Local authorities, police forces and residents have begun the unenviable task of cleaning up London's battered and burnt streets following a third night of rioting and looting across the capital.

During the most intense night of civil disobedience so far, residents and authorities in the boroughs of Brent, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets faced up to the stark reality of lawlessness on their streets – as an over-stretched Metropolitan Police force struggled to contain a contagion of youth violence.