Thousands of people have been partying through the streets of west London for the adults parade of Notting Hill Carnival.
Colourfully-costumed carnival-goers were joined by celebrities including Lily Allen, Idris Elba and Nick Grimshaw for the second and final day of the street party on Monday.
The carnival is an annual celebration of Caribbean culture and history which first took place in 1966.
It attracts up to two million people a year – making it one of the largest street festivals in the world.
The annual celebration of Caribbean culture and history brings up to two million people to the streets of Notting Hill every year.
A policing and security operation that saw thousands of officers from the Met, City of London and British Transport Police deployed to oversee the safety of the public at Notting Hill Carnival has concluded.
It followed many months of preparatory work with event organisers, local authority and other partners and community representatives.
While the atmosphere throughout the weekend was largely positive, the latter stages of the event sadly saw a series of violent incidents.
A 29-year-old man is in a critical condition in hospital following a stabbing in Warfield Road, just off Harrow Road, shortly after 21:00hrs.
There were also a number of other stabbings in the hours before that incident.
A 19-year-old man was stabbed in Ladbroke Grove shortly before 20:00hrs and remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Six other men aged 18, 19, 20, 25, 28 and 40 were stabbed in separate incidents throughout the evening. They sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Across the two days there were 275 arrests.
On Sunday, there were 110 arrests for offences including possession of offensive weapons, assaults including assaults on police officers, possession of drugs and sexual offences. One man sustained a non-life changing slash wound but declined the assistance of the emergency services.
Officers working on the Carnival perimeter responded quickly to information suggesting a group was in possession of a firearm. The group was intercepted, the firearm seized and a man arrested in connection with it.
On Monday there were a further 165 arrests for a similar range of offences.
Regrettably there were also further assaults on officers including sexual assaults and an officer who was bitten and was treated in hospital.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who oversaw the policing operation, said: “It is regrettable that for a second year in a row, Monday night at Carnival has been marred by serious violence.
“Nobody disputes the significance of Carnival on London’s cultural calendar and the overwhelming majority of those who came will have had a positive experience. However, we cannot overlook the stabbings, sexual assaults and attacks on police officers that we have seen.
“As we do following any major operation, we will be reviewing the events of the past two days and giving thorough consideration to what may need to change in future years.
“It is important to recognise the positives that we can take away from the event. I am pleased that by working in close partnership with the event organisers and the stewarding teams, we were able to closely monitor crowd density and intervene in an effective way to prevent any incidents of crushing at peak times.
“I would like to thank all the officers who have worked so hard over the weekend to keep people safe.
“Carnival is a challenging policing environment. Officers were asked to be vigilant and alert but to be approachable, respectful and sensitive at the same time. They did all of that and more and they deserve our recognition and our thanks.”
