London on riot alert as yobs hurl petrol bombs at police van days before Notting Hill Carnival (uk)

London was on riot alert today after petrol bombs were hurled at a marked police van days before the Notting Hill Carnival.

The officers in the vehicle escaped injury following the attack in Edmonton, north London.Extra officers were sent to the scene in Fore Street, Enfield, after the petrol bombs were thrown at 11.30pm last night. Scorch marks and evidence of accelerant were found at the scene.

Amid fears of fresh violence on the capital’s streets, Scotland Yard has launched an unprecedented security operation for the annual bank holiday weekend event.

Yesterday officers seized 40 suspects in raids across the capital. Up to 10,000 police officers will be deployed across the capital this weekend to combat any trouble in the biggest policing operation in the event’s history.

A spokesman said that the petrol bombs had landed near the vehicle which was on routine patrols – but no damage had been caused.

Carnival organisers plan to double the number of stewards, with up to 700 to ensure that Europe’s biggest street party, which normally attracts crowds of a million, passes peacefully.

Crowds are expected to be down this year amid fears of disorder.

Yesterday’s arrests came after officers picked up ‘chatter’ on social networking sites about gangs plotting to disrupt the carnival.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2029564/Notting-Hill-Carnival-2011-Police-launch-dawn-raids-tip-rioters-cause-chaos.html#ixzz1W77EAgYy
from the streets of london…
Major cop raids taking place at estate on Stockwell road southlondon , 3 vans + 4 cars, plus more vans circling estate in support. Considering that somebody molotoved a cop car earlier in north London, the cops are asking for trouble doing shit like this right now.
“London is on riot alert today after two petrol bombs were thrown at a passing police car.” (uk)
“Thugs ambushed a Met vehicle patrolling streets in an area of north London close to where violence sparked four days of disorder across Britain. Scotland Yard is deploying more than 10,000 police officers on the streets amid fears of further outbreaks.The move comes as London is put on alert for the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend. Extra officers were sent to the scene in Fore Street, Enfield, after the petrol bombs were thrown at 11.30pm last night. Scorch marks and evidence of accelerant were found at the scene.

Senior officers fear the annual bank holiday carnival may be used as an excuse by yobs to go on the rampage. Event organisers say they have beefed up security and drawn up contingency plans in case trouble breaks out.

There have been heightened concerns about the carnival in the wake of the widespread rioting that rocked London a fortnight ago. The Met has arrested nearly 2,000 people after violence broke out in 22 London boroughs before spreading across England.

Police expect this year’s carnival to be down on numbers, despite Boris Johnson’s pledge that it will be “robustly policed”.

Police have arrested 40 suspected gangsters plotting to cause trouble at the event. They have picked up “chatter” on social network sites about plots to disrupt it but say there is no evidence that people are plotting widespread looting.

All leave has been cancelled as the Met deploys the largest ever number of officers at the event.
Four thousand are being drafted in from outside forces to police the rest of London.

The riots were set off by a march to Tottenham police station by friends of suspected criminal Mark Duggan, who was shot by armed officers as he was being arrested. He was in possession of a handgun.

Tottenham borough commander Sandra Looby today defended police handling of the riots. She said: “At no point did we receive information this was going to turn into the spontaneous criminality that subsequently happened.”

Taken from London evening standard http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23981229-petrol-bomb-thugs-attack-police-london-on-alert-for-carnival-weekend.do