August 27, 2008	Wednesday	Sha'aban 24, 1429

LONDON: Police detained 151 people in south London over the Bank Holiday in an operation designed to head off trouble at the Notting Hill Carnival.

On Monday, 1,620 police officers were used to contain about 180 youths near Oval Station, six miles away from the carnival in west London. As well as the 151 people detained, another five were arrested for public order offences and possession of “points and blades”.

“The decision to make arrests for breach of the peace was based on preventing this group from attending the Carnival to commit crime and disorder,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Late on Monday, police said they had made 197 arrests at the carnival, including 25 offensive weapon arrests and one for the possession of a firearm.

Inspired by the Trinidad Carnival, the Notting Hill carnival was first held in London in 1964 and has grown into one of the world’s biggest, generating around 100 million pounds for London’s economy.—Reuters