Updated: POLICE from York and North Yorkshire were sent to London and stepped up patrols locally in the wake of the devastating riots in the capital which have since spread to other parts of the country.

More officers were on the streets of York and the county last night in preparation for any outbreaks of violence, although police stressed there had been no reports of trouble.

North Yorkshire Police also sent officers to London, but declined to say how many. More than 16,000 officers were due in London last night – 10,000 more than usual – including many from provincial forces around the country.

Tim Madgwick, North Yorkshire’s Deputy Chief Constable, said: “North Yorkshire Police have responded to a request from the Metropolitan Police and have sent resources to assist colleagues in London.

“The are no reports of any disorder across North Yorkshire or the city of York. However, we have increased the numbers of officers on the streets to ensure that this remains the case.”

He said officers were monitoring social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, and said anyone caught using such websites to organise disorder in our region would be dealt with “in a robust manner”.

Humberside Police said they too had “robust” plans to deal with any copycat violence.

Deputy Chief Constable David Griffin said there was no intelligence to suggest there would be large-scale disorder, but said: “We are working closely with local partners and communities to reassure them that the force will continue to maintain normal service levels of policing to ensure we protect local communities from harm in a professional way.”

The London violence began in Tottenham on Saturday and spread to Brixton, Peckham, Oxford Circus, Islington, Enfield, Hackney, Holloway and other areas of the capital.

Since Saturday, more than 520 people have been arrested. Violence also spread to Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham and Bristol.

York Central MP Hugh Bayley yesterday called for funding to be restored to rural police forces such as North Yorkshire, as well as the big cities hit by rioting.

The Labour MP said cutting police funding was a false economy because the costs of rising crime were far greater in the long run.

He said he supported the Government in taking the action necessary to restore order to the streets, and an inquiry was needed to learn lessons from the disorder.

Mark Botham, of North Yorkshire Police Federation, said its thoughts were with those tackling the “disgusting anarchic criminality”, with the emergency workers injured and with the victims.

He said it was too early to analyse potential causes but said: “We would urge members of the public to lobby their MPs and members of the Police Authority to ask the Home Secretary to commit to an independent inquiry into the causes of the riots and a Royal Commission on policing to ensure proposed police reforms are properly evaluated so we can ensure this type of thing does not happen again.”