As authorities scrambled hard to contain one of the worst riots in Britain, Premier David Cameron cut short his summer holidays in Italy and returned home today to deal with escalating violence that spread beyond London threatening tomorrow's third Test between India and England.
Mr Cameron, who was holidaying in Tuscany in central Italy while parts of London burnt, held a meeting of the government's emergency committee after his return here.
There were demands that the army be deployed on the streets of London after three consecutive nights of rioting.
Images of leaping flames across London dealt a blow to its image globally as questions were raised about its ability to hold the 2012 Olympics, now less than a year away.
Riots erupted in Hackney, one of the five boroughs where the Olympics will be held.
Home Secretary Theresa May, however, refused to respond to demands that the Army be deployed in London, insisting that robust policing will be enough to deal with the situation.
Opposition Labour MP Dianne Abbott favoured curfew to be imposed in London. The police said detention centres in London were full after over 400 arrests over the last three days, and new detainees were being moved to centres outside London.
Trouble spread to Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and Nottingham. There was no official word so far about cancellation of the third Test starting tomorrow, but the Indian and English cricket teams have been confined to their hotels in central Birmingham with players tweeting their concern over the developments.