How far does Britain have to deteriorate in terms of law and order before the police call a halt to the growing anarchy on our streets and public places?

How long before they have the courage and determination to say enough is enough?

If you think I am being overly dramatic, take a look at the events in recent days. They certainly warn me that police will now tolerate anarchic behaviour if the threat from the troublemakers is aggressive enough.

Let's start with the ill-judged attitude of police at the Notting Hill carnival.

Terrified of being accused of racist behaviour, police turned a blind eye to crime, drug-dealing, fights and intimidation and failed to search suspects thought to be carrying weapons. The result was the carnival became a battleground.

How else can you describe an event at which two men were murdered, there were 19 stabbings, 130 arrests and 278 offences committed - officially?

The reality is there were hundreds more offences not recorded and the streets of Notting Hill became a gigantic trash can for three days. For the residents, it was a nightmare.

But the most shameful part of police behaviour was their pretence it had all been a rather jolly affair.

Then there was the no-less shameful decision by police at Tolworth, in Surrey, to allow a three-day rave, organised by New Age travellers, to go ahead last weekend, ignoring more than 1,000 complaints from residents.

Police were taken by surprise by the event, even though it had been well advertised on the internet. Nearly 4,000 turned up for the weekend of grotesque noise, drug-taking and mayhem, the usual ingredients of these tribal gatherings.

The Metropolitan police officer in charge, Superintendent Keith Free, then made the most outrageous excuse. He said he had initially wanted to move the rave away but was threatened that if he tried, the centre of nearby Kingston would be "trashed".

Afterwards, he had the gall to congratulate himself, claiming he had saved the centre of Kingston from "large levels of violence and disorder". Ignoring the misery of local residents, he said the end justified the means.

What he had really done was to abdicate responsibility for imposing law and order in the face of violent threats from a gang of irresponsible misfits.

Which brings me nearer to home here in Brighton and the travellers camped out in Preston Park and elsewhere. I am tired of hearing the whingeing police wringing their hands and saying there is very little they can do about it.

If the police had the will, they could make life so difficult for these parasites they would never want to bring their "free" lifestyles to Sussex or Surrey or Hampshire or anywhere else again.

Police forces are losing the initiative and their authority on the streets.

The present leadership is displaying no determination to re-establish these things. I fear we could be in for a very bumpy ride.