Forty-five police officers are among the 113 people injured as well as 20 police horses.

A total of 340 people have been arrested in the heart of London's West End, popular with musical and theatre goers, as cars have been overturned and set alight.

Four tube stations have been shut for safety reasons as police try to clear the streets, with much of central London now cordoned off.

Demonstrators have attacked police with bricks and cans.

Fire fighters attempting to extinguish the blazes have been hit with wood and stones.

Restaurants have been forced to close early by the violence which left shop windows smashed and many businesses with their contents looted.

Eyewitness reports describe a cloud of black smoke over Trafalgar Square.

Peaceful protests

The violence erupted just after 1600 BST following a peaceful march against the poll tax which saw up to 70,000 people take to the streets in protest at the new government levy.

A group of protesters involved in a sit-in at Whitehall, close to the Downing Street entrance, refused to move after requests from police and stewards.

As police arrested offenders, placards and cans were thrown from the crowd and the trouble spread to Charing Cross Road, Pall Mall, Regent Street and Covent Garden.

David Meynell, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in charge of the operation, said a peaceful march had been "completely overshadowed by the actions of about 3,000 to 3,500 people in minority groups".

He said they "without any doubt at all" had launched "a ferocious and sustained attack on the police".

The Home Secretary David Waddington is expected to make a statement to the House of Commons on the rioting tomorrow.

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