London’s Notting Hill Carnival has gotten off to its typically raucous and trouble-prone start with dozens of arrests and scores of injuries.
Sunday’s beginning to the two-day festival featured a colourful parade through west London that attracted tens of thousands, many of whom danced in the streets.
Police say they arrested at least 47 people for crimes including drugs and weapons possession, sexual assault, theft and public disorder.
Police and paramedics deployed in force for the annual event celebrating West Caribbean culture in Britain.
The London Ambulance Service placed treatment beds along the streets to help at least 179 people, 27 of whom were hospitalised.
Last year’s carnival involved more than 400 arrests and significant violence, including assaults on 21 police and a near-fatal stabbing.
