A BARNET was “very lucky” not to be worse hit by the riots, a neighbourhood watch leader said as the clean up operation continues across London.

Monday was the worst day for civil unrest in the borough, with bricks and bottles allegedly thrown at officers, an alleged raid on Phones 4 U in Barnet and an attack on Colindale Police Station among the most serious disturbances.

But other areas of the capital have seen fires consume entire buildings, whole streets ransacked and violent attacks on people.

Maureen West, chairman of Barnet Borough Watch, said: “We were very lucky let’s face it. Broken windows were the main problem, it could have been a lot worse.

“When you’ve seen what’s been going on I think we need to give our police a pat on the back. People put the police down but if they could only see the courage these youngsters have shown they would be amazed.”