Terrified Londoners hide inside their homes as street gangs run riot

London: Londoners trapped inside their houses have had little sleep over the past few nights as riots raged outside their front doors.

On the third night of rioting in the capital, fearful residents retreated into their homes to stay safe from the carnage described as the worst violence the city has seen in decades.

Mehr Amin, 27, who lives in Clapham, was told to stay indoors as she tried walking to her local grocery story.

"Around 8pm [on Monday] I headed down to the cooperative on Northcote Road for a grocery shop. The air was really tense. They put the shutters of the store down at Clapham Junction Station. As I approached St John's Hill I could smell burning. There were lines and lines of buses that had their hazards on and kids running all around. I didn't actually see them looting but remember there were many teenagers with hoods on. I kept walking until people told me to turn around as it was dangerous ahead. So I turned back and went home. I heard sirens and helicopters into the morning," she said.

Classrooms looted

On Monday night, riots escalated in various pockets of London including Hackney and Ealing.

According to Barry Lowe, a lecturer at Thames Valley University, both Ealing campuses of University of West London were damaged in the third night's riots, many windows smashed and some classrooms looted.

"Many streets in Ealing were still barricaded by police the next afternoon. Streets were littered with glass and scores of shops damaged and looted," he said.

Jasmine Coleman, 25 who lives in Hackney said the riots brought Brixton in south London to a standstill after gangs of youths as young as 12 smashed their way into shops and restaurants.

"[Monday] night was extremely frightening as the fighting got worse and spread to different areas. Almost everyone I know has been affected," said Coleman.

"I've been walking through hackney today [Tuesday] which saw rioters set fire to cars and buses last night and all of the shops are closing again on police advice. Turkish and Kurdish shopkeepers in the area have defended their business in the street but it's hard to see when this hardness will stop," she added.

Over the first three nights, police arrested more than 450 people as rioters looted shops, burnt cars and shops across London.

A 26-year-old man who was shot in a car in Croydon, south of London later died of his wounds.

To curb this escalating violence, 16,000 police were deployed on the streets last night.