Fears over fresh riots forced Croydon pharmacists to close early and even board up their premises last night (Tuesday, August 9).

And trading this morning (Wednesday, August 10) has been slow so far with shopping centres unusually quiet, pharmacists have reported.

Police advised businesses to close early yesterday following the fires and break-ins in the area on Monday (August 8). Pharmacies in Croydon's Whitgift centre closed before 5pm yesterday, while independent pharmacy Mccoig boarded up its windows to prevent damage.

"There were some problems with shops on our road, so we boarded up our windows as a precaution," said Viktor Menka, pharmacist at Mccoig Pharmacy.

Superdrug reported a "quiet" atmosphere in the Whitgift centre this morning following its early closure.

"I wasn't working yesterday but I understand the whole shopping centre had to close," said pharmacist Gillian Sekadde. "Today is completely quiet – I can see that people would be a bit cautious about coming out."

Fires at a furniture store in Croydon had reportedly forced Barker's Chemist to close on Monday due to extensive smoke damage.

Riots had also forced pharmacies to close early in Southside shopping centre, Wandsworth, and Thornton Heath High Street, said Andrew McCoig, LPC secretary for Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth.