Police praise peaceful Notting Hill carnival

Huge crowds gathered for the final day of London's colourful Notting Hill Carnival today, with police praising the behaviour …

Huge crowds gathered for the final day of London's colourful Notting Hill Carnival today, with police praising the behaviour of revellers.

Police estimate over 750,000 people turned up over the weekend to watch the floats of Caribbean dancers and listen to steel bands and sound systems.

Authorities had aimed to make the carnival's 40th birthday celebrations as safe as possible, after two stabbings marred otherwise good-natured celebrations last year.

There were a total of 101 arrests over the weekend, including 36 for drug offences and 18 for public disorder.

READ MORE

"We think it has been a successful weekend. It's been remarkably peaceful," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve House with the Met police said.

The capital's police force have tried to identify known troublemakers ahead of this year's event and have written to some asking them to stay away.

House said 25 pre-event arrests were made and he believed the operation contributed to the calm at this years festival.

The carnival - the biggest of its kind in Europe - is celebrating its birthday with a theme of "Freedom and Justice" through dance, music and masquerade.

It is also marking the 170th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Trinidad, where the carnival has its roots, and ten years since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

From its humble beginnings in 1964, the Notting Hill Carnival has grown from what was mainly a children's festival with a few Trinidadian steel bands to the huge street party it is today.