Residents and businesses in Notting Hill have boarded up homes and shops ahead of the annual carnival, amid concerns about potential damage and disorder. Around two million people are expected to attend the west London event, which marks its 60th anniversary, making public safety and crowd management a major operational challenge.

About 7,000 Metropolitan Police officers and staff and more than 3,000 stewards will be deployed, with organisers receiving an additional £4.66 million grant for crowd-control measures. Last year’s event saw two stabbings and a record number of arrests, while the 2024 carnival involved two murders and eight stabbings; policing last year cost roughly £15 million. Police plan to use facial-recognition operations, knife arches, weapon sweeps and targeted checks on suspected offenders, while organisers are expanding CCTV and control-room capacity.