London Riots: Sony Distribution Centre The Size Of A Football Pitch Collapse In Flames

A TERRIFIED woman leaps from the first floor of a burning block of flats into the arms of cops as a third night of rioting spread across London. She escaped in Croydon as police struggled to cope with the escalating crisis. Large areas of the capital burned as mindless thugs fought pitched battles with police, with violence spreading to West London as the windows of Hugo Boss on Sloane Square were reportedly smashed. Children as young as eight were seen throwing bottles at hard-pressed officers. The anarchy spread round the country as Birmingham was also hit by looting and violence broke out in Liverpool early today. Police confirmed riots in Bristol amid reports of fires and looting in the city. Meanwhile a Sony distribution centre the size of a football pitch collapsed in flames in Enfield, North London, after being hit. Scotland Yard today said 334 people had been arrested, 69 people charged and two cautioned in connection with the rioting and looting across London. PM David Cameron flew back from his holiday in Tuscany, Italy, last night. Today he condemned the "sickening" scenes of violence. Speaking outside Downing Street he said the Government would do "everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding".Home Secretary Theresa May and London Mayor Boris Johnson also cut short holidays as the crisis deepened. The trouble-making rabble used social networking to organise an orgy of violence and destruction across the capital. A rallying cry was issued to rioters on the Blackberry Messenger phone system. It promised thugs that police would not be able to cope if they flooded on to the streets and added: "We need minimum of 200 hungry people. Who says no to free stuff." Thousands of extra police were drafted in as shops were looted, cars torched and buildings set ablaze. Thugs also robbed innocent commuters going home. Hackney in North London and Lewisham, Peckham, Clapham and Croydon in the south of the city bore the brunt of the mayhem. Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin called on the public to clear the streets. He also urged parents to contact children and find out where they were. In the centre of PECKHAM a 100-strong mob cheered as an independent clothes shop was turned into an inferno. A bakery next door was also set alight. One masked lout swigged whisky and roared: "The West End's going down next." The mob descended on Rye Lane, the main shopping street, at around 5.30pm. One onlooker said: "The mob was just standing there, cheering and laughing. There's no sign of police or fire engines on the ground. It's absolutely terrifying." A woman called Caroline told how her husband was dragged off his motorbike by a baying mob of 12 hooded youths, who beat and kicked him, then took his bike. She said: "He is in a real state and we can't get to him. This is just sheer criminality. These people have no cause." Hundreds of people in black balaclavas and scarves marauded along Rye Lane, launching petrol bombs at police. Bus services were suspended after one was torched and another smashed to pieces. Tesco and Iceland were among two of the shops looted. Around 50 masked youths made off with champagne and beer. One local said: "They were emerging with shopping baskets full. They screamed and jeered. Most were between 15 and 30. Many were on bikes. "It makes me so angry. They should turn water cannon on them. I'm Northern Irish and if this was going on back home they'd be firing plastic bullets." Peckham-born England and Man United soccer star Rio Ferdinand tweeted: "London's burning, riots galore - what will this solve??" HACKNEY descended into a war zone after the rioting broke out about 5pm. Senior cops were checking reports that the violence was sparked by a stop and search. Three police cars were destroyed in daylight and another vehicle still ablaze as darkness descended. A 71-year-old man was pulled from his burning home after looters torched a newsagent below. Police had to push back rioters and knocked down the pensioner's door as he pleaded for help. Neighbour Andy Hutchins, 38, said; "He was out the window screaming for help. He came out crying his eyes out. It's dreadful. What has he done to deserve that?" Another witness said: "There were kids running everywhere. They can't have been much older than eight. They were telling their older brothers when police were on the move. "Some had bottles in their hands, which they were throwing at police before running away. The whole area is choked with smoke." Yobs used bins and shopping trolleys to smash their way into a sports store. An off-duty bus driver said: "They were like animals. It's very frightening." A cyclist was attacked by five men who jumped on him and ripped his shoulder bag free. Other looters jeered as they fled. A witness said: "I saw one bloke kicked on the floor and they stole his moped." With police already spread thinly, yobs in LEWISHAM ran amok and looted shops at will. The gangs used wheelie bins and a car to build a barricade. Masked yobs also ransacked shops in CLAPHAM without a cop in sight. Shopkeepers began boarding up their stores at 4.30pm after Scotland Yard warned them the area could be targeted. Waves of thugs then swamped the area. Resident Ted Knight, 24, said: "People just started coming out of side streets. About 100 of them went to Currys and just started coming out with big screen TVs. "I saw a boy with trainers he stole go back to the shop. He was saying to his mates that he had taken the wrong size." A girl looting Currys was heard shouting "We're getting our taxes back" when she was confronted about what she was doing. Commuters were trapped inside Clapham Junction station by rioting. Looters were seen fleeing the area on stolen Boris Bikes. Witnesses spoke of seeing "hundreds and hundreds" of looters. The iconic Debenhams department store was completely trashed. One girl was seen carrying away ten handbags - five on each arm. There were clashes between thugs and police in STRATFORD, BETHNAL GREEN, BARKING, East London. Also in the East End, there were reports of commuters being attacked at MILE END. CHALK FARM and KENTISH TOWN in North London were hit. London football clubs including West Ham and Charlton were ordered by police to postpone home matches tonight because there are no spare officers to police them. Trouble also hit upmarket East Dulwich, next to Peckham, where a Tesco Express was looted. The rioting later spread to West London, as Ealing Broadway shopping centre was torched. Meanwhile 30,000 Met police were told not to wear uniform while off duty after a gang threatened to target them with grenades. Shop windows were smashed in BIRMINGHAM as crowds gathered following rumours on social networking sites of a riot copying London's. Police set up an exclusion zone up to half a mile around the Bullring shopping centre. Looters' targets included an Adidas store, an Austin Reed menswear shop, a camera shop and several mobile phone shops. England cricketers were holed up in the city centre hotel where they are staying for the Third Test against India, which starts tomorrow. More than 87 people including several youngsters were arrested as scores of extra officers had been drafted into the city centre. Four people were said to be held on suspicion of aggravated burglary, four for violent disorder and one for breach of the peace. Pictures of troublemakers taken by police camera crews are expected to be released as early as today. Buses were stopping outside the city centre and passengers had to continue journeys on foot. Police used Twitter to dismiss rumours of similar trouble in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Coventry. Paramedics were called to at least 23 emergencies related to the disturbances including a 16-year-old who had dislocated his knee last night. A man in his 20s suffered a serious head injury and three people were injured in a fight in Handsworth, Birmingham. A man in his late 20s was assaulted and another man was kicked in the head. Both were taken to A&E. The violence also spread into KENT after a mob of 15 youths started fires and caused criminal damage in the Medway area. Ten arrests were made following the widespread damage in Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham. Last night's anarchy erupted despite pleas from the family of suspected gangster Mark Duggan, 29, whose shooting dead by police in Tottenham last Thursday sparked the attacks. Mrs May had talks with Acting Commissioner Godwin amid claims police acted too late and too meekly. She warned thugs will "be made to face the consequences".