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Burnt buildings in the aftermath of London riots at Lavender Hill, Clapham

The Riots Communities and Victims Panel was announced by the deputy prime minister in 2011, and tasked with looking into a number of issues, including, "why the riots happened in some areas and not others" and "what could have been done differently to prevent or manage the riots".

It also investigated "what motivated local people to come together to resist riots in their area or to clean up after riots had taken place", with its findings following visits to 21 areas and listening to the "views of communities and victims".

In its interim report, officially published today, one aspect addressed by the panel was media coverage of the riots and the use of social media.

The panel reported that "images of police being seen to back off' in Tottenham and their rapid circulation across social media and broadcast news services conveyed a loss of control of the streets".

In an executive summary the panel added that "this combined with a febrile rumour environment created a unprecedented explosive cocktail".

"It began to build a perception (and ultimate reality) that the street was no longer defended or defensible once resources were split."

The panel reports that some respondents "felt broadcasts showing scenes of one riot while reporting on another was misleading, especially as images sometimes depicted riots that had already been dealt with and had stopped".

"People felt this served to make rioting a self-fulfilling prophecy, attracting looters to areas they believed were already seeing significant rioting".

The panel added: "It seems clear that the spread of rioting was helped both by televised images of police watching people cause damage and looting at will, and by the ability of social media to bring together determined people to act collectively."

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Report: 'Spread of rioting helped by TV images of police'