Police made further arrests on the second day of Notting Hill Carnival, after the Metropolitan Police confirmed 243 people were detained during Sunday’s “family day”.
Images from Monday’s celebrations showed Met officers carrying out searches and making arrests as the carnival marked its 60th anniversary.
Monday is traditionally regarded as the “adults day” of Europe’s largest street party, bringing louder sound systems, denser crowds, widespread drinking and more provocative dancing.
According to the force, 97 arrests were made on the “approaches” to the carnival, with the remaining arrests taking place inside the event area.
The alleged offences included drug and weapon possession, assaults, assaults on emergency workers and sexual offences.
Police said two knife-related incidents were reported on Sunday, including a slash wound to a leg and another to a hand. Neither injury was described as life-changing.
Notting Hill Carnival draws millions of revellers each year for two days of music and celebration, with scenes from the event showing partygoers climbing onto bus stops and dancing in the streets.
The Met said 61 of those arrested were identified using facial recognition technology, which was deployed as part of a major policing operation at the festival.
More than 7,000 police officers and 3,000 security stewards have been deployed in West London, and metal detectors have been installed on the perimeter of the festival.
A man is led away in handcuffs by police at Notting Hill Carnival on Monday, the ‘adults day’ of the street festival
Some 7,000 police officers and 3,000 stewards have been deployed for the festival weekend (pictured: a man being detained)
Day two of the festival is considered ‘adults day’ with louder music, bigger crowds and racier dancing
The Met has also imposed a Section 60 order, allowing officers to stop and search anyone attending carnival without needing reasonable suspicion that they are harbouring drugs or weapons.
Transport for London has made some Underground stations ‘exit only’ to prevent crushes – while some crowds opted to walk to Notting Hill from nearby Kensington, exiting from High Street Kensington station with scarves covering their faces.
Police commanders say the mood on Sunday was ‘overwhelmingly positive and celebratory’ despite being marred by scores of arrests.
Commander Claire Smart, gold commander for the carnival operation, said last week: ‘Our message is simple: come and enjoy Carnival, look after one another, respect the event, the communities hosting it and the police officers, stewards and other emergency services working to keep people safe.
‘But if you’re coming to commit crime, to target others or to engage in violence – stay away or know that we will be work relentlessly to identify you and take action.’
The Met says it has worked with festival organisers to improve safety and security at the carnival, which has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to increasing violence and drug use.
Some 76 zombie knives, 30 flick knives and a machete have been seized following Met raids ahead of time, while a joint operation with Greater Manchester Police saw seven people arrested on suspicion of planning robberies at the festival.
Some 330 people have been banned from attending the festival as part of their bail conditions for those arrested on suspicion of other offences.
A man is taken aside by police officers at Notting Hill Carnival earlier on Monday
Revellers climb on top of a bus stop on Elkstone Road at the heart of the Notting Hill Carnival
Revellers climbing fences at the side of the railway in Notting Hill. The Met says the event has been ‘overwhelmingly positive’ despite making scores of arrests
A pair of revellers at Hammersmith Underground station put the finishing touches to their outfits – with an oversized bottle of Buzzballz cocktail for company
The Met has rolled out live facial recognition at the carnival, which it says helped it identify 61 wanted people
Official estimates suggest the carnival annually contributes almost £400million to the wider economy – but this comes at a cost to taxpayers.
The Met’s policing operation cost £15.7million last year, up from £11.7million in 2023, while City Hall gave organisers an extra £4.6million grant for stewards and CCTV on top of the near-£1m already pledged to support the event.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea estimates its annual clean-up and staffing bill as £1million, of which it sees around £300,000 back in street trader fees.
Some have called for the Carnival to impose an admission fee to help cover costs.
James Ford, a former adviser to Boris Johnson when he was Mayor of London, said in City AM last week: ‘If London can’t turn a reasonable profit – or at least cover its costs – on one of the biggest street festivals in the world, then there is something fundamentally wrong here.’
Organisers insist the Carnival is safe and have labelled criticism of it ‘unfair’.
But it has been marred by tragedy in recent years – including the 2024 murder of young mother Cher Maximen – and widespread drug use, with discarded nitrous oxide canisters a common sight on the streets as the clean-up begins.
Ms Maximen, 32, was murdered in front of her three-year-old daughter – one of eight stabbings in and around the festival.
Her killer, Shakeil Thibou, was jailed for life. Thibou lunged at a man with a large knife at the festival and fell into a crowd of people including Ms Maximen. As he swung his blade, he stabbed her in the groin while she was shielding her child.
Chef Mussie Imnetu was also murdered close to the carnival in 2024 by Omar Wilson, who lied to police that he had acted in self defence as he punched and kicked Imnetu in Queensway and delivered kicks to his head.
The Met made more than 500 arrests last year, mostly for drug offences as well as for weapons offences, sex crimes and violence. No fatalities were reported in 2025.
