Millionaires erect barriers around mansions ahead of Notting Hill Carnival as police carry acid attack kits and install knife arches
More than a million people are expected to attend the event which hits public coffers to the tune of £6million in policing every year
MILLIONAIRES in Notting Hill have barricaded their mansions and cops have been given acid attack kits ahead of the world-famous festival.
Security boards have been installed over hundreds of shops and houses along the route of the West London event over fears the buildings will be "destroyed".
Violence has plagued the event over the past few years there are fresh concerns that scenes could once again become ugly.
Cops have been issued with acid attack kits and knife arches have been installed along the route in a bid to tackle the ever-rising level of violent crime at the bank holiday event.
Officers will carry gallons of water, specialist gloves and acid detecting kits in a bid to prevent a repeat of last year’s stampede, when acid was thrown in the air.
It is feared thugs may carry acid in bottles disguised as drinks to carry out attacks.
Since 1987 five people have been killed by violence at the event.
Last year three teenagers were attacked with a zombie knife with their attackers being jailed for at total of 30 years this February.
More than 40 officers were injured policing the event in 2016 and the year before a cop was stabbed.
In fact last year the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation suggested the event should be cancelled due to the risk posed to cops policing the event.
Ken Marsh, who leads the rank-and-file group, said it is a "disgrace" that police officers were attacked with blood and bottles.
Businesses which fit the boarding over doors, windows and around gardens say the demand for protection has doubled in the last decade.
More than a million people are expected to attend the event which hits public coffers to the tune of £6million in policing every year.
A specially trained squad of more than 6,000 cops, including a newly-formed violent crime task force, will patrol the streets after 300 people were arrested at last year's carnival.
David McClure, a workman installing boards on the route, said his company, AES, will fit out roughly 160 shops and homes with protection - double what they did a decade ago.
He said: "We started on Thursday, we have to do today and we have about 160 shops to board up.
"But that's just our company - there are others doing the exact same.
"We're working 14 or 15 hours per day putting them up and taking them down. It used to be only 60 or 70 shops.
"It's disgusting when you come to take it down but the council do clean it up pretty quick. They use these as urinals, it's disgusting the stuff they leave around."
A staff member at the luxury menswear shop Paul Smith said they always surround the building with wooden boards - but some revellers still attempt to scale the barriers.
He said: "We have always boarded up the shop in that time, everybody does now.
"We have had occasions where people have been trying to climb the hoarding and get into the garden, because we have an open garden and it would just be smashed.
"The council board off all their garden spaces, everything is closed off. You can't be the one that doesn't.
"You get the odd car left out and they are just destroyed or painted. It's carnage."
Police bosses in charge of the Carnival security operation described it as "challenging".
Undercover tactics will be rolled out to prevent "troublemakers" entering the carnival and armed officers, dog units and police on horseback will be stationed along the route.
Supt Elisabeth Chapple said: "The sheer number of people coming to carnival and the relatively small geographical area, means that it is a challenging environment to police.
"We are working closely with the event organisers to ensure that the event is a safe environment where people can come and enjoy themselves."
Most residents who live along the route had left their homes today to avoid the chaos.
Penny Graham, 78, has lived in her flat for more than 40 years but said she has avoided Notting Hill during Carnival weekend for a decade.
She said: "It's because of the music, it's so fantastically noisy. In the beginning it was fantastic but the sound systems now are so loud.
"Even the windows shake, everything shakes. It's too many people.
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"You look out of the window and see millions of people. If you do try and leave your house you're stuck. You can't get back in.
"It becomes like an alien city. It's mainly just spraying paint all over.
Commander Dave Musker, police gold commander for carnival, added: "Let no one be in any doubt that if you have the intention to come to carnival and be involved in crime or violence, my officers will robustly and proactively target you to keep Londoners safe."
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