Updated 10.35pm

THE BRITISH PRIME Minister David Cameron is the latest politician to cut his holiday short as the violence in London continues for a third night.

He joins London Mayor Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Theresa May in returning to the city for crisis meetings. The British government’s emergency committee will meet tomorrow.

Sky News reports that there have been disturbances in Hackney in East London and in Lewisham, Peckham and Croydon in the south. Shops in Clapham have also been targeted. A 100-year-old furniture shop is ablaze in Croydon, while vehicles and buildings have been set alight across the affected areas.

A looter has told a Sky News reporter that she was taking items from shops because she was ‘getting her taxes back’.

BBC reports that police in riot gear have been deployed in the centre of Birmingham after gangs smashed windows and looted shops.

Parents have been urged to contact their children and residents have been asked to clean up the streets.

The London fire service has said that it’s dealing with several fires in Croydon, and that ten fire engines and 50 firefighters are at the scene of the furniture shop fire.

Residents of the affected areas have been tweeted updates and pictures of the scenes where they are:

“Currys SW11″ tweeted by CityJohn

Raw video from the Associated Press of fires raging in London:

Earlier: Violence breaks out in London for a third day>