Broadcasters hand over riot footage to police

The three main broadcasters in the UK have handed over footage from the London riots

The Met Police obtained a court order which was granted under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. BBC, ITN and Sky News had previously refused after Prime Minister David Cameron insisted that they hand over evidence of rioting ‘immediately’. The broadcasters said at the time that once a court order had been granted that they would comply.

BBC News Channel and Sky News were reporting live from several vantage points during the civil unrest in London and around the UK. The riots dominated the news in August, with both news channels attracting over 1 million viewers as the public watched live the destruction taking place.