More than 10,000 riot-trained police can be deployed if disorder breaks out over a no-deal Brexit , top officers have said.
More numbers than those seconded during the 2011 London riots are ready to hit the streets within 24 hours, with 1,000 available in the first hour.
Specialist teams like dog handlers and armed police officers can also be called upon.
Fifteen forces have restricted leave, and two have asked for aid – Kent, covering Dover, and Hampshire, which covers Portsmouth.
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Local resilience forums, which include representatives from councils and police, have carried out training to deal with shortages, including dealing with disorder and looting.
Revealing the figures, Martin Hewitt, National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman, also asked public figures to moderate their language on Brexit.
He said: “I think there is a responsibility on those that have a platform to communicate in a way that is temperate and is not in any way going to inflame people’s views.”
