Six stabbed at Notting Hill Carnival as 440 are arrested
The event was tarnished by violence 
A 15-year-old boy was among six people stabbed at Notting Hill Carnival this weekend.
Officers had carried out more than 500 operations in the capital to stop criminal and antisocial groups from attending Europe’s biggest street party after last year’s event ended with more than 400 arrests.
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At this year’s Carnival six people, including a 15-year-old boy, were stabbed. More than 1,000 people were treated, St John Ambulance staff said, and more than 440 others were arrested. There were 17 attacks on police and 88 knife-related incidents.
The 15-year-old was slashed across the stomach with a Zombie Killer knife and rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
More than 7,000 police officers worked at and around the event at a cost of more than £6million.
More than 400 people were arrested (Picture: UPPA)
A fight breaks out at the annual Notting Hill Carnival, at Notting Hill in London. Credit: Euan Cherry/UPPA
Around £6million was spent on policing for the event (Picture: UPPA)
A fight breaks out at the annual Notting Hill Carnival, at Notting Hill in London. Credit: Euan Cherry/UPPA
A young women collapses and is attended by police at the annual Notting Hill Carnival, at Notting Hill in London. Credit: Euan Cherry/UPPA
St John Ambulance treated more than 1,000 people (Picture: UPPA)
Victoria Borwick, the MP for Kensington, told the Standard that she was ‘disgusted by the latest statistics.’
‘Someone has to stand up and take responsibility and say if it’s a carnival, treat it like a carnival but if it’s simply a crime-fest it can’t go on like this,’ she said.
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‘It takes too long for emergency services to battle through the crowds because the route isn’t safe.
‘It’s wonderful to have the sequins and the celebrations but so wrong to force them through these narrow streets.
‘Every year the violence goes up and we have to tackle that we need a safe, family festival. We can’t go on like this waiting for someone to be killed.’
A number of businesses boarded up their shops in anticipation of vandalism and violence (Picture: PA)
Properties, shops and restaurants on the route of the Notting Hill Carnival are boarded up in preparation, as shop-keepers and residents aim to protect their property over the Sunday and Monday, of the Carnival in north west London.PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday August 27, 2016. Photo credit should read: John Stillwell/PA WirePeople fighting during the Notting Hill Carnival parade, London. The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and originated in 1964 as a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions. 29 August 2016.
Local businesses have complained in the past of having to clean up after event-goers (Picture: UPPA)
People fighting during the Notting Hill Carnival parade, London. The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and originated in 1964 as a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions. 29 August 2016.
More than 7,000 police officers tried to ensure a safe event (Picture: UPPA)
In the days leading up to the Carnival this year, business owners in west London boarded up their buildings in anticipation of violence and vandalism.
Some hired contractors to board up the windows at costs, for the larger stores, of up to £1,000.
A performer poses for a photograph on the second day of the Notting Hill Carnival in west London on August 31, 2015. Nearly one million people are expected by the organizers Sunday and Monday in the streets of west London's Notting Hill to celebrate Caribbean culture at a carnival considered the largest street demonstration in Europe. The Notting Hill Carnival started in the 1960s, when the area had a large population of immigrants recently arrived from the Caribbean and was notorious for its slums -- a far cry from today when it is one of London's most expensive places to live. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEALLEON NEAL/AFP/Getty ImagesEverything you need to know about the Notting Hill Carnival 2016
Ms Borwick, who has pushed for Notting Hill Carnival to be changed to be made more suitable for locals, said the festival was ‘a strain on hardworking business owners’.
She said that the occasion should be a ‘fun family occasion’ which ‘boosts the local economy’.
Business owners have complained in recent years of having to clean up needles and broken glass.