I’d say this was a Revelation

Is there anything better in the gaming world than skulking across rooftops to then dive off and land on an unsuspecting victim, giving him a short sharp jab with a blade hidden in your sleeve? If you don’t think so then you’re probably a massive fan of the Assassin’s Creed series. Either that or you’ve been sitting under a rock waiting for such a game to be developed.

With the exception of the original title, Assassin’s Creed as a series has been one of my favourites within the last few years. The story of Ezio has been developed steadily across two games, and now Altaïr and Desmond also get increasing roles in order to start closing up some of the loose strings the players have. Revelations takes Ezio to Turkey in search of the masyaf keys to access Altaïr’s library. In this new land you’re greeted by new assassins and a new assassin leader, Yusuf Tazim. Tazim then aids Ezio in the search for the keys. Revelations also boasts several gameplay additions based on the pieces that felt missing from previous titles.

Ezio and Yusuf during an early cutscene

Borgia Towers are now replaced with ‘dens’. The initial gameplay mechanic works the same: you take out the captain and then light a fire in the tower. However you now have to defend these dens once they’ve been captured, throwing you into den defence mini-games. These are similar to tower defence games with Ezio overlooking a street and ordering assassins on to various roofs under which waves of templars and other guards will attack. You can also build barriers to slow your enemies down, and Ezio himself can shoot his hand cannon to thin the numbers. The addition is a welcome feature and allows for more gameplay than the Borgia Towers in Brotherhood provided, however the feature can become repetitive and even annoying as the defence marker has a habit of popping up just when you’re in the middle of something else. The tedious city renovation still plays a big part in earning money, and the mechanics are the same as Brotherhood, wandering around Constantinople this time, buying up buildings and shops in order to increase your income. This is my main bugbear with the game, and it seems like Ubisoft doesn’t want to stop expanding a game mechanic that is so benign and unnecessary that it’s merely an obsessive compulsive distraction. Looting gets you pretty much every ingredient and piece of ammunition to last you through the game and by the time you’ve got all the weapons you’re literally just earning money to buy more buildings which earn you more money.

Ezio using the hookblade on a zipline

The new hookblade is a feature you acquire very early in the game, which acts as a new weapon but also gives Ezio the same faster climbing ability that you needed to unlock in the previous two games. I must say this is a brilliant idea from the developers because introducing skills in one game which you then take away from the character in the next really removes an element of continuity. The other new mechanic is bomb crafting, which lets you choose from a range of ingredients which effects when your bomb explodes, how it explodes and what comes out. This is an interesting addition but after a time you end up just using the same three types of bombs and the crafting mechanic stops being relevant.

It will be intriguing to see how well Revelations deals with the triple layered story, as well as bringing in a surprising character that we didn’t expect to see make an appearance. You’ve heard many references to him but now he appears in the flesh…well kind of. Overall, Revelations is shaping up to be a well refined game that polishes many of the flaws that were noted in Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed 2. The game flows at an unmatched pace and the combat is still fresh and immersive with the new weapons and flourishes available that add a bit more satisfaction.

Welcome Back the Warfare

Image by eha1990 via Flickr

Modern Warfare 3 hit our stores ten days ago, designed to be a new marvel in the previously sensational series by Infinity Ward. Now I’m not sure what went wrong; whether it was the fact that Infinity Ward crumbled and joined with Sledgehammer Games, or some other technical issues I’m not aware of, but I was under the impression that Modern Warfare 3 was a new game. Now there are some good things about Modern Warfare 3. Its campaign is roughly ten hours (that’s being charitable, I played through on Veteran) of quick paced, fun gameplay. There’s some nice aesthetics and a range of different mechanics; from driving a military personal hovercraft to controlling a small remote-controlled assault vehicle. The main problem is that this is all the ‘unique’ gameplay that Modern Warfare 3 has to offer. For the other two games modes (Multiplayer and Spec Ops) it just feels like you’re playing on a Modern Warfare 2 map pack.

Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games have been so incredibly lazy on many fronts of this game. The interface has been ripped out of Modern Warfare 2 and put into Modern Warfare 3 relatively unchanged. It uses the same menus, the same little box when you kill someone or get killed, it even uses the same damned font. Now come on, if you’ve got a budget the size of a Call of Duty title, you could at least change something in the interface to keep things fresh, because despite many people (including me) buying it, you’re gameplay simply isn’t going to. Saying that, they have tried to include two new game modes, only one of which I think can actually be counted as new whereas the other is just as if somebody’s played with the coding of Capture the Flag.

Kill Confirmed is a really well executed new game mode in which, upon death, players drops their dog tags. The killer will get credit for the kill and their own personal points, but the team won’t benefit from the kill until the dog tags are picked up. However, if a member of the dead player’s team runs over the dog tags first, the kill is denied and they receive a point instead. First team to 65 points wins. I’ve spent quite a few hours playing Kill Confirmed, because it adds an extra level of gameplay to the overly used Team Deathmatch. Yes, it can be infuriating to kill four people only to be shot and have all four kills denied, but at the same time being the person who manages to deny half a dozen kills in the space of a few seconds makes it worthwhile.

The other new game mode is Team Defender, a Capture the Flag based game in which the first person to die drops a flag. That flag then remains on the map and must be held by the teams for as long as possible. Anyone who played the older Call of Duty games will remember something similar to this, called Hold the Flag a few years back. It’s essentially the same mode except the flag doesn’t appear until some poor sucker runs into a barrage of lead.

There are new game modes available in private matches but the majority of people I know aren’t in groups who play them, but if you’re one of the ‘lucky’ people who are you can look forward to six ‘new’ modes. Infected is the British Bulldog of CoD, where one player is infected and gradually infects other players who then join the infected team. There’s Drop Zone in which a team holds a drop zone to score points and receive care packages. Last of the original new modes are Team Juggernaut/Juggernaut which sees either two teams each with a juggernaught or a juggernaut against the rest of the players, fighting for dominance. Finally there’s Gun Game/One in the Chamber which former fans will remember from Black Ops’ wager matches.

When it comes down to what’s important, people will always buy Call of Duty games. I bought this Call of Duty game and will probably buy the next one if it promises to be better. Whether it lives up to its promises will be seen after Activision have my money and start using it to fund the next game, and so the vicious cycle continues. However, when I don’t want to think, and when I want to take a break from working painfully through coursework and exam prep; I still find Call of Duty fun…and in that respect its a success.

Gears of War 3

Image via Wikipedia

2011 is the year of trilogy-ending instalments. Among the games with ‘3’ stapled to their titles this year was the one I was most looking forward to. For the past five years, Gears of War has been the driver of cover-based shooters. Many gamers see the Gears series as leading to generic shooters and a genre based on chest-high walls and slow, precise gameplay.

Gameplay

The new gameplay elements make this instalment feel a little more fast-paced than the others, with the turning a bit more responsive and the balancing of the weapons to mean that, especially in multiplayer, there’s less emphasis on just running round with overpowered shotguns. The weapons have been changed so that they all feel fresh: the hammerburst has a unique first person iron sights mode, the new retro lancer has a bayonet charge as well as the traditional lancer with its chainsaw; and there’s a range of new weapons including the aforementioned retro lancer and the Oneshot: a sniper rifle that kills enemies in, erm, one shot.

The game introduces four player cooperative play as well, which for some may be a really great addition to the series: for me it’s amounted to a painful amount of hours trying to gather up four people on Xbox live to get the sodding achievement for it. The single player campaign will take you somewhere between 10-15 hours depending on difficulty settings and your general skill, though if you intend to find all 57 hidden collectables/COG tags, you’re going to be there for a lot longer. some of them are excruciatingly hard (and I had to look up two of them online). I’ll go into them in more depth in a second, but Horde has now also received an upgrade, and I must say that Horde 2.0 is rapidly becoming an addiction of mine; and Beast mode is an all new mode with similar elements to Horde but you play as variants of the locust army out to kill the humans.

Graphics

They’re like Gears of War graphics have always been, with a bit more colour than brown. The settings this time around are largely more varied that in the previous games in the series. You get to roam around the underbelly and deck of a COG warship, the harsh streets of hammer of dawn-torn stranded territory, a tropical beach and a large destroyed holiday resort, to name a few. The game’s slightly more vibrant, with the dull greys and browns replaced by…well, often lighter greys and browns, but it’s Gears so you can’t really blame them.

Characters

Normally I wouldn’t cover characters in a review but there are a few pointers I want to put out there, and a few things that made me chuckle. The game brings in a couple of characters that the player won’t recognise from the previous games. One of these is Jace, and the other being Sam. However, this is where Epic Games has been incredibly clever, because Jace was actually in Gears of War 2 (heard but not seen) and Sam, well that’s even more subtle. Samantha Byrne, a COG and new member of Delta in Gears of War 3, was introduced in Gears of War: Anvil Gate. That’s the third in a series of four novels based on Gears of War, a brilliant step to promote the canon material of the series and one I respect Epic Games for including.

Another face that the players welcome in the newest instalment is Clayton Carmine, the third and oldest of the Carmine brothers. His armour, laden with the words “Grub Killer”, “Keep your head down” and “Practice reloading” offers a grim yet comical reference to his brothers’ fates, mirrored by the many near-death experiences he has in the course of the game. But the main question is, does he die? There’s a few surprises (provided you’re not up to speed on the novels) with some familiar faces returning.

Horde 2.0 and Beast

Horde 2.0 is a revamped, refuelled and revitalised version of the Gears of War 2 Horde mode. New additions include the ability to build fortifications around various ‘Command Posts’ and the inclusion of ‘boss levels’ every multiple of ten, which could spawn anything from a couple of berserkers to a brumak. Horde mode in Gears of War 3 is a thoroughly intense experience and is punishingly difficult in later levels, with the final level (50, as in Gears 2) being an infuriating dance with death on many occasions.

However, there are few things more satisfying than placing a headshot on a defenceless drone caught in your barbed wire, or the squelch of a bullet leaving a Silverback and entering the bowels of an unfortunate locust. Beast mode is the all new, shiny addition to the Gears series. Instead of playing as your beloved COGs in the quest to quell waves of locusts, you’re turning the tides and playing as one of the variants of locusts instead. Starting with a choice of five (Ticker, Wild Ticker, Wretch, Savage Drone or Butcher) you fight through twelve waves of increasingly higher amounts of humans and ‘hero’ characters (main game NPCs). For everything you make go boom, you get more money to spend on bigger locust to cause even bigger booms. What’s not to love?

Multiplayer

The multiplayer in Gears of War 3 was hotly anticipated, with a generally well received beta testing and the promise of a more balanced experience. And it’s been pulled off relatively well for the most part. The maps are generally small, with distinct sections that are easily distinguishable and make the maps easy to learn.

Unlike multiplayer modes in games like Call of Duty, you don’t unlock better weapons for levelling up. This means that players on level 100 have access to the same arsenal as those beginning the game. This makes the game all about your ability. Practice will get you better, and you don’t have to worry about someone coming up with weapons that are far more overpowered (we’ll leave the sawed-off shotgun debate well alone here…yes, I do use it).

What’s more, due to the tweaking that’s been made to the weapons, the new multiplayer is no longer a shotgun free-for-all as Gears 2’s multiplayer became; the rifles are powerful and shouldn’t be overlooked. Ribbons and medals offer a good incentive to play the multiplayer, but Epic Games have really faltered on the key point of not making the ribbons and medals public. To me, this defeats the object of collecting such things for the purpose of ‘bragging rights’ if other players have no way of actually seeing the things you’ve achieved. There’s still hope that this may be patched at a later date, but I’m sure they have far better instalments planned for the DLC.

My Verdict

While I am resting my review on a point of being an avid fan of the Gears of War series, I’ve always had nagging complaints about the game: horribly easy final boss battles, sluggish gameplay in places, and schizophrenic storytelling in others. However, I do say with quite some conviction that I couldn’t think of a better way for them to have wrapped up first Gears of War trilogy. Gears of War 3 is a smoothly executed game that has provided and will go on to provide many hours of brilliant gaming.

FIFA 12

Image by EA SPORTS FIFA via Flickr

Where there was once competition between FIFA and their competitor Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), FIFA now seem now have firmly regained control on the football game market. So much so that I, a non-football-game-player, picked it up on release day to give it a try.

FIFA 12 is a testament to how games should be upgraded. The mechanics have been tuned up and the pace is sharper, more realistic and flows more dynamically than previous titles…or at least, that’s the plan. For someone who hasn’t picked up a new football game in more than three years, the game is truly punishing.

In FIFA 12, they have introduced Tactical Defending, a defence mechanic that means you can finely pinpoint tackles and runs more realistically. For veterans of the game, this means that they can make their precise tackles look even more realistic and act more effective. For the rest of us it means that if you’re not precise, you’re going to lose…badly.

The difficulty system is also slightly flawed. I play FIFA 12 on the Pro level, and get absolutely hammered. But I play on Pro for two reasons: Firstly, playing on any level below Pro means you’re exempt from any of the FIFA leaderboards, which is an annoying thing to include. And secondly, I find Semi Pro too easy. It’s a sign of a slight imbalance when I can go to a Semi Pro match and win 4-0, then change to Pro and lose by the same margin.

Despite my lack of skill, FIFA 12 is still a surprisingly fun timesink and I’ve already put many hours into the various modes that are available. The ‘Be a Pro’ category is now simply quick matches, whereas the Career Mode lets you choose between playing your career as a Player, Manager or Player Manager. The transfer system is better than in previous games and I’m quite fond of the scouting system as well. The season runs on a day-by-day basis and during the simulation between days you’ll regularly receive various emails from the board of directors (manager), other teams with negotiation offers (manager) or your manager (player). These are usually quite informative, but can also be unnecessary. For example, when a player gets a red card during one of the games I played, I then received an email from the manager letting me know … we were both at the game, I saw it too.

Then there’s FIFA 12 Ultimate Team, which is another additional game mode of some worth but isn’t really explained too far beyond “Like manager mode but you buy cards which represent players/kits/badges/staff etc instead of actually buying those things”. Instead of transfers, you buy new player cards from the ‘Store’ in packs of Bronze, Silver or Gold; alternatively you can search on the in-game auction to pick up specific types of player/staff/consumable. It can become a bit annoying needing to purchase contract cards to keep your players able to play, and the whole setup just feels a little bit pointless to be honest.

I did doubt the lack of a manual when it came to things such as player development and skill moves but FIFA 12 appears to run on a ‘pick it up as you go along’ ethos. Overall, the game will give you a good stint of gameplay, but don’t expect it to welcome you with open arms, unless is tempts you into sucking up your ego and dropping the difficulty.

Game Overdose 3: DLC Vs Expansion Packs

Hello, as you may have noticed from the author name above this is a special guest Game Overdose, but rather than explain it, I’ll let Steve start us off:

“Hi, it’s Steve. I’m busy overdosing on Deus Ex: Human Revolution (somewhat appropriately). Sorry for having missed a week’s Daily Dosages, but job-hunting has taken precedence! So in the mean-time is the incredibly talented Ricky Compton doing a bit of guest writing, who you might have noticed writes part of the real news on this site. Take it away Ricky!”

And so after that favourable introduction, I’m going to take you through the world of the DLC, the extinction of the expansion pack and the money-grabbing, soul sucking machine of EA. And roll the credits…or the logo…or whatever.

The phrase ‘DLC’ is one that’s only really picked up over the last couple of years, despite the fact that downloadable content has been around since the Atari 2600’s GameLine service, and has evolved from telephone line downloads to the present wave of console and PC-based downloads. DLC has gained popularity in a huge leap recently and has led to such additional injections of game substance being hailed as the new way of development.

The vast majority of game developers now have to be considering the use of DLC to increase the span of their game’s life cycle. In an industry where a game’s experience can usually last anywhere between 8-40 hours, developers found DLC an easy and now seemingly mandatory way to expand the player’s experience. DLC can range from simple one-mission packs (Such as the ‘cases’ in L.A. Noire) to entirely new sequences and mini-storylines (Such as the DLC packs for Borderlands). For some gamers and game critics, DLC is seen as a con, a new movement by the gaming industry to withhold content from a retail release only to then sell it on for an extra profit a month or two after the release date.

Image © 2011 - BioWare

I don’t see this as being true…entirely. DLC allows for a game developer to add pieces to the story that never quite fitted in. It’s their chance to explore new, stand-alone possibilities after the credits have rolled. The DLC released usually has nothing new to add to the original story and is generally based on new pieces of lore. Take the debut DLC for Dragon Age 2; Legacy takes the player into a new location, with new enemies in an attempt to gain knowledge about Hawke’s (the main character) father, and how his life affected the actions in Dragon Age 2. Everything about this screams DLC; it wouldn’t have fit seamlessly into the game, but as a standalone adventure to be played separately from the storyline it works so well.

So in the new rush of DLC, the games industry seem to be forgetting their old ways, leaving behind the ‘Expansion Pack’; retail releases of extra content for games. While many developers still do release physical copies of their DLC, it’s not the same as when games like Oblivion and Rome: Total War released their expansion packs and it’s often a secondary, higher priced alternative for those unable to download the content from their console/PC.

The expansion pack is a dying concept, although like all dying concepts there’s always at least one fanboy who never wants to let go. And in this case, it’s actually a publisher. EA are infamous for being money hungry, with their £10 map packs for Call of Duty, their disregard for pre-owned title gamers and their new stunt of charging £5 more for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in England than comparably in all other countries; but in this article I’m focussing on their desperate hold on the expansion pack. After all, an article ranting about EA could be twice as long as this and still be incomplete.

The Sims, developed by Maxis and then consumed by EA, has always been a game that thrives off its add-ons. If people want a prime example of developers holding content, this is where you should look. Each new base title (The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3) comes with the bare essentials to run the game, and then is expanded through packs that provide holidays, pets, magic, business etc. However on each ‘reboot’ of the franchise, all of that’s taken away until you buy the next chain of updates. The Sims 3’s expansion packs also retail at full retail price, coming in at around £29.99 in the UK. And the new expansion…pets…again!

The Sims gave us expansions of all variety, from simple additional content in ‘Livin’ It Up’ to the ability to have pets and travel around in ‘Unleashed’. Perhaps the most inventive expansion pack was ‘Makin’ Magic’. The Sims 2 had a similar series of expansion packs, including ‘Pets’ that allowed you to get animals again, and my favourite expansion of all ‘Open For Business’ that allowed you to run home businesses and buy real estate. However, now that The Sims 3 is steadily rolling out expansions, we’re seeing a dire lack of imagination. It’s the same expansion packs just upgraded slightly each time. If you don’t believe me, check this.

Holidays: The Sims: Vacation, The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, The Sims 3: World Adventures.
Pets: The Sims: Unleashed, The Sims 2: Pets, The Sims 3: Pets.
Dating/Nightlife: The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims 2: Nightlife, The Sims 3: Late Night

I mean all’s well in them keeping content, but release it in the core game, save the expansion packs for original content. Those are the great ones. The Sims: Makin’ Magic,The Sims 2: Open For Business, The Sims 2: University, these were great expansion packs. So EA, drop the repetition and the shameful withdrawal of content on release, and give us originality, new and exciting ways to play and most important of all, catch up with everyone else. In this new age of added content, EA are falling out of the trends, in the hope of scoring that all important revenue stream they care about seemingly more than their gamers.

Review: The Inbetweeners Movie

Image © Film4, 2011

What happens when you throw a bunch of reckless, sexualised teenagers on holiday? And no, the answer isn’t American Pie. The latest Film4 blockbuster takes the cringingly desperate teens of The Inbetweeners and throws them into the Mediterranean holiday that no blue-balled boy could resist.

The film takes the same general setup as the sitcom series, with Will (Simon Bird) narrating over the course of scene transitions. It’s packed full of laughs from start to finish, although this is British teen humour at it’s most extreme: it’s blunt, vulgar and often quite offensive. This film is  not for the easily offended and definitely one for your grandparents who think that all teenagers are juvenile delinquents…this will only reinforce their point.

From his horrifically cringe worthy masturbation scene (yes, it’s in there) to the ‘emergency’ twenty Euros stored inside his rectum, Jay (James Buckley) stands out as perhaps the most dynamic of the characters, as to be expected from fans of the original series. Neil has his awful fake-tanned face. Will has the phallic image burned into his back. Perhaps worst of all is Simon (Joe Thomas) and his total oblivion to the girl throwing herself at him in the attempts to rekindle his failed relationship. These are all rolling jokes that ensure that you continue to laugh between punchlines. You see, there’s two ways you react to the jokes of this film. The first reaction is with sheer stomach churning laughter, the other being a horrid sinking disappointment at the characters’ (mainly Simon’s) social ineptness.

What the film does do incredibly well is make its audience laugh until their bowels are almost on the floor; quite fitting with all of the poo-related jokes. It’s a very familiar film to anyone who’s watched American Pie, EuroTrip, or any other film involving teens on holiday, but with what I find to be a brilliant British edge. More swearing, more use of the word ‘cock’ and far more awkwardness than you see in the more ‘angst-filled’ American counterparts. The film is exactly what you’d expect; cheesy, predictable and outrageously funny. Don’t watch this film for an insightful look into the teenage mind, or for a reimagining of a genre. You won’t get it. What you get is a solid, tried and tested film formula that has been used once again to create a hilariously funny ninety-seven minutes of cinema.

Gamestop Pulls Deus Ex

Image via Wikipedia

Today came the news that Gamestop, the largest retailer of videogames in the world, have pulled the new Square Enix release ‘Deus Ex: Human Revolution’ from shelves. This decision was made by Gamestop due to the waivers that came packaged within the box. These waivers gave customers back the difference between the retail price of the game and the price of the game on the online streaming service ‘OnLive’.

Gamestop reported that they were not told about these coupons inside the cases and as such began to open the sealed cases and remove the coupons, when customers began complaining about the broken seals caused by Gamestop’s decision, it’s reported that many Gamestop stores have taking the game off its shelves to be returned to Square Enix.

Gamestop released a statement via their Facebook page related to those stores who do still stock the game:

“Regarding the Deus Ex OnLive codes: GameStop’s policy is that we do not promote competitive services without a formal partnership. Square Enix packed a competitor’s coupon within the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution without our prior knowledge and we did pull these coupons. While the new products may be opened, we fully guarantee the condition of the discs to be new. If you find this not to be the case, please contact the store where the game was purchased and they will further assist.”

So, is this a bad move by GameStop, or could it work in their favour? What do you think? Leave a comment below and give your views.

My Experience

One week ago, the UK was hit by a troubling series of riots, first across the capital, and then across the nation. What we here at The West Londoner didn’t realise is that by the end of it we’d be in the thick of it.

For me, the coverage of the riots began at 1am on Sunday night (7th August). I was contacted by Gaz who told me that riots were springing up over London, he was liveblogging and he needed my help. That night I can’t say I was of much use, I simply made some MS paint images of the places where the riots had struck, and then scanned Twitter for rumours and confirmations of things that were happening.

It was really on Monday afternoon when things really began to hit us. After the unbelievable traffic success of Sunday night, we believed we may have had something going here, so when things kicked off the following day, Gaz and I were assisted by Xenia and we began liveblogging for a second night. All of your support was overwhelming, and we received many comments that really hit home for me personally why we were doing this. At around midnight on the Monday, the fatigue was starting to hit us. We’d all slept for a mere few hours the night before and had been liveblogging for around nine hours. We agreed to put up a small PayPal donate button on our article, to see if we could scrape together some small donations.

It is at this point I’d like to thank everyone who has donated to us and say that it’s made a big difference to us. I’d also like to thank the great people at Budweiser UK, who sent us some beer for our work.

Tuesday was the day where we planned on taking it easy. A couple of the team left their homes, rather than staying glued to the laptop screen, and I began to work on another roundup article, the way I’d done on Monday morning. However, it began to kick off again and without Gaz I took control of the liveblog. Gaz returned a couple of hours in and took over, and I manned Tweetdeck with Xenia on the Facebook page. This structure stuck and became our formation for tackling the waves of news and requests.

* * * *

And so it comes to this point, a week after the incidents began and a lot of tiredness, stress and destruction later, and I just want to say that it’s been a privilege to get to help so many people and that for me personally, it still hasn’t sunk in just how much of an effect we had. None of this would have been possible without you guys, and I’m extremely grateful to everyone who sent in information and supported us over the four nights.

London and UK Riots Live

Feel like buying us a pint or two? All of us are doing this unpaid – it would be nice to have a meal and a drink.

Additional reporting: Gaz Corfield (current liveblog), Ricky Compton (liveblog prior to 17:30 and now Twitter @thewestlondoner), Xenia Coudrille (Facebook page), Lee Fleming (research), Chris Green (research), Sean Cameron (ground reporting & research) and Moa Aarenstrup (late night research).

Live updates below.

—

0325: We’re knocking off – third day of doing this and it’s taking it’s toll. Nothing new coming in London now. Will do a roundup of the day’s events when we wake up tomorrow.

We’ll end the day with a few words from Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan Police. Goodnight and stay safe.

“I would like to remark upon the considerable bravery and resilience shown by members of our community overnight. People intervening to make their disgust known about the activities of these mindless yobs. Our officers, and crew from Fire and Ambulance all demonstrated their bravery, as they were attacked whilst trying to protect our streets.”

0323: BBC apparently confirming the Dudley story. Last reports – unconfirmed – that two or possibly three people were hit by a car which appeared to have been driven at them deliberately. Sangat TV, non-English reporters on a Sky channel, are saying that two men died. We have no way of confirming that at this time though.

0318: Austen Close, Thamesmead.

0316: Nothing more on Silver Street in Enfield.

0314: VIDEO: People chasing alleged looters in Enfield earlier today. We’ll leave you to form your own opinions on the content of the video, if you wish.

0310: Earlier rumours of fire in Holloway unconfirmed – a car may have been set alight an hour ago but we can’t be sure. Checking reports of something in Silver Street now.

0302: Sangat TV on Sky are reporting two people dead in Dudley, Birmingham – this seems connected with the road traffic incident of earlier. Possibly a deliberate hit and run but that isn’t confirmed yet.

0300: We’re going to knock off at 0315 – London is quiet now and we’re exhausted. Any fresh updates to @thewestlondoner and @gazthejourno if you have them.

0256: Gloucester police horses just now:

0250: Silence all round. Waiting on rumours from Dudley. More reports of disturbances in Gloucester too now.

0243: Hounslow fire is most definitely out. Meanwhile the burnt out car in Lawrence Road, Liverpool, apparently belongs to a naval officer.

0240: Verifying reports from Dudley/Birmingham. Thamesmead has gone quiet – hopefully the arsonists there have given up.

0235: Police in Dudley have released a statement referring to three men being injured in a road accident and taken to hospital. Nothing about a death, but we’re looking into it – eyewitnesses claimed someone was killed.

0233: Fresh reports that the Thamesmead fires are cars, not houses.

0230: Updates slowing because we’re getting lots of unconfirmed rumours in, trying to verify. Reports of a possible death in Birmingham, working on that. Thamesmead has gone quiet – Hounslow fire is out – Liverpool reports just vehicle and business premises fires, no fires in residential areas.

0227: This just in from Thamesmead area;

0223: VIDEO: Small fire in Hounslow being dealt with not long ago. (external link)

0218: Smithdown, Liverpool, not long ago:

0217: Four fire engines attacked in Liverpool, apparently. Crews uninjured but the vehicles themselves are reportedly out of action, says our Liverpool correspondent. (who hasn’t knocked off thankfully!)

0211: Eight fire engines attending large blaze in Brunswick Road, Gloucester, reports Sky News. Still looking out for more info on Thamesmead arsonists and Enfield situation. Thames Valley Police in Reading reporting a fire in London Road, Reading.

0209: LBC radio apparently just reporting that British Transport Police have confirmed disturbances on Silver Street in Enfield. Developing…

0206: Reports now that arsonists in Thamesmead may be near a primary school. Obviously the school is empty and the reports are not confirmed, but we’re working on it.

0204: Unconfirmed reports that the arsonists in Thamesmead are mobile and moving towards the town centre there. Near Crossway Gym.

0201: Houses near Linton Mead (Thamesmead area) are apparently on fire. Confirming.

0156: Reports that Thamesmead is suffering from arsonists – stand by.

0155: More from Liverpool: 2 fire engines and police car hit by missiles in Lawrence Road (see 0128 update) but none of the officers were injured.

0152: Picture of (extinguished) fire in Park View Road, Tottenham:

0150: Our Liverpool man, Alex Mitchell, is clocking off – no more news from there for the moment.

0149: Reports coming in now that Manchester City Centre has been reopened. Still looking at Camden for any news on the burning pile of rubbish (yes, London has become that calm that a pile of rubbish is now our focus!)

0146: Unconfirmed report from Camden that someone has set fire to a pile of rubbish. Looking for confirmation.

0140: Calm in London now, unless you know otherwise. Tweet us – @gazthejourno and @thewestlondoner.

0133: Apparently the Ashley Road depot (which backs onto Park View Road) is home to Haringey Council’s asbestos team. Let’s hope they didn’t have any asbestos there…

0132: Police have arrested four people in Borough Road, Birkenhead, for conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

0129: Peter Beaumont on the ground near the Park View Road fire is reporting that the fire brigade have attended and extinguished the flames. Police are continuing to patrol. That was quick!

0128: Picture from Lawrence Road, Liverpool, about an hour ago.

0126: Recycling depot at Park View Road apparently handles general waste including cooking oil and used engine oil – possibly some of that which is fuelling the flames?

0124: Park View Road is the rubbish lorry depot – separate reports coming in of something to do with a “diesel depot” according to BBC. Confirming.

0121: Three explosions reported at Tottenham rubbish lorry depot.

0120: Birkenhead pub just now. Merseyside police say to avoid Park Road South in Birkenhead.

0117: Fire engines seen heading towards the Tottenham rubbish lorry depot. Finding official name/address of the depot now to avoid confusion.

0113: Car on fire in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, courtesy of Paul Lewis of the Guardian.

0110: Council rubbish lorries on fire in Tottenham – sparks reportedly 200 feet high there now.

0107: Peter Beaumont of The Observer (there’s a newspaper you don’t hear about often) is on the spot in Tottenham; there is a fire at the council recycling depot there. Explosion not long ago, may have been a fuel tank of some description.

0105: Fire in Tottenham, possibly riot-related. Checking now, seems to be in N17.

0101: Reports from Matt Holehouse of the Daily Telegraph that there are disturbances at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institute. Prison service are apparently dispatching extra vans.

0058: Latest from St Albans is that two people set fire to a bin earlier. Not riot-related so we’ll say that all is calm there.

0054: VIDEO: Street band United Vibrations playing on the street in Brixton – from Arjun on the ground there. (external link to TinyPic).

0053: Shops already being repaired in Manchester, seems to have calmed down there too.

0051: Police confirming reports of damage to shops in Birkenhead and some fires there too. Looking for more details.

0049: Reports coming in from Liverpool of more disturbances there. London seems relatively quiet now – I’ll stick my neck out and say that we have no active rioters in the capital now. (no doubt that’ll change inside ten minutes…)

0047: Picture from Tesco Express in Hayes just now. Police already on scene, nothing more to report from there.

0044: Tesco Express in Hayes was apparently hit by ram raiders – doesn’t appear to be riot related at all. Picture of a BMW minus its front numberplate going around but no solid confirmation just yet.

0041: Interesting photo of a jazz band in Brixton from our man on the ground there.

0040: Two of our researchers have just gone to bed (they have day jobs, lucky sods) so updates may slow. Tweet @gazthejourno and @thewestlondoner if you have more info.

0037: Rioters are trying to break into a Jessop’s camera shop in Manchester. Reports that Greggs has been targeted.

0035: VIDEO: Police vehicles driving slowly through Enfield. No reports of anything except curious crowds there now.

0033: Asda in Toxteth (Liverpool) reports a breakin but police are on the scene.

0030: Not much more known on Slough. Updates will pause for a few minutes – confirming some info on Manchester.

0027: Crayford fire is apparently domestic, nothing to do with rioters it seems. After that burst of reports it really does seem to be quietening down across London.

0022: Enfield Town. Lots of police, not much disorder it seems.

0019: Starbucks in Slough a few minutes ago. Smashed window – nothing more known yet.

0017: Kensington is reported to be calm. Don’t know anything more about the Crayford fire – I can tell you that there was a fire, and now there isn’t a fire.

0016: Crayford – apparently the fire service have extinguished the fire there. Swift action!

0015: Brentford update – people are saying it’s peaceful there.

0013: Crayford (in Dartford) a few moments ago. Finding out what exactly this is now:

0010: Billy Kember of the Times reporting that crowds in Enfield are melting back into the pubs. Seems to have been a brief flash, nothing more. Hayes skip fire unconfirmed.

0008: Gang of 40 reported in Slough just now. Confirming that.

0006: Lombardy Retail Park in Hayes reportedly quiet now. Confirming location of those skips reported earlier.

0003: Skips being set alight in Hayes now.

0000: Pic from Billy Kember of the Times, who’s on the ground in Enfield now:

2358: More reports coming in from Enfield station – checking now. Hayes still unclear.

2357: Rumours coming in of a possible fire at Hayes Lombardy.

2354: Sky News reporting objects being thrown at police in Liverpool.

2350: VIDEO: Miss Selfridge in Manchester on fire, courtesy of ITV/Granada.

2346: Tulse Hill, Dulwich, Streatham and Norwood all calm. London seems to be cooling down. At this rate we might get to sleep by 2am!

2344: VIDEO: Eltham earlier this evening (YouTube external link).

2340: Safe to say that West London in general seems to be quiet. Nothing from Harrow or Hounslow areas either. This is Hounslow bus garage a little while ago:

2336: Brentford seemingly quiet. Some sirens but it’s likely that whereever there’s trouble in London police will be moving there. Sirens on their own don’t mean trouble in your area!

2332: Helicopters reported to be near Mitcham and Wimbledon. Nothing reported on the ground, so no cause for alarm down there.

2329: Old stuff coming in from Eltham indicates that there was a fairly large crowd with police there. Still checking for latest on situation there.

2328: Busy checking reports from Eltham – this seems legit:

2315: Reports from Birmingham suggest that the city has been locked down and things are getting calmer there.

2314: Brixton reports that all is quiet except for the residents’ cleanup operation there.

2311: Five people in Watford have been arrested for criminal damage. Canning Circus fire in Nottingham – latest there is that the fire has been extinguished and police are preserving the scene for forensic evidence. Eight arrested there.

2310: Slight technical difficulties at our end. Manchester and Nottingham both report police still clashing with rioters. 15 arrests in Salford. Greenford (London) is quiet.

2302: Dagenham, Uxbridge, West Drayton and Ruislip all quiet, despite rumours.

2259: Lewisham High Street reportedly quiet, as are Burnt Oak and Greenford.

2254: Burnt Oak update: the cars that were apparently burning there have been extinguished.

2252: VIDEO: Eltham a few minutes ago. (YouTube link)

2248: Huge amount of rumours going around about Lewisham. I am going to downgrade our reports to UNCONFIRMED because all verifiable reports from people living there say it’s peaceful at the moment. Eltham situation fluid.

2246: VIDEO from Seven Sisters. External link to yfrog – it is on its side, unfortunately.

2245: All buses and trams in and out of Manchester have been suspended apparently, but the trains are still running, reports

2243: BBC News live reporting from Manchester behind riot police now.

2240: Picture from Seven Sisters a few minutes ago:

2236: Seven Sisters Hair and Beauty is reportedly on fire. The fire in Southend was on the Leigh industrial estate (link to local paper), very close to Big Yellow Storage.

2231: Big Yellow Storage in Southend is NOT on fire. We’re slowing down to double-check our info before posting more on Eltham and Lewisham.

2229: Picture below of Eltham is of a flare, not a bomb – Lewisham appears to be quiet despite large group of people reported there earlier.

2225: Riot vans going through Deptford towards Lewisham. Meanwhile in Leicester helicopters are assisting police on the ground over there. Some damage on Granby Street, apparently.

2223: Rumours of fire in Basildon appear to be false.

2220: Lewisham seems to be quiet according to locals there – perhaps the bulk of the people round there have moved towards Eltham. Confirming.

2218: Fireball in Eltham, very close to Shoezone:

2216: LBC radio are reporting around 2000 people moving from Eltham to Lewisham to “reclaim the streets”. Developing – updates to @gazthejourno and @thewestlondoner on Twitter please.

2214: Six arrests in Liverpool from earlier, city now quiet. Nothing much happening in Portsmouth after the fire in that derelict nightclub either.

2213: Canning Circus police station in Nottinghamshire firebombed by 30-40 men, report Notts Police.

2211: Reports coming in that 400+ people are running through Lewisham, from a source on the ground. Confirming now – that’s very recent.

2208: Met Police confirms disturbances in Canning Town, Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Highgate.

2205: Gang of youths reported to be on the rampage in Milton Keynes.

2204: 20 police officers on guard outside Bletchey train station, reports the Milton Keynes Citizen.

2203: Curry’s in Ruislip was hit earlier – pic found on Lockerz.com. Thanks to Peter Smallwood for digging that out for us.

2200: Harrow is all quiet, our man there reports that pubs are serving beer as normal.

2159: Restarted my browser, that’s cleared up the slowness. Reports of a fire in Burnt Oak are coming in thick and fast. Low-quality pictures coming in.

2153: Road closures reported in Birmingham. Unconfirmed reports of something happening on the A127 in Southend – looking into that now.

2152: Reports of water cannon leaving Northern Ireland and the Guardian’s front page for tomorrow reports that plastic bullets have been authorised for use on the UK mainland by David Cameron.

2148: Lots of reports coming in that Eltham has become a popular spot. Police attending the scene there.

2143: Cotton Street in Poplar is closed due to a public disorder incident. More as we get it.

2143: Southbury Rail Station, near Enfield, has just closed.

2139: This picture is apparently of Millwall fans in Eltham earlier. My laptop is going slow – back in a couple of minutes.

2134: Four people reported to have been arrested in Bletchley.

2132: Fabric World in Bletchley is reportedly on fire. Meanwhile the groups of people out on the street may be about to clash with each other. Trying hard not to use any emotive words to describe these groups – wary of stoking tension.

2131: Unconfirmed rumours of something happening in Bletchley town, Milton Keynes area.

2127: Rumours of a fire in Wandsworth that was caused by a kitchen accident – not riot related.

2125: Confirmed reports of a car on fire in Dagenham and youths gathering in the area.

2122: Police in Wembley report no incidents there, it’s all calm across NW London. Meanwhile reports that more people are gathering in Enfield and Southall.

2120: Local people are now on the streets in Eltham, Enfield and New Addington.

2117: Reports from Eltham (London) that cars of people are driving around randomly attacking passers-by. Stay away from the area if you can.

2115: Sky News people on the ground in Manchester reporting that police are confiscating petrol bombs. Worrying news.

2112: Looters supposedly breaking into Oxfam shops in Manchester now. Having another look at London – tweet updates to @thewestlondoner and @gazthejourno

2111: This is reportedly a BBC radio car in Manchester:

2108: People in Mitcham are being told to go home by police.

2107: News just in that National Express coaches will make their final departures from Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Dudley at 9.30pm.

2106: VIDEO: Police riot vans speeding through Brixton earlier. (YouTube link)

2104: A fire has occurred in West Drayton but it is definitely not linked to the riots.

2102: Mitcham, Tooting and Wandsworth all quiet, no futher disturbances. Unconfirmed reports of youths at a petrol station in Wembley now.

2101: LBC reporting that Apple have emptied their stores nationwide in case of looters.

2100: Sikhs in Southall are out in force by the gurdwara tonight;

2059: Reports of trouble in Wembley, London. Looking to confirm.

2056: Bristol reports heavy police presence but no trouble as yet.

2055: Manchester Metrolink has been suspended – there is no service there at all.

2052: Lots of people taking to the streets in Enfield:

2051: Police in Dagenham have made an arrest. Romford police are still moving troublemakers towards the marketplace.

2051: Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester has been cordoned off apparently. Checking now.

2050: Nottingham seems fine after slight unrest yesterday but both football teams there are playing apparently. Potential for problems?

2047: New reports from Nottingham. Standing by to confirm there. Will have a look at London again in a moment. Maybe we should rename ourselves “The UK’er”?

2045: Liverpool is quiet now. Reports that Portsmouth is still tense but quiet.

2042: Daily Mail reporting that the England cricket team are locked in a hotel in Birmingham. Meanwhile Hat Man in the city centre there is being looted:

2040: Shepherd’s Bush is nice and quiet. Meanwhile Birmingham riots are apparently moving north in the city. No further updates from Manchester.

2034: Uxbridge town centre a few minutes ago. Slightly less busy than expected…

2035: Group of people we reported in Enfield earlier are apparently a multi-ethnic group with no beef against any particular group. Happy to correct the record.

2031: 563 arrests in London and 105 charged so far. Meanwhile Domino’s in Shepherd’s Bush is, er, open …

2029: Tons of updates coming in. Five riot vans in Hertford Road, Enfield. Shops are being raided in Manchester but police mounted units, aided by dogs, are getting the situation under control.

2026: Reports coming in from Milton Keynes of trouble there. Confirming now – police helicopter supposedly in area.

2024: Enfield vigilantes (50-60 or so) reportedly gathering in Church Street. People are cheering police in Enfield Town. They are gathering to stop rioters, according to our source on the ground.

2022: West Bromwich a short while ago:

2020: Police have charged with riot batons drawn in Manchester.

2019: Riot police in St Anne’s Square, Manchester, are arresting all looters and rioters there. Buses are being diverted away from Central Parade and New Addington.

2018: The end is nigh in Manchester:

2017: Fifty thousand per cent (50,000%) increase in sales of batons and similar on Amazon.

2016: New Addington in Croydon reports about a hundred people there. Apparently they may be locals.

2015: Number of arrests made in Canning Town. Lots of new reports from Croydon, combing through those now.

2012: Portsmorth is tense, according to our man on the ground there. Lots of cars driving around and a decent police presence but nothing actually happening just yet.

2008: Manchester City Centre has been cordoned off. This was Swarovski’s there a few minutes ago:

2006: Reports from Manchester that hotels have been told to lock their doors. Confirming. We’re expanding coverage to the wider UK.

2004: This just in from Eltham, lots of people gathering at local pubs.

2001: Lots of stop-and-searches being reported in Canning Town now. Police definitely in control there now.

1959: Smoke over Canning town is almost definitely just drifting over from the burnt-down Sony centre in Enfield. Things there appear to have subsided for now.

1956: Canning Town seems to be calming down now. Groups of men have reportedly gathered in pubs in Eltham and are waiting for looters to show up. Apparently Millwall fans are patrolling the area, looking for confirmation there.

1953: Oxford Street is empty. Various updates from West London saying that nothing is happening. Looks like either the police are getting to grips with the situation and tackling rioters as they start, or the rioters have finally given up. Mounted police are assembling in Canning Town.

1952: Smoke in Canning Town. (look at the top right corner of the green sign – faint but visible)

1949: Large group of people reportedly on Hertford Road in Enfield chasing away troublemakers. Rumours of racist chants coming in from there.

1946: Reports coming in of arsonists operating in Aston, near Birmingham. Confirming.

1943: Police carriers reportedly speeding through Hanwell, West London. Meanwhile this came in a few minutes ago from Salford.

1941: Police have stopped a route 45 bus in Brixton and are searching a number of passengers:

1938: Canning Town locals are reportedly fighting back against looters.

1937: Police are moving troublemakers in Romford towards the marketplace there. Potential kettle?

1935: Reports coming in from Southsea that trouble has flared. Youth groups being dismissed.

1934: Curry’s on Oxford Street a few minutes ago. Rumours of police arrests there now.

1931: Riot police are out on Oxford Street, reportedly.

1928: Cars are apparently on fire in Wolverhampton. Not confirmed, lots of people asking what’s happened there.

1925: Canning Town latest picture – lockerz.com external link.

1924: Bus fire reports in Canning Town are seriously mixed – some say it is, some say it isn’t. LBC are now saying it’s unconfirmed, apparently. We’re holding back on reports of that until we get something concrete – pics to @thewestlondoner if you’re on the ground.

1922: Police radio overheard reporting that 20+ masked youths are gathering on Oxford Street. Judging by the fact that it’s on the police radio I’d think that that’ll be dealt with swiftly.

1921: Greater Manchester Police are asking people to stay away from the city centre there.

1919: Canning Town latest: Prince Regent DLR station has been attacked and a bus is definitely on fire according to eyewitnesses.

1917: BBC News showing live footage from Croydon now. Resembles the aftermath of a WW2 bombing raid.

1915: Market Street Manchester about a minute ago:

1914: Canning Town bins are smoking heavily, that appears to be mixing with smoke drifting from Enfield Sony centre. Acton is quiet. In Manchester Miss Selfridge’s is reportedly ablaze.

1910: Two bins are on fire in Canning Town – confirmed. Unclear if a bus is on fire there. 20 youths attacking buses but police are dispersing them – seems they were tipped off. Looters tried something in Crouch End, police were on them in minutes. Meanwhile, Romford High Street:

1908: Dagenham Heathway about half an hour ago:

1907: Press Association reporting that windows in Sloane Square have been smashed.

1906: Canning Town a couple of minutes ago.

1903: Three helicopters over Canning Town according to LBC. Likely to be BBC, Sky and police.

1901: Crouch End Blockbuster’s was apparently damaged last night – whoops! It’s calm there now. Smoke over Canning Town is blowing across from the smouldering Sony distribution centre in Enfield Lock. No news from Ruislip.

1857: Mixed messages from Crouch End – unconfirmed reports of something happening to the Blockbusters there. Canning Town has a bus on fire, Sky News are showing footage. Meanwhile the BBC are broadcasting the weather.

1856: Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes, is reportedly in Uxbridge talking to police. No violence reported there but rumours coming in about Ruislip and Northolt. We’re confirming.

1854: Update on Southsea fire from earlier – that appears to have been an arson attack on a derelict nightclub. Not connected to rioting.

1850: Brixton just now. No violence, just local people gathering to clear up the mess from the last few nights.

1848: Brockley Cross, SE4, at 1830ish. Near Lewisham.

1846: West Bromwich about five minutes ago:

1845: Wakering Road in Barking reports trouble. Everything seems to have exploded – rumours of other towns around London experiencing trouble.

1842: BBC showing footage of West gangs pushing over vans and bins. Shops being smashed as well.

1841: London Fire Brigade have confirmed that bins are on fire in Canning Town.

1839: LBC reporting a bus on fire in Canning Town. Helicopters are apparently in the area. Checking this now.

1833: Harrow, various reports that gangs of muggers are on the loose and hanging around train stations.

1831: Freemasons Road in Canning Town is closed, the Met Police are reporting that there are disturbances between the A13 and Victoria Dock Road.

1829: Ponders End seems to have gone quiet. There were reports from there that the Tesco’s was on fire but we can’t confirm this.

1828: Leyton High Street shops have closed early. No further reports from there as yet.

1825: Rioters have smashed the doors of JD Sports in the Victoria Centre in Nottingham.

1823: Ken Livingstone is calling for a curfew and for the events of the last few days to be officially declared a riot. This means police would have to reimburse people for the damages they’ve suffered, if I’ve understood it correctly.

1820: Apparently Ealing residents are banding together to protect their property this evening. Picture of a flyer being pushed through people’s doors has been seen but we won’t reproduce it.

1819: Unconfirmed rumour that Toys’R'Us in Hayes is on fire. Seems unlikely, confirming that now.

1817: Car on fire in Barnet but unrelated to rioters – apparently the engine overheated. Bad luck.

1816: Channel 4 has wanted pictures of looters from yesterday and the day before. (external link)

1814: East Ham High Street has heavy police presence – no looting or rioting reported there just yet.

1811: Met police reporting that 111 police and 5 dogs have been injured over the last three days.

1809: Pub in Tulse Hill just now:

1806: Amazon reporting that sales of steel baseball bats are up by 6,000% (six thousand per cent, not a typo) .

1803: Jubilee Line suspended between Willesden Green and Wembley Park with a signal failure. Nothing to do with riots, just the usual creaky LUL infrastructure!

1801: Large column of police Guardian armoured vehicles going into Croydon now, coming out of Croydon bus station. Pic via Guardian’s Matthew Taylor.

1800: Back streets of Hayes and West Drayton are niec and quiet, apparently.

1759: PC World and Curry’s in Croydon have been boarded up. Curry’s has been a target for the last few nights, seems like a sensible move by the management.

1757: Image from Southsea near Portsmouth, not long ago. Meanwhile a BBC cameraman has reportedly been assaulted in Salford, near Manchester. Perhaps GMP are understating what’s going on over there…

1756: BBC reporting shops looted in Salford.

1755: Bromley reported to be quiet with heavy police presence. No different from everywhere else except Croydon at the moment…

1754: MAP: from CNN, the disturbances across London and the UK so far.

1753: 20 police officers reported outside Hackney station. Croydon Council is meeting with police now.

1748: Canary Wharf tube station appears to be closed. Nothing on TfL live map.

1747: Armoured police vehicles have travelled through Brixton and Streatham and are now heading towards Norbury. Checking to see if there are any reports of violence there.

1747: Shops in Harrow Weald are closing now.

1746: Croydon businesses are closing and boarding up. Fire brigade attending the scene, apparently.

1745: Definitely something going on in Croydon. Reports of rioters present there and a car has definitely been damaged. Confirming that it is fire.

1743: Greater Manchester Police reporting that rumours of disturbances there are false. Not confirmed.

1741: Reports on LBC of a car on fire in Croydon. Confirming, this seems concrete.

1738: Police outside Westfield. Nothing happening there. Atmosphere everywhere seems to be tense and expectant. Many people have closed their businesses early.

1736: Lots of rumours but no concrete reports of violence from anywhere. BBC News reporting disturbances in West Bromwich and Sky News reporting disorder in Wolverhampton.

1732: West Norwood a few minutes ago:

17:29 Eltham shops are now closed. Police presence remains in the area.

1728: No major incidents occuring within London, heavy police presence seems to be working.

1724: Rumours of a fire in Wanstead, as yet unconfirmed but believed to be false. Any updates, send to @TheWestLondoner

1721: Uxbridge has begun closing, with shops shutting down early. Pubs appear to be remaining open.

1719: Unconfirmed reports of a vigilante group received. Will update and confirm/deny as we hear it.

1714: Hayes Town Centre closed off. More updates as we get them.

1713: Interactive riot map. (Guardian link – removed because people on the ground say it’s inaccurate)

1710: Photos of Uxbridge Sainsbury’s from our guy on the ground. They’ve pulled in all trolleys into the foyer.

1709: Twelve police vans, including armoured vehicles, seen heading towards Clapham from Brixton.

1707: Welsh Police are present in the city as part of the 30 forces supporting the Met Police.

1704: BlackBerry Messenger not suspending, but RIM are assisting police. Despite claims for local MPS, there has been no requests from the Home Office to shut down the service.

1701: Local religious residents in Uxbridge have taken to the street.

1658: West Norwood Cemetery has been closed due to fears of rioters defiling the graves.

1656: London fringe theatres are reported to be cancelling shows amidst the riot fears.

1652: Wolverhampton beginning to heat up with groups seen walking the streets.

1646: Appliances Online (who sell washing machines etc.) are sponsoring tonight’s post because they think our work deserves recognition. Which is nice of them – it’ll keep a roof over my head for a couple of weeks!

1644: Tulse Hill High Road is closing. Police presence in the area. Lots of rumours of communities being targeted but were not reporting anything unless it actually happens.

1639: Tulse Hill shops closing now. Earlier reports that Boris Johnson is out with a broom in Clapham.

1636: Uploading pictures of business as normal in Uxbridge. All reports from other areas of London seem to indicate heavy police presence but not much in the way of violence.

1634: Gaz Corfield here now. Just got back in from Uxbridge and I can confirm personally that the town is quiet. Uxbridge London Underground station is open for business. Police presence heavy for the area but atmosphere is expectant.

1624: Shops closing in Chislehurst and Paddington.

1623: Gangs spotted in Dagenham but the police ‘have it under control’. More updates soon.

1619: New reports suggest Morden shops are being told to close.

1618: Looking into reports of Eltham and Dagenham. Many seems to be false rumours

1613: Welling, Eltham and Sidcup add to the list of towns who have shut up shops.

1611: Dalston closing up for the night.

1608: Police seem to have many locations under control, and no reports yet of major breakages.

1605: We’ve received reports that trains are not stopping in West Norwood.

1602: Update on Rose Hill, near Sutton. Co-Op is fine, but had high police presence earlier today which raised suspicions.

1600: Reports of smashed Phones4U and high police presence in Putney visibly reduced.

1556: Latest images from Balham of shopkeepers boarding windows.

1555: New reports of shops closing in Purley. Also unconfirmed reports of trouble in Dagenham. Any information, please send to @TheWestLondoner.

1553: Train service between Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges running as usual.

1552: Greenwich shops and university have been closed.

1550: AUDIO: two women who claim this is “showing the rich people we can do what we want“.

1547: VIDEO: Boris Johnson in Clapham. (External BBC link)

1545: Arrests in Wolverhamption, and now polcie seem to have calmed the area.

1541: No news from Collier’s Wood or Mitcham, despite disturbances around the Rose Hill Area.

1540: The large police presence in Wimbledon appears to have deterred rioters so far.

1539: Brunel University in Uxbridge have closed their Student Union offices and bars.

1537: Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth closed.

1535: Association of Chief Police Officers say there are now 30 forces supporting the Metropolitan Police.

1533: Greenwich have boarded shops across the town.

1530: Reports of Rose Hill, near Sutton and the Co-op has been hit by looters.

1527: Movements in Walthamstow with Selbourne Walk evacuated

1525: New images from Clapham and Wimbledon

1524: TFL say they won’t be closing stations ealy.

1521: No major updates of yet. Monitoring situations in Wimbledon, Putney and Croydon.

1516: Collier’s Wood Sainsbury’s is reportedly being evacuated and closed in precaution.

1514: Reports suggest there is a presence in Plumstead.

1512: Confirmed that now the majority of both shops and offices in Wimbledon are now closed.

1509: Jewellers in Holborn

1507: New images from Holborn

1503: Police warn of gangs beginning to congregate around South Westminster. Elsewhere, there is a police presence in Egham, near Staines. A local BP garage has been boarded up.

1500: No major devlopments so far, seems like police presence and shops closing are all mainl precautionary. We’ll give you information as soon as wel get it.

1455: Confirmed reports that shops are closing in Putney. Please send any information about riots, or pictures from the scenes to @TheWestLondoner and we can help keep you updated.

1452: Police presence building in Putney as a precaution of rumours for tonight’s ‘hits’.

1451: Bermondsey also reported to be quiet, although rumours that Wimbledon Village is seeing rioters.

1448: Putney and Richmond ‘safe’ amongst rumours that rioters are in town.

1446: Reports of a bin on fire in Wimbledon. Nothing large-scale just yet.

1442: Shops in Wimbledon are reportedly being boarded up by locals and police. The station remains open for the time being.

1439: News on the man shot in Croydon is under investigation. All we know so far is that he was found at around 21:45 last night shot in his car. He died in hospital in the early hours of this morning

1437: 16,000 police to be in London this evening.

1434: Many shops in Wimbledon closing, but the station is remaining open for now.

1431: Looking at reports of arrests in Hillingdon, West London. The Uxbridge Gazette reports that twenty-six people were arrested, claims Hillingdon Council. This follows the minor vandalism in Hayes last night

1428: A great picture of the cleanup

1427: News that the man who was shot in Croydon last night has died in hospital.

And so another night of riots, this time target a more southern area. The West Londoner were again reporting through the night, with people on the ground and others harvesting news from around the capital. The locations hit since 15:00[GMT+1] showed that groups were moving south, and got down as far as Collier’s Wood and Sutton. We will be keeping you updated on any news as we get it.

Automation – Show Me The Riot

Automation are a four piece Electronica band, taking large chunks from many genres, incorporating metal with Drum N’ Bass, Dubstep and other electronic-based styles. Their new song ‘Show Me the Riot’ is a topical outlook on the recent riots across London. The music uses catchy electronic riffs and has a complex, finely tuned sound. The passive-aggressive tone makes it a fitting homage to the chaos of the past two nights, and addresses the mentality and disposition of the rioters.

You can check out Show Me The Riot now at Automation’s YouTube page.

Automation, a West London based Electronica band