Police across the country are tonight bracing themselves for a fifth night of violence in England's cities after rioters brazenly proclaimed: 'I'll keep doing this until I get caught'.
Youths rampaging through Manchester's city centre, turning it into a war zone, boasted that the government had lost control of the cities and pledged to continue as long as they could.
And even if they do get caught, they are not afraid of the consequences, with one telling BBC Radio 4's today programme: 'What are they gonna do? Give me an Asbo? I'll live with that.'
Lockdown: Riot police frisk people on a street in Croydon, south London. London will be on lockdown with 16,000 officers drafted in to maintain control, despite yobs pledging to continue violence in other cities
Last night, while London remained relatively calm thanks to a mammoth police presence, looting and thuggery continued in Birmingham and Liverpool, and broke out for the first time in Manchester, Nottingham and Gloucester.
Regional forces, seemingly caught on the back foot after donating hundreds of riot officers to help the Met regain control of the capital, struggled to contain hundreds of yobs who took to the high streets to loot and pillage.
'It's going to be comparable to yesterday, so you are looking at 16,000 police on the streets,' a spokesman for the Met told MailOnline.
He said that while there have been no reports of trouble in the capital so far there will remain a 'higher more visible police presence on the streets'.
'The policing will be widespread across the capital,' he added, 'and as we have done on previous nights we will be concentrating on areas where we have the most concerns.'
In Manchester, where rioters last night rampaged through the central shopping district, burning and looting shops and fighting running battles with police, police said they were making no special preparations.
Greater Manchester Police said that they were not expecting a second night of violence in the city, but did concede that there would be more police on standby than were available to commanders last night.
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