London vowed to take tough measures to punish rioters and maintain peace while starting to assess losses Thursday after the worst rioting and looting in decades hit English cities.

Only a year before London hosts the 2012 Olympics, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain needed to reassure the world that what had happened was "not in any way representative of our country - nor of our young people."

VERIFYING LOSSES

England experienced its first quiet night Wednesday after four consecutive nights of rioting, first in London and then in cities in the northwest, the midlands and the west.

The presence of 16,000 police officers on the streets of London deterred would-be rioters from repeating the scenes of Saturday to Monday night, which culminated in a crescendo of violence that saw shops burnt and looted, people attacked, and buses hijacked and destroyed across many parts of the capital.

The Association of British Insurers estimated total damage at more than 200 million pounds (324 million U.S. dollars), doubling its previous claims estimate.

Cameron promised to compensate people whose property was damaged by rioters, even if they were uninsured.

All those made homeless would be rehoused, and businesses could claim compensation from government, with the deadline to make claims extended from 14 days to 42 days.

Cameron also announced tax breaks for businesses affected, and tax deferments to help them cope.

Media said the government was setting up a 20-million-pound (32.4-million-dollar) support scheme to help businesses get back up and running quickly.

It is also setting up a 10-million-pound (16.2-million-dollar) "Recovery Scheme" to provide additional support to councils to make areas safe and clean again.

The government gave no estimate for the total cost of its measures but newspapers estimate taxpayers may face a 100-million-pound (162-million-dollar) bill for the riots.

TOUGH ANTI-RIOT MEASURES

Cameron on Thursday laid out a tough line of more robust policing and justice from the courts to punish rioters.

He also admitted the army could be called in to quell the violence, and reiterated that police had been given powers to use water cannon and plastic bullets.

The government was also looking at using curfews in riot areas to keep people off the streets.

As rioters had used social media, like Twitter, Facebook and the Blackberry messenger system, to organize and control riots, Cameron said he was looking at how this could be controlled during social disturbances in the future.

Courts stayed open overnight to deal with a backlog of more than 1,200 people arrested during the riots. And police started raiding addresses in London on Thursday to arrest those suspected of involvement in the violence.

Among those arrested were the daughter of a millionaire, a teaching assistant, a charity worker and an 11-year-old boy.

Several people received jail sentences Thursday while others were bailed.

Cameron said he did not want to see arrested rioters released on bail, and he was prepared to introduce legislation to allow courts to keep them all in jail until their cases were heard.

"A SAFE AND SECURE GAMES"

Cameron said Britain needed to show a more positive face to the world ahead of the Olympics.

"We need to show the world, which has looked on frankly appalled, that the perpetrators of the violence we have seen on our streets are not in any way representative of our country -- nor of our young people."

"A year away from the Olympics, we need to show them the Britain that doesn't destroy, but that builds; that doesn't give up but stands up; that doesn't look back, but always forwards."

Tobias Feakin, a senior research fellow with the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, also known as RUSI, said he had confidence in security for the Olympics, although the riots had damaged the country's image.

Feakin told CNC, Xinhua News Agency's television station, the British government and police were now "aware of the situation, so preparations could be put into place for anything like this happening again."

"I'm very confident... We will have a safe and secure Games come this time next year."

CIVILIANS' OPINION

Cameron is under growing pressure over his economic policies, especially the austerity plans.

Britain unveiled last year its deepest cuts in public expenditures since World War II.

The 81 billion pounds (131.3 billion dollars) of spending cuts have slashed a host of services from elderly care to libraries, but the axe has fallen particularly hard on welfare benefits.

Tensions have been bubbling in British society for some time, with the economy struggling to clamber out of an 18-month recession, one in five young people out of work and high inflation squeezing incomes and hitting the poor hardest.

However, a poll conducted by the YouGov agency for Thursday's tabloid The Sun showed only 8 percent of Britons think government spending cuts are behind the recent riots.

And only one in 20 believed unemployment was the main cause of the riots, which were sparked by the death of a London man in a police shooting.

The poll said 42 percent of Britons blamed criminal behaviour for the disturbances, while 26 percent pointed the finger at a rise in gang culture.

Most Britons do not blame the government for causing the riots but are critical of the response to the mounting crisis: 57 percent of the 2,534 people surveyed said the government had handled it badly.

Xinhua