PRESS ASSOCIATION --Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has returned to Tottenham to see how the area is recovering from the devastating riots.

He met shopkeepers and local residents in the north London community who were affected by the wave of rioting which swept through the capital and other major English cities earlier this month.

Mr Clegg first visited the area three weeks ago, and returned to launch an independent investigation into the causes of the riots, which will be led by former Ealing Council chief executive Darra Singh.

Mr Clegg told the gathering at The Garden House cafe: "I said, of course, that I wanted to come back and see how you were doing and not only that, but I'm also very keen to make sure that we have created a kind of system where your voices, your challenges, your dilemmas, your lessons and your thoughts, which are bound to evolve over time, are properly heard by Government.

"That is why Darra Singh has agreed to chair a panel for people who will go around Tottenham and other communities affected in the weeks and months ahead, so that we avoid the risk that we forget, that we don't listen, that we don't learn the lessons, that we do properly think about this in the months ahead.

"That is, I hope, a kind of show of the sincerity with which we will continue this relationship, continue to learn, continue to reflect on what happened."

Among those Mr Clegg met was Stuart Radose, who had to flee his flat above a Carpetright shop as a fire ravaged the building.

He told the Lib Dem leader that the residents were "looking for answers" after London fire commissioner Ron Dobson wrote to Tottenham MP David Lammy to explain that one of the reasons the firefighters were prevented from tackling the blaze was because they were dealing with a fire at an Aldi supermarket, where nobody was inside.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: "I wasn't very inspired by what I heard, I must be honest. I don't know how powerful and influential he will be.
"I've asked Nick Clegg that families need help with the banks and hopefully we can have some sort of Government response and Government pressure to help families with interest-free mortgage breaks and things like that."