Fresh clashes in London,215 arrested

Unrest spreads; riots opportunistic,says Dy PM Clegg.

Youths hurled missiles at the police in northeast London on Monday as violence broke out in the British capital for a third night. Protesters threw bottles,rubbish bins and supermarket trolleys at officers,and the police with riot shields responded by charging them as they tried to seal off a busy area around Hackney Central station.

Crowds of people,many wearing hooded tops,broke into a truck and pulled out planks of wood for use as missiles,a Reuters reporter said. Some of the youths broke shop windows. The BBC said the clashes broke out after the police stopped and searched a man.

London has been hit by two nights of violence which erupted on Saturday night in Tottenham,north London,after a protest over the fatal shooting of a man by armed police turned violent. There were social media reports of disturbances in several other areas of London.

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Home Secretary Theresa May,who cut short her holiday to take charge of the government response to the riots,said arrests had climbed to 215 and 27 people had been charged. Lets be absolutely clear,there is no excuse for violence,there is no excuse for looting,there is no excuse for thuggery, she said. It was needless,opportunistic theft and violence,nothing more,nothing less. It is completely unacceptable, said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

In Tottenham,many residents agreed that the looting was the work of greedy youths,aided by instant communication through SMS texts and instant messaging. Its nothing to do with the man who was shot,is it? said Marcia Simmons,who has lives there.

The police said they would be monitoring Twitter feeds.

Nine police were injured in what police called copycat criminality in several parts of London on Sunday night and early on Monday. The riots come at a time of deepening gloom in Britain as the pain from economic stagnation is exacerbated by deep public spending cuts and tax rises.

Third day of violence

Clashes on Monday broke out after the police stopped and searched a man,the BBC said.

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Violence spread to the suburbs of Enfield,Hackney,Lewisham,Peckham; Walthamstow,where police said 30 youths vandalised shops; and the shopping district at Oxford Circus,where about 50 people damaged property.

The police condemned the copycat criminal violence.

Home Secretary Theresa May cut short her holiday to take charge of government response to riots.