Council groups work by way of the night time to tidy up after Notting Hill

Council teams have worked through the night to clear the mountains of rubbish which were dumped on the streets during the Notting Hill Carnival – including six tonnes of laughing gas canisters.

Workers in hi viz jackets were seen out on the streets of West London in the early hours of Tuesday morning clearing huge piles of food packages and drink cans after two million revellers partied in the area across the bank holiday weekend.

Notting Hill is one of the longest-running street parties in the UK and celebrates Caribbean culture with vividly costumed performers taking part in a parade through the streets with dancing and music.

In the aftermath of the celebrations, 200 operatives and 30 waste trucks cleared 330 tonnes of rubbish – 30 more than last year.

Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) said half as many canisters have been collected compared to 2022 when 12,000 canisters, weighing 13 tonnes, were left on the streets of west London.

The clean-up took place after police revealed they had arrested at least 330 people in connection with incidents at the Carnival – – with three people including a 32-year-old mother left fighting for their lives.

Possession of laughing gas with the intent of getting high was made illegal last November, with repeat offenders facing up to two years in jail.

RBKC said around 30 per cent of the rubbish collected will be recycled, with waste from toilets being composted.

As part of the a free council service, Waste crews will also spend the coming days cleaning basements and removing graffiti left during the carnival.  

Councillor Kim Taylor-Smith, lead member for Culture, said: ‘We are immensely proud to host Carnival in our borough and to welcome almost two million people who want to join us in celebrating Caribbean culture at Europe’s biggest community event.

‘Clearing up when the music stops and the crowds head home is a huge task for us and our partner SUEZ, and I am grateful to the 200 unsung heroes who were out overnight on Sunday and Monday to clear hundreds of tonnes of rubbish.

‘Their hard work means that our residents and businesses in Notting Hill woke up on Tuesday morning to find their streets restored to normal just hours after the end of this year’s Carnival.’ 

Five people were stabbed at the Carnival on Monday, taking the total across the two days to eight, while three people sustained slash wounds and one incident was said to have involved a corrosive substance.

Officers recovered firearms at the festival and during a traffic stop in Harrow involving individuals believed to be on their way to Notting Hill.

And 35 officers were injured on Monday as they were deployed in their thousands to monitor the annual street party – for which local businesses boarded up windows in anticipation of the chaos that accompanies it every year.

Police revealed that a woman stabbed on Sunday’s ‘family day’ at Notting Hill Carnival was with her young child.

Scotland Yard said today the 32-year-old mother remained in a critical condition, while a 29-year-old man was also in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Two others are also now fighting for their lives after being attacked.

A 24-year-old man who was also left with non-life threatening injuries after being stabbed during yesterday’s parade has discharged himself from hospital.

But police have confirmed that a total of 104 arrests were made on Sunday – 18 of which were for possession of an offensive weapon. 18 officers were also assaulted in ugly scenes – but none of those attacked have sustained serious injuries.

On Monday, another 230 arrests were made for a variety of offences – the majority for possession of an offensive weapon, possession of class B drugs and assault on an emergency worker.

A handful of sexual offences, violence and theft crimes were also reported and arrests made.

The Met also officially warned police officers to behave themselves at carnival – after previous years saw cops pictured with twerking dancers.

‘Officers were briefed to be vigilant, purposeful and friendly at all times,’ a spokesperson for Met Police told MailOnline.

‘They were asked to police in the spirit of the community celebrations while remaining professional, being engaging without being embarrassing.

‘They were told that high standards of behaviour and appearance were expected and that dancing or other antics were not in line with that.’

Carnivals in the past have also been marred by violence. There were eight stabbings and 275 arrests at the 2023 event.

Despite the high number of arrests and heavy police presence, a retired Met Police detective chief inspector claimed on Sunday that officers were hesitant to make arrests during the event for fears of being called racist.

Mike Neville spoke to the Daily Telegraph where he leaned into the growing conspiracy theory that two-tier policing exists in Britain.

He said: ‘If the behaviour of the Notting Hill Carnival was replicated at football matches or any other event it would be banned.’

Scotland Yard rejected claims that it applies two-tier policing at the event.

On Saturday, performers competed in Notting Hill Carnival’s Panorama evening, which is the UK’s biggest steelband competition and sees five bands play a ten-minute composition from memory with no sheet music allowed. 

Children’s Day was held on Sunday, featuring family-friendly activities and a parade, where youngsters in colourful costumes are encouraged to dance in the streets. It is sometimes known as Family Day. 

The Adults’ Parade was held on Monday, described by organisers as the climax of the carnival with ‘party vibes’ – but it is also where most arrests are made.

Met spokesperson Commander Charmain Brenyah said she had grown up near where the event is held in west London and has ‘many happy memories of the music, costumes, floats and fantastic atmosphere’.

But she added: ‘Sadly, however, we know that for a minority of people, Carnival is an opportunity to commit crime or to seek out violent confrontation.’