Police today warned they will create a “hostile environment” for thieves and gang members at the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend.
Thousands of officers will be deployed for the event, which is expected to attract record numbers of visitors this year thanks to the start of the Paralympic Games next week.
Police have already made 27 arrests of gang members suspected of planning to attend the carnival.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, who is in charge of carnival policing, said: “Across London we’ll use specialist officers and technology to make it as hard as possible for those people to travel about. We’ll make use of stop and search, our status dogs unit and screening wands to scan people for concealed weapons.”
Shopkeepers today began preparations to board up their businesses.
Liz Figueirdo, who runs The Eagle in Ladbroke Grove, spends hundreds of pounds on security staff and said: “It puts a huge strain on the area.”
Roofer Mark Naylor, 41, who lives just off Ladbroke Grove, said he would be escaping to the Isle of Wight: “I don’t mind it but I have got young children.”
But fashion buyer Emma Hill, 27, who has lived in Ladbroke Grove for six years, said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I have never had a problem.”
