Big police presence for the Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill carnival will see the highest number of police officers on duty in the event’s 47-year history in the wake of the London riots, police sources have said.

Double the number of off-icers that policed the Royal Wedding will be on duty at the carnival next weekend, with the Met planning 20,000 shifts split over the two-day event, it is understood.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s April wedding day saw 5,000 Metropolitan Police officers on duty in London.

Carnival organisers said about 500 stewards will be on duty, some 100 more than last year, to ensure there is no repeat of the violence seen during the London riots.

Christopher Boothman, one of the organisers of the carnival, said he expected the extra police would be added to reserves that would be on alert at fixed locations around the carnival to respond to any trouble.

“There are normally significant numbers of police at Notting Hill on the off chance that something might happen,” he said.

Mr Boothman, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said he hoped policing at the carnival would “not be oppressive” and that “there is a balance they [the police] need to get right”.

He said organisers would close the carnival “in a staggered fashion” until about 7pm each day, so that people would leave gradually.