it is important to stress, again, there is no evidence of racial disturbance here. My colleague Mustafa Khalili and I reported what we saw and it was an incident that left us both shaken. We described it as a minor skirmish. That's what it is was. It seemed pertinent to mention what some of the men were saying, as it seemed different to anything we've seen in the last four days, but some

seem to be taking that out of context. There were no racist chants.

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