Three people were arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer today after riots spread across England. The Prime Minister was forced to return early from holiday to deal with the escalating crisis.
Scenes of widespread looting, violence and arson were seen not only in London, where riots began on Saturday night, but in other major cities including Liverpool and Birmingham.
The worst rioting in decades led to the arrest of hundreds of people, as streets were turned into war zones.
Scotland Yard said the three people were apprehended following an incident in Brent, north west London, that led to a police officer being injured by a car while trying to stop looters.
A force spokesman said: "At approximately 2.50am on Tuesday August 9 a male police officer was injured by a car in Fulton Road, Brent. He has been taken to a north London hospital where he remains in a stable condition.
"A second male police officer was also injured in the incident. He was taken to a north London hospital with a minor injury.
"It is believed the injury occurred when police stopped some cars as their occupants were suspected of being involved in looting of a nearby electrical store.
"It is believed the driver of one of the cars drove away injuring the police officer in the process. Three people were later stopped by police and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder."
Police and emergency services were overwhelmed by a third consecutive night of trouble, with riots starting in London in the daylight hours yesterday.
David Cameron flew back to Britain to chair the Government's emergency committee Cobra and meet police chiefs, having been on a family holiday to Tuscany.
Home Secretary Theresa May has condemned the "sheer criminality" of rioters.
Downing Street said Mr Cameron arrived back at Number 10 in the early hours.
He will meet Mrs May and Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Tim Godwin before chairing the Cobra meeting at 9am.
Home Secretary Theresa May today described the rioting across London as "sheer criminality", vowing that those responsible would be brought to justice.
Speaking on Daybreak, she said: "There is no excuse for these levels of criminality and it needs to be dealt with.
"These people need to see that there are consequences for their actions.
"We need robust policing but we also need to ensure that justice is done through the courts and this will begin today."
Mrs May said there had so far been "strong leadership" from police and added that the Government would ensure they had the resources in place to catch the rioters responsible.
She also called on the parents of the youths and local communities to help officers catch the culprits by identifying them through CCTV images.
Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor of London, told the BBC that 6,000 officers were on duty last night, with a total of 44 injured during the disruption.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mrs May appeared to rule out bringing in the Army and using water cannon, saying: "The way we police is by consent."
She appealed to witnesses to come forward with information about those responsible.
"British policing has always meant and always depended on the support of local communities and that's what we need now," she said.
She also urged parents to take more responsibility for their children - some as young as 10 have been seen among the looters, according to reports.
She said: "Parents need to be asking themselves where were their children, what were their children doing in the evening.
"There are longer-term questions about when we see parents letting their children as young as that sort of age be out on the streets in this way."
Mrs May told Sky News: "The disorder we've seen is at a level that hasn't been seen for some years in this country.
"We do need to bring an end to it and we need to bring an end to it soon."
Asked if the Army would be brought in, Mrs May said an end to the riots could be brought with policing, the use of intelligence and the help of local communities.
"The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon," she said.
"The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities."
As those charged with offences appear in court today, "people will start to see the consequences of their actions", Mrs May added.
"There are many who are easily identified through CCTV cameras."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, welcomed the return of the Prime Minister.
"The level of violence and criminality taking place across London and in Birmingham is very concerning," he said.
"Police forces must work with local community leaders, be provided with whatever resources necessary and given whatever special powers they need to bring this lawlessness to an end urgently."
Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said all police leave and training has been cancelled and "all able-bodied officers in the Met will be out" tonight, making it an "unprecedented" number in London.
He appeared to contradict the Home Secretary regarding the Army by saying that nothing had been ruled out.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said meetings were held throughout the night to discuss the response.
He said: "All options were discussed last night and that means, not that we're doing it, the people of London need to know that the Commissioner and his management board team are considering everything and working through those options as we go forward."
Mr Kavanagh said it was "a shocking and appalling morning for London to wake up to" and he was struck by the "sheer scale and speed with which the attacks took place across London last night". It "was truly unprecedented" he said.
He paid tribute to his officers and residents who stood up for their property and communities.
He said there was a "changing nature" in the make-up of the rioters, with the profile changing "dramatically" last night from 14 to 17-year-olds to "older groups in cars doing organised looting".
He added: "And there was the far more focused attempt at injuring London Ambulance staff, there to help the community, trying to injure Fire Brigade officers and, of course, police officers as we have heard from the Deputy Mayor."
Mr Kavanagh also said he would like more use of the armoured vehicles - "Jankels" - which were used in Ealing last night as well as Clapham.
Met Police officer Pc Paul Deller, who was based in the control room co-ordinating the force's response to the violence, admitted the Met was overstretched with non-specialist officers sent to deal with rioters because "the box was empty" of reinforcements.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We simply ran out of units to send.
"That's not something we would normally expose those officers to a risk of, but last night decisions were made that we had to and that's what we did. We threw everything we had at it."
Pc Deller, who chairs the Met's Constables' Federation, echoed Mr Godwin's call for parents to keep their children off the streets, saying: "People need to step up and take some responsibility about the way their relatives behave."
But he denied the "terrifying" scenes showed police had given up trying to protect property.
Pc Deller added: "We didn't surrender the streets. Over 50 of my colleagues were injured last night defending those streets to the best of their capability.
"I don't think at any point did we surrender."
Labour MP Diane Abbott, whose Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency has seen a lot of the trouble, said a curfew should be imposed.
"I have not heard of a curfew on mainland Britain in the past century," she told BBC Breakfast.
"Very difficult to impose.
"I'm not saying that it is definitely the way forward but it is something we have to consider.
"These young people, who seem to have no stake in society, are trashing their own communities.
"We cannot continue to have increasing numbers of looters on the streets night after night."
Labour backbencher David Winnick, a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said he will be writing to the Home Secretary today "urging that the proposed reduction in police officers should be reversed".
In the West Midlands, he said, it is intended there should be 1,000 fewer police officers in the next three years, which will include the loss of senior officers with more than 30 years' experience.
"I think it's absolute madness in view of what's happened over the last few nights and to go ahead with reducing the police forces up and down the country, it makes no sense whatsoever," he said.
"If it's said that it's an exceptional thing, then how do we know it won't happen again?"
Mr Winnick also said he hoped the committee would look into whether police have the resources they need to bring the riots under control.
"What we don't want is a situation where the police can't cope and the only alternative is to bring in the army," he said.
"The rule of law must be restored in every part of this country as soon as possible."
He added that nothing which has happened "excuses or condones the outright hooliganism and looting we've seen".
All police cells in London are full and anyone arrested now is being taken to surrounding areas, Scotland Yard said.
A spokesman said: "A significant number of arrests were made overnight, leading to all our cells being full and prisoners being taken to surrounding forces."
On the official Metropolitan Police Twitter account, Scotland Yard said: "In the next 24 hours there will be 13,000 police officers on duty in London."
Tory MP Patrick Mercer said it was wrong to "mollycoddle" rioters and called for the police to have water cannon and plastic bullets at their disposal.
Mr Mercer, who served in Northern Ireland as a senior Army officer, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "In Northern Ireland just a few weeks ago we had very serious riots, including the use of firearms, where water cannon and plastic rounds - potentially lethal weapons - were used without anyone batting an eyelid.
"I'm not saying that's necessarily what we want but we have got to allow the police to have their powers, to use their powers and, once they have arrested individuals, for the judiciary to be able to punish them.
"They should have the tools available and they should use them if the commander on the ground thinks it's necessary.
"I don't think we have necessarily got to mollycoddle Englishmen because we don't mollycoddle Irishmen."
Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin called today for all special constables to report for duty and "for employers to support this".
Scotland Yard said a total of 44 police officers were injured last night, a man in his 60s suffered life-threatening head injuries and police received almost 20,800 999 calls, 400% more than the usual 5,400.
"Last night was the worst the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) has seen in current memory for unacceptable levels of widespread looting, fires and disorder," a spokesman said.
"The MPS responded with the largest policing operation of the three nights to date (approximately 2,500 officers in addition to 3,500 officers already on boroughs).
"This included receiving aid from other forces and using armoured vehicles to support officers on the ground to clear areas of trouble.
"A significant number of arrests were made (well over 200 overnight - in excess of 450 over the three nights), leading to all MPS cells being full and prisoners being taken to surrounding forces."
He went on: "Those involved in criminality should be under no illusion that we will pursue you.
"We have been making arrests all evening and have a team working during the night examining CCTV images.
"We will follow up evidence in the coming days in order to bring anyone else responsible for criminal acts to justice.
"Disturbing levels of violence were directed at officers again, leading to 44 being injured last night, which included an officer being driven at, resulting in broken bones, and another officer receiving an eye injury that is likely to need surgery (separate incident).
"Fourteen members of the public were also hurt, including a man in his 60s who has life-threatening head injuries."
He went on: "Over the last 24-hour period we have taken almost 400% more 999 calls than normal (5,400 emergency 999 calls normally compared to almost 20,800).
"Trident has launched an investigation after a 26-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound in Croydon. He is currently in hospital in a serious condition.
"Officers and staff continue to work long hours at short notice in very challenging circumstances.
"We continue to have the plans and resources in place to respond to any further disorder, deal with normal policing across the city and keep Londoners safe."
London Ambulance Service said it took 22 people to hospital from the main areas of the disturbances, although others were treated at the scene or made their own way to accident and emergency departments.
Some rioters threw missiles at ambulances or threatened medics as they tried to care for the injured.
Director of operations Richard Webber said: "It was an incredibly challenging night for everyone involved, but all the staff working in our control room, support departments and on the front line worked very professionally to help us reach patients as quickly as we could.
"On some occasions, this was made even more difficult as missiles were thrown at our vehicles and crews were threatened and intimidated while trying to care for people.
"We will be continuing to regularly review the situation across the capital in order to ensure that we can respond to calls while maintaining the safety of our staff."
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