London police arrest 169 after knife assaults at Notting Hill Carnival PHOTO

The Metropolitan Police (Met) arrested at least 169 people on the first day of London’s Notting Hill Carnival, with offences including drug and weapons possession, assaults and sexual offences.

Officers also responded to two knife assaults, including one in which a person was slashed on the leg and another involving an injury to the hand, Caliber.Az reports, citing GB News.

Neither incident resulted in life-threatening or life-changing injuries.

The annual west London festival attracts around 2 million people and is described as the “greatest community-led event on the planet”.

The majority of Sunday’s arrests were made during the carnival’s “Families and Children’s Day”. According to the Mail, citing a police source, some suspects were arrested on suspicion of serious offences including weapons possession, sexual assault and upskirting.

The Met said the event had remained largely peaceful despite several incidents.

The Met has adopted a more proactive approach to policing the crowded festival following 528 arrests in 2025 and eight stabbings in 2024.

As part of the strategy, more than 330 people have been barred from attending the carnival under their bail conditions. Carnival chief executive Matthew Phillip noted that it was “unfair that Carnival is always targeted as a cause” of violence.

Live facial recognition technology, first deployed at the carnival in 2025, is also being used this year. The system identified 98 people last year, including 30 registered sex offenders.

Earlier on Sunday, the London Fire Brigade responded to reports of a van catching fire south of the parade route. The blaze was later confirmed to have started when a barbecue caught fire and spread to a nearby van.

Police said there was no evidence that the fire had been deliberate.

Earlier this week, Scotland Yard reported that 7,000 officers had been deployed across west London for the bank holiday weekend.

The second day of the festival, known as the “Adult’s Parade”, will take place on Monday.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov