1985 Handsworth riots 1500 police officers drafted into the area, about 45 shops looted and burnt, and a trail of damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. As well as racial tension, unemployment was seen as a major factor in the riots; by the time of the riots, fewer than 5% of the black population to have left school that summer had found employment. The riots were the first of a series of similar riots across the country during the autumn of 1985, notably the Broadwater Farm riot in London which also resulted in a fatality (the murder of policeman Keith Blakelock).
Broadwater Farm area, and those that remained closed following the demolition of the deck level. Broadwater Farm is consequently extremely poorly served by shops. Haringey Council has provided 21 small "enterprise units" at a deliberately low cost to entice firms to open in the area, but these have proved hard to fill. However, Broadwater Farm is only 400m from the shops and supermarkets of Tottenham High Road, and approximately 2 km from the Shopping City supermall at Wood Green. Due to the waterlogged ground and lack of population prior to the containment of the Moselle, Broadwater Farm was bypassed by the Underground.