London under siege as mobs roam streets

Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his holiday to fly back to the UK to chair the government's emergency committee Cobra today. At least 225 people had been arrested last night in the capital and 36 charged since the riots began, along with nine in Birmingham.

The UK's most senior police officer urged the public to get indoors on the third night of unrest in London, and appealed directly to parents to "call your children" to establish their whereabouts.

As acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin issued his appeal outside Scotland Yard, he was heckled by passersby, one of whom shouted at him to get London "under control".

The rioting was exacerbated by a shortage of officers to deal with fresh outbreaks of violence and an overstretched fire service that found it impossible to reach a number of shops, vehicles and buildings set ablaze.

• London riots: Monday's violence in pictures

Railway stations were closed due to what officials called "civil unrest". Many roads were shut and bus crews came under attack. Terrified witnesses compared the scenes to a war zone. Fireworks were thrown at police as they tried to disperse the crowd.

Onlookers in Peckham feared for their lives, as people struggled to get through to emergency services. Police took more than five minutes to answer a 999 call made by a witness who saw three youths break into a shop.

Student Josephine Thomas, 21, from Peckham, said: "You don't know if you are scared of the police or the people doing it. Those who own the shops have had their lives ruined. People will wake up in the morning with no job. It's not fair."

Teacher Matthew Yeoland, 43, said: "There's been tension for a long time. The kids aren't happy. They hate the police."

He added: "For the kids, it's their only way of venting their anger. They've all got BlackBerrys and gangs have got together.

"It's like a war zone and the police weren't doing anything. There were too many people and not enough police."

One commuter from East Dulwich described the scene on a bus heading into Peckham, with passengers crying and fighting to open doors to escape as the vehicle came under attack. "Eight police vans streamed past," he said. "Then a load of people wearing bandanas went in the other direction and I saw a group of people standing around a petrol container.

"The bus stopped and there was loads of screaming and shouting. I looked out of the window and there was a bunch of lads who were pushing a big industrial bin towards our bus. It crashed into the side and the window shattered.

"There was a few people crying. The driver didn't want to open the doors, but a few people forced them open so they could get out. I got out and there was a group of about 20 riot police with their backs to me. A lad, who was about 18, came up beside me and threw a brick at the police. It hit one of them in the back.

"I didn't know what to do, so I started walking away and I saw loads of people wearing motorbike helmets and ski masks."

In Peckham High Street, about 500 youths gathered near riot police. Huge flames engulfed a shop adjoining a Greggs bakery on Rye Lane. Officers with shields were seen charging at rampaging rioters on the road, shortly before two fire engines arrived at the scene.

In Lavender Hill at Clapham Junction, hundreds of rioters attacked shops including a Wimpy bar and local hairdresser, looting every shop they came across. It was reported there were no police to deter them because they were deployed to contain riots elsewhere in the city.

It was reported that four looters had to be rescued by firefighters from a branch of PC World on an industrial estate at Colliers Wood.

A huge blaze lit up Croydon as several buildings were set alight and firefighters struggled to get to the scene. Sources said police were also investigating a "non-fatal" shooting.

In Hackney, an officer could be seen lying on the ground after being struck on his shield by a missile. Other officers created a cordon around him while he was treated by colleagues.

Rioting also erupted in Ealing, where gangs of masked youths attacked shops and restaurants and vandalised shops.

In Birmingham, gangs of masked youths gathered in the city centre and smashed shop windows including a McDonald's restaurant, close to the city's cathedral. Police in riot gear dispersed groups of looters and officers were controlling access on some routes into the city.

Mr Godwin attacked what he described another wave of "gratuitous" violence across the capital, and he appealed directly to families to help his officers bring the situation under control.

He said: "I do urge now that parents start contacting their children and asking where their children are.

"There are far too many spectators who are getting in the way of the police operation to tackle criminal thuggery and burglary.

"I'm imploring that people within those communities actually start clearing the streets to enable my police officers to deal with the criminality that's occurring in front of them."

Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, described London as like a "war zone" and said rioters were trashing their own communities.