TOTTENHAM High Road reopened this weekend after riots last weekend forced large swathes of it to be closed.

Residents joined councillors and traders in a clean-up operation on Saturday morning in a bid to get the area back on its feet.

While the main shopping street is now open, Lansdowne Road, Dowsett Road and Factory Lane remain closed until further notice while demolition workers deal with the remains of burnt-out buildings.

Clasford Stirling MBE, a community developer who has worked on the Broad Water Farm Estate for 32 years, said: "This unity of all the different agencies in the borough working together will not stop until we improve our borough and try to address what has happened and bring our lives back to normality. I am proud to be part of this united approach.

"I understand all the problems going on and I strongly disagree with how people have echoed their frustration in the wrong way, putting their own lives and the lives of police and others at risk.

"The police are part of our community and everyone should welcome them. The bravery of police to help residents during the disorder is to be commended."

Around 100 buildings were damaged in the rioting on August 6, while more than 26 families were left homeless by the destruction of the Carpet Right building.

Investigators have predicted that the damage purely to residential properties could cost up to £9million to repair, while insurance workers are still calculating the cost to businesses in the area.