Croydon is coming to terms with a night of unparalleled destruction and violence that has been inflicted on the borough by a mindless minority.
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A wave of looting and arson has destroyed businesses and wrecked communities and a huge manhunt to catch those responsible has been launched.
A massive clean-up operation is now under way to help keep Croydon, its residents and businesses working as normal as is possible after a large-scale civil disturbance.
The council has drafted in extra resources to help clean-up areas, make businesses secure and help the community re-build.
Already scores of people have been re-housed after their homes were destroyed by fire or sealed off by the emergency services.
The council has invested extra resources into its CCTV monitoring team so that the thousands of images collected during the unrest can be logged and handed over to police quickly.
Scotland Yard detectives began collecting the footage from the council’s control room in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Dozens of arrests were made across Croydon as the events unfolded last night and many more are likely to be made in the coming weeks as the police catch up with the lawbreakers.
Meetings will be arranged through the day with business and community leaders to ensure that there is a united response from the people of Croydon.
Councillor Mike Fisher, the leader of Croydon Council, said: “What we saw last night was the destruction of our communities by a mindless minority that the majority of people hold in complete and utter contempt.
“But rising from the smoke and ashes we very quickly saw that the people of Croydon who hold this place, its community bonds and its history dear begin to mobilise themselves in defiance of those criminals.
“Croydon will rebuild itself like it has done in the past. It will not be defeated and the council will do all that is possibly can to help make that happen.”
Anyone with information about last night’s events should contact the police, either through Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or on 101, or in an emergency on 999.
