The police got their tactics wrong during the riots, according to the Metropolitan Police’s new chief.

Croydon was beset by rioters, with iconic landmark the House of Reeves furniture shop burnt down by looters.

Battersea, Colliers Wood and other areas were also hit by disorder in August.

Now, Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has told MPs that officers on the night of August 8 got their tactics wrong.

He admitted the Met Police lacked the intelligence to know what would happen next and the number of officers to deal with the ensuing chaos.

And the situation was exacerbated by people seeing rioting on the television and believing they could do likewise and get away with it.

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Mr Hogan-Howe highlighted intelligence, resources and tactics as areas that needed improvement.

He said: “The three of those, we're now reviewing whether or not we could have done those better.

“I'm sure we can do those better in the future.

“We need to review our tactics to make sure we are far more flexible than we appeared on those three days.

“It does seem to me that on the Saturday there was a riot, people were angry, and there was a response against the police and that led to serious disorder.

“Then the press carried that, those images, and on the Sunday and Monday people believed they could get away with it and continued to do it.

“We have to respond very rigorously at the beginning to stop it getting out of control.”

Mr Hogan-Howe said his former force in Merseyside got their tactics right by deploying extra officers immediately, but added they had 24 hours’ notice of possible trouble.

His comments come as anyone involved in burglary or looting in future riots faces longer sentences under new sentencing guidelines.

General public disorder has been included as an aggravating factor by the Sentencing Council for the first time.

The tougher sentences kick in next year, with the jail term for aggravated burglary with a firearm or other weapon rising from four years to nine years, if it is connected to a riot.

Those guilty of domestic burglaries, usually attracting sentences of up to 26 weeks in jail, would face up to two years, and the top sentence for non-domestic burglaries would increase from 18 to 51 weeks in jail.