Rioters have looted shops, set fire to buildings and clashed with police in three nights of disorder in the British capital. The following are some of the key events during the violence, the worst London has seen for decades:

August 4, 2011 - Police investigating gun crime in the black community shoot 29-year-old Mark Duggan after stopping him in a taxi in Tottenham, north London. He dies at the scene after the shooting at 17.15 GMT.

August 4 - Britain's police watchdog opens an inquiry into the fatal shooting.

August 6 (16.00 GMT) - Duggan's friends and family gather outside Tottenham police station for a peaceful protest. About 200-300 people join the demonstration.

August 6 (19.20) - bottles are thrown at police cars near the police station and one of the vehicles is set alight. Locals say the violence began after an argument between a protester and a police officer.

August 6 (21.45) - riot police at the scene come under attack from people throwing bottles and missiles. A red London double-decker bus is set alight and there are reports of shops being looted. 

August 6-7 - The violence continues through the night in Tottenham. Rioters attack banks, set fire to cars and loot shops.

August 7 (17.00) - the violence spreads to Enfield, a neighbourhood in northeast London. Shops windows are smashed and a police car is damaged. Shortly after, missiles are thrown in Brixton, south London.

August 7-8 - Rioters clash with police in Enfield and Brixton. They loot stores and destroy vehicles.

August 8 - Police say they are dealing with "copycat criminality" across London.

August 8 (05.30) - more than 100 people have been arrested overnight and nine police have been injured.

August 8 (16.00) - clashes are reported in Hackney, northeast London. London Mayor Boris Johnson says he will cut short his holiday and return to the capital.

August 8 (19.00) - police in Britain's second city Birmingham report looting and violence across the centre.

August 8 (20.00) - TV news channels show aerial footage of large fires in Croydon, a town to the south of London.

August 8 - Reports emerge at 2030 that Prime Minister David Cameron is to return home early from a holiday in Italy.

August 8 (21.30) -, the violence is reported to have spread to Clapham, an upmarket area in southwest London. Rioting follows in Ealing in the west and Woolwich in the east.

August 8-9 - Rioting continues through the night in several parts of the capital, including Peckham and Hackney. A police station is set alight in Birmingham and officers are called to a number of incidents in the northwest port city of Liverpool.

August 9 - Cameron addresses the media outside his Downing Street office and condemns the disorder as "criminality pure and simple". He says he will recall parliament and put 16,000 police on the streets of the capital on Wednesday, almost three times the number out on Tuesday night.

August 9 - The Football Association postpones a friendly match between England and the Netherlands planned for Wembley on Wednesday due to worries about the rioting.

August 9 - Cameron visits Croydon to see the damage from the previous night's violence.

-09 Aug 2011