Major disturbance in north London

6 August 2011 Last updated at 18:38 ET

Shops on Tottenham High Road have been looted while fire crews attempt to tackle several blazes

Petrol bombs have been thrown at police and a shop, two patrol cars and a bus set on fire in a disturbance in Tottenham, north London.

The incident began after a protest over the fatal shooting of a ng man by police on Thursday turned violent.

About 300 people have gathered outside the police station on the High Road.

Members of the community had taken to the streets to demand “justice” after the shooting of a 29-year-old father-of-four, named locally as Mark Duggan.

The BBC’s Ben Ando, who is at the scene, described the situation as a “stand off”.

Shops looted

Two patrol cars were set alight at about 20:20 BST but officers were not inside at the time.

Shops in the area have also been looted with people seen pushing away shopping trolleys full of goods.

A double decker bus was set on fire at the junction of High Road and Brook Street while a shop on the High Road has also been set alight.

Fire crews were initially unable to reach the shop due to the disorder but have now begun tackling the flames.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a large crowd had assembled, but not all of the people on the streets were involved in the disorder.

Protesters are believed to have gathered outside the police station at about 17:00 BST.

The force said the situation turned violent when two patrol cars parked about 200 metres away on Forster Road and High Road were attacked.

The spokesman said: “A number of bottles were thrown at these two cars – one was set alight and the second was pushed into the middle of the High Road. It was subsequently set slight.

“The officers were not in the vehicles and were unhurt.”

Vanessa Robinson said she had joined the original protest outside the police station and it had begun peacefully.

She said the situation had now turned into “absolute chaos”.

Maria Robinson, who lives in Tottenham, described the situation as “absolutely manic”.

She said people were throwing bottles, “making bottle bombs”, setting fires and shops had been broken into.

Another resident, David Akinsanya, 46, said several shop windows had been smashed.

“It’s really bad,” he said. “There are two police cars on fire. I’m feeling unsafe. It looks like it’s going to get very tasty. I saw a guy getting attacked.

He added: “There was a police line of about 15 riot police sort of in front of the police station on the north side and then there were loads of uniformed officers on the south side of the police station.

“They weren’t making any effort to go into the crowd. Every now and again they would rush the crowd and the crowd would run.

“But there seems to be a lot of anger in Tottenham tonight… as I left they were starting to attack the police station.

“Obviously they’ve got the toughened glass so the missiles weren’t going through.”

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the shooting of Mr Duggan.

The Met said a handgun was found at the scene and a bullet was later found embedded in a police radio.

Send r pictures and videos to rpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If have a large file can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

— ’re ’s , . : A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.