police station in Nottingham was firebombed on Tuesday night as violence also hit Liverpool, Leicester, Bristol and Leeds.

Canning Circus police station in Nottingham was attacked by a gang of 30 to 40 men but no injuries were reported, according to Nottinghamshire police. The force said at least eight people were arrested in connection with the attack.

Around the same time, a number of cars were firebombed at a car lot in Carlton Road in the city.

The violence followed the arrest of 10 youths earlier in the evening after a small group of people got on to the roof of one of the buildings at Nottingham High School. In another incident two men, aged 17 and 18, were arrested after rocks were thrown at Bulwell Police Station in the city.

Between 6pm on Monday and 1am on Wednesday, police said they dealt with "well over 1,000" reports of incidents taking place throughout the city and elsewhere, and more than 70 arrests were made. Fires were set in various different locations and police said they had investigated reports that children had been setting trees alight.

Smithdown Road in Toxteth in Liverpool was closed by police after 200 rioters started hurling missiles at officers at about 11.30pm. A Merseyside police spokesman said the youths were "causing disorder and damage" and asked local people to avoid the area. She was unable to confirm reports that firebombs were being thrown.

Police and firefighters were called to reports of vehicles on fire in Birkenhead, while the town centre also saw damage to shops and pubs, with at least one pub set on fire. No-one was inside at the time.

Some 35 arrests were made on Merseyside in connection with the disorder.

A number of blazes were started by people rioting at a young offenders' institution in Bristol, the local fire service said. Up to 10 teenagers at Ashfield set fire to rubbish in one of the wings at about 7.50pm.

It took members of staff about 50 minutes to extinguish the flames, according to Avon Fire and Rescue Service, who were put on standby in case they worsened. "About seven to 10 people were involved in a riot," a spokesman said. "The prison staff are now dealing with the perpetrators." The fires were said to be small, with the level of damage done unclear.

Some 400 young males aged between 15 and 18 are held at Ashfield after being sentenced in courts across the South West, Wales, the Midlands and the London area.

Meanwhile a gang passing through Chapeltown in Leeds threw stones at cars parked outside the Central Jamia Mosque. A senior member of staff at the mosque, who gave his name as Ali, described the culprits as a large group of rioters.

Leicestershire police said on their Twitter account that their officers were dealing with a group of youths in Leicester city centre.

The violence has been spreading outside of London since Monday night. Police in Liverpool were pelted with missiles and cars were torched on Monday, while looters in Bristol targeted jewellery shops and set a gas main on fire. There has been sporadic trouble in Leeds

In Liverpool, disturbances began shortly after midnight on Monday as pub and restaurant windows were shattered with stones, showering late-night drinkers and diners with glass . Several hundred people, some as young as 10, roamed High Park Street attacking buildings and cars at random before looting a Tesco Express, smashing police station windows and setting a police van on fire.

Cars and wheelie bins were set alight on a trail of destruction that stretched from the city centre to the Toxteth, Dingle and Wavertree areas.