Angry residents and store owners could only survey their neighbourhoods in disbelief at the devastation caused by rampaging mobs on a night when law and order broke down. And last night there was still no end to the wave of violence.

In Manchester, rioters set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop in the city centre while hundreds of youths went on the rampage, forcing open the doors of the giant Arndale shopping centre.

Police in nearby Salford came under a barrage of bricks when youths tried to break into a pawn shop and set fire to a community housing office.

In Birmingham, the upmarket Mailbox building, home to some of the city’s most expensive shops, was attacked by looters targeting the Harvey Nichols store.

Rioters hurled missiles at police and TV camera crews while looters used manhole covers to smash their way into a jewellery shop.

It was the second night of violence to hit Birmingham, with up to 500 rioters in hoodies, scarves and balaclavas breaking into the House of Fraser store before police surged in to send the mob running. In Wolverhampton, thugs left a trail of smashed windows and shattered businesses.

And in West Bromwich, dozens of shops in the high street were smashed as teenage thugs wearing masks ran amok carrying baseball bats and tools. Continued...