The 2023 Notting Hill Carnival main event is underway for it’s final day of celebrations as a spectacle of beautiful costumes and performances flood West London’s streets.
The annual event is the largest street party in Europe, and it’s estimated that two million people have attended over the bank holiday weekend.
People can be seen partying atop floats followed by feathered bands dancing to the beat.
Police announce orders giving officer extra search powers.
On Sunday evening the Metropolitan Police said the mood at the carnival had been “good-natured throughout the day” as they announced that a Section 60 order, providing officers with additional search powers was imposed overnight until 2am.
The force described it as a “precautionary step” following “information” that some people had travelled to the area carrying knives.
In an update released just before midnight on Sunday, the Met said 85 people had been arrested, including 11 for sexual assault and 10 for assault on a police officer.
Dozens of officers were seen today patrolling local parks and searching through bins for suspicious items and under the tarpaulin laid down to protect the grass.
This morning too, the Metropolitan Police announced a second section 60 order, providing officers with additional search powers, after their first one expired at 2am.
The new order, which followed new “intellegence” about weapons in the area, will expire at 2am on Tuesday.
Officers could be seen combing through bushes and bins in local parks searching for suspicious items after the section 60 order came into effect at 11.30am.
In an update on X, formerly Twitter, Met Police deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adeleken who is leading the policing operation, said: “The introduction of today’s s60 order does not change the policing style we have adopted for the event, and our officers will continue to provide a professional, respectful presence and sensitive approach to crowds to ensure the event can be enjoyed safely by all.”
Today, on the third and final day of the festival, people were partying atop floats followed by feathered mas bands dancing to the beat of pounding music.
Meanwhile the sweet, smoky scent of jerk chicken filled the side streets where sound systems played everything from rare groove to house, samba, reggae, and ska.
By Our Corespondent