England experienced its first quiet night Wednesday after four consecutive nights of rioting, first in London and then in cities in the northwest, the midlands and the west.

The presence of 16,000 police officers on the streets of London deterred would-be rioters from repeating the scenes of Saturday to Monday night which culminated in a crescendo of violence that saw shops burnt and looted, people attacked, and buses hijacked and destroyed across many parts of the capital.

Tuesday's riots in Manchester and other cities were also not repeated, as a strong police presence and heavy rain in Manchester kept potential rioters off the streets. In all cities many businesses closed early.

In the southeast London suburb of Eltham on Wednesday evening, 1,000 police were pelted with stones by a gang of middle-aged men claiming to be vigilantes who wanted to keep rioters out of their area, but police say they dispersed the crowd.

In Birmingham tensions are running high between the Asian and black communities after the death of three Asian men who were hit by a car deliberately driven at them. A peaceful vigil was held on Wednesday night at the scene of their killing.

The British parliament has exceptionally been recalled from its summer break and will Thursday debate the riots, after hearing a statement from Prime Minister David Cameron.