Liverpool - the morning after

When I blipped about the 30th anniversary of the Toxteth riots just a month ago I was feeling fairly upbeat about the situation here in Liverpool.

Then, last night, it became one of the cities following in London's footsteps.

I think it caught most of us by surprise - nobody can really believe it. It's beyond depressing. A colleague who lives in one of last night's worst 'hot spots' says he saw hundreds of young people and children out on the street at 3.00am. He estimates some of them to have been 8, 9 or 10 years old which is absolutely horrifying.

At work, we're trying to do what we can to organise a co-ordinated community response in the hope that things will stay as calm as possible but we're all holding our breath about what will happen tonight.

This morning, I heard there was a community clean-up going on in some areas so I went along in my lunch break to see whether I could help out but things here on Grove Street, at least, seemed very much in hand. Except for the several burned out cars which were still waiting to have their owners identified before they could be moved...

Police officers were trying to reassure local residents that there would be a greater police presence on the streets tonight but everyone seemed nervous, understandably.

Walking back to work, the main shopping area was noticeably much quieter than it has been throughout the school holidays. There were none of the usual tables and chairs outside restaurants and coffee shops and there were a couple of smashed windows in shop fronts. Mobile police cameras were parked around the city centre.

I haven't really got my head together to give any sort of coherent thoughts here but seeing the cremated cars dotted around the streets just now really shook me up. I'm thinking of everyone who's been affected here, in London and elsewhere.