London: Britain will not let a "culture of fear" take over its streets, Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Wednesday, saying police have drawn up contingency plans to use water cannon against rioters if necessary.
Armoured vehicles and convoys of police vans backed by some 16,000 officers — almost triple the number who were out Monday night — ensured some semblance of order on Tuesday night, but looting flared in Manchester and Birmingham, where a murder probe was opened after three men were killed in a hit-and-run case.
"We will do whatever is necessary to restore law and order onto our streets," Cameron said in a sombre televised statement. "Nothing is off the table", including water cannon, commonly used in Northern Ireland but never deployed in mainland Britain.
Police have made almost 1,200 arrests, including 800 in London, since the violence broke out in the UK capital on Saturday.
London courts worked through the night to process all those charged. Defendants appearing yesterday included a 31-year-old primary school worker who admitted looting an electronics store, and a 15-year-old boy originally from Ukraine accused of throwing stones at police.
In Manchester, hundreds of youths rampaged through the city centre, hurling bottles and stones at police and vandalising stores. A women's clothing store on the city's main shopping street was set ablaze, along with a disused library in Salford.
Britain's football officials are in talks with police to see whether this weekend's season-opening matches of the Premier League could still go ahead in London.
Some residents stood guard to protect their neighbourhoods — Sikhs protected their temple in Southall, west London, and some 1,000 far-right members reportedly took to the streets to deter rioters.
Minor clashes have also been reported in Leicester, Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Bristol, and Gloucester.