Police response fuelled U.K. riots, says report

In this August 7, 2011 photo, firefighters and riot police survey the area as fire rages through a building in Tottenham, north London. A report on the riots that hit Britain says the violence spread across the country because of weak policing.

A report on the riots that hit Britain this summer says the violence spread across the country because of weak policing.

The independent Riots Communities and Victims Panel says people believed police did not deal well with the riots that broke out after a demonstration over a fatal police shooting in north London turned violent.

It says the lack of an effective police response encouraged people in other parts of London and other cities across Britain to riot and loot shops on following nights.

The four days of rioting were the worst civil disturbances to hit Britain since the 1980s with five people killed and many stores looted.

The panel published its initial findings on Monday after speaking to convicted rioters and people affected by the violence.