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The Documentary; Lives In Landscape  

The Documentary: Lives In Landscape  

Lives In Landscape  

15/10/2011

Lives In Landscape

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Lives In Landscape

Alan Dein explores the impact of the recent riots in England on one London man

Alan Dein explores the impact of last summer's riots on a London man and his friends in the immediate aftermath of the rioting.

"Ten years' work gone in one night". 

On 8 August, 2011, Siva's shop, the Clarence Convenience Store in the heart of Hackney, London, fell prey to looters during the riots that swept UK city centres that month. 

Siva, a Tamil refugee, had spent a decade building up the small shop in Clarence Road, which was destined, one hot summer night, to become the 'front-line' in a battle between police and rioters.

Immediately after the attack, pictures of Siva's shop, a whirlwind of wreckage created by a dark carnival of looters, were circulated across the globe by social media. 

Siva was left devastated - his shop was no chain store selling trainers or electrical goods, but a small business, with no contents insurance. 

Bewildered by the attack, he was left wondering how he'd ever get his life and business back together. 

But locals, determined that this would not be the end of the road for a popular local trader, got together to raise money and get help to rebuild his shop, and the Save Siva fund was born. 

Alan Dein follows the immediate aftermath of the disturbances, meeting Siva and others, whose lives, in one night, were turned upside down and shaken violently.

(Image Credit: Getty)

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