Notting Hill carnival draws hundreds of thousands of revellers and 6,500 police

Officers patrolled the carnival in one of the capital’s biggest ever operations amid fears of trouble following the riots this month Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of London as police carried out one of the biggest operations in the capital’s history at the Notting Hill carnival. More than 6,500 officers were on duty amid fears the two-day event could provide a catalyst for trouble following the riots and looting that hit London and other English cities earlier this month. But by early evening both police and organisers said the carnival – the biggest of its kind in Europe – appeared to have passed off without major incident. Carnival director Chris Boothman said the event had allowed Londoners to “reclaim the streets”. “We haven’t seen any major trouble so far and the atmosphere seems to be fantastic,” said Boothman, as one of more than 70 floats passed by. “People have really come out to support the carnival and it shows once again that London can put on large events.” Organisers said up to 800,000 people attended the event on Monday – with more than a million enjoying the party over the two days. On Monday evening a spokesman for the Met said the event had been “relatively straightforward”. “We had 82 arrests on Sunday and as of 3pm today there had been 17 arrests,” he said. “But it has been relatively straightforward and we hope everyone continues to enjoy themselves and leaves the area once the sound systems turn off so we can get west London back to some sort of normality.” Police launched their “robust” strategy for the carnival in the runup to the event, making more than 40 pre-emptive arrests. In addition to the 6,500

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