Fresh skirmishes break out in London

A man walks past a damaged shop window on Brixton High street following riots in south London, on August 8, 2011. Police said Monday they had arrested 100 people in a second night of rioting in London, condemning it as “copycat” disorder following weekend unrest sparked by the death of a man in a police shooting. — AFP Photo
LONDON: Riot police faced off with youths in fresh violence in London on Monday in the third day of disorder after some of the worst rioting in the British capital in years at the weekend.

Scores of young people gathered in a main street in the eastern district of Hackney, smashing up buildings and breaking into a truck that became stranded in the middle of the road, pulling out its contents, the pictures showed.

Several parked cars were also set on fire until police in riot gear arrived to push back the youths, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

The trouble began when police tried to carry out a stop and search operation, the BBC said, but a police spokesman could not immediately confirm the report.

Hackney is several miles (kilometres) from Stratford in east London, where the 2012 Olympics will take place in a year’s time.

Police were also called to Lewisham in south London, where a handful of cars were set alight and several shops were looted.

In Peckham, a poor area in the south of the capital, TV pictures showed a business premises on fire, with flames threatening to spread to neighbouring properties.

Youths also tried to set fire to a double decker bus, which was left badly scorched.

The riots broke out in the north London district of Tottenham on Saturday night, following a protest against the death of a local man in a police shooting last week, and the violence spread to other parts of the city on Sunday.

Police said they had made 215 arrests since the riots began. The youngest person arrested was an 11-year-old boy.

The districts worst hit by the violence at the weekend — Tottenham, Brixton in south London, and now Hackney — are multi-ethnic areas which have high rates of unemployment.