Jamie Oliver's restaurant smashed in Brummie riots

Jamie Oliver's Birmingham restaurant has been hit by rioters as violence spread to the city. Jamie's Italian, a 270-seat restaurant, was targeted in the world-famous Bullring shopping centre. He tweeted: "So sad to see what's happening in UK with these riots! All gone mad. time to get our country back. Now we need to come down hard on these idiots." He added later: "Sadly my restaurant in Birmingham got smashed up, windows all gone, whole area closed, can't open, staff and customers all safe!! thankfully." Other celebrities tweeted about the voluntary clean-up effort. Simon Pegg tweeted: "Apparently the riotcleanup site is down, likely due to an excess of traffic which is both frustrating and extremely heartening." The X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary said: "Out and about this morning. Already seeing strangers being more considerate/friendly to each other. Makes me proud." The show's new judge, N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos, wrote: "Absolutely disgusting what's happening, as much as everyone deserves answers from the police, destroying our city is not going to get one. Feel so disappointed in humans right now, didn't realise there were so many evil people on this planet, god bless the innocent ones x." Lily Allen wrote: "Are we on the brink of civil war or something? Bring back the cane ??????".

CATEGORIES

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.