Operation to ensure strength of forces nationwide highlighted by rioting in Manchester and other cities that sent officers to London

National police coordinators are reviewing the mutual aid operation on "an hourly basis" after violence flared in cities which had sent officers to London leaving three men dead.

The logistical operation to make sure forces across the country have adequate numbers to tackle fast-moving flash points across the UK has been highlighted by the rioting on Tuesday in Manchester, Birmingham and other cities. In contrast the Metropolitan Police faced a quiet night with 16,000 officers on the streets – 1,500 of them sent from 30 other forces.

In Manchester riot teams were "overwhelmed", senior officers said. "We had to draw resources from all over the northwest to be able to ensure that we could protect life and property here in Manchester and Salford," said assistant chief constable Gary Shewan.

Manchester had sent 100 of its public order officers to London on Tuesday – raising serious concerns that as police forces moved to help the Metropolitan police they left themselves vulnerable.

In the West Midlands – where the officers were faced with a volatile and fast flowing situation – 163 arrests were made, bringing the overall total to around 300 since the disorder began.

The arrests were for a variety of offences including aggravated burglary, violent disorder and various other public order offences.

A total of six police officers have sustained minor injuries in the overnight disorder.

But in the midst of the rioting three men from a local mosque were mown down and killed by a car in the chaos. West Midlands did not sent officers to London but has been receiving mutual aid itself.

The Association of Chief Police officers, which is co-ordinating the mutual aid, said it was being reviewed on an hourly basis and if any force called for support their request would be met. The geographical spread of the looting and rioting and the difficulty of predicting where the flashpoints will come make the task difficult.

And there is concern that the very issue of mutual aid – and the publication of details of the 30 forces which have sent teams to London – has given looters information on which cities to target. The Police service of Northern Ireland refused to send officers – faced with disturbances in Belfast and the ongoing security situation there.

In London the sheer scale of the operation appears to have put off the looters. In addition the Met has made more than 768 arrests over the last four days, essentially taking a substantial proportion of those allegedly causing the trouble off the streets. But trouble flared in other areas including Wolverhampton, Nottingham where a mob firebombed the police station and college, with more than 90 troublemakers arrested and Leicester.

There was also trouble in Gloucester city centre, where mounted officers were deployed to combat groups of youths attacking shop windows, some with their faces covered and in Bristol police arrested 19 people following a second night of trouble.

The chief constable of Humberside, Tim Hollis is co-ordinating the mutual aid progamme. Commander Steven Kavanagh deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police told the Today programme the mutual aid operation was a national one to provide support for any force that needed it.

A spokesman for Acpo said the mutual aid programme was being reviewed on an "hourly basis" as the situation developed. With many officers from the north now in London there is also logistical problem. In some cases instead of officers returning to their home forces, others may be sent from nearby forces to help out tonight. "There is an issue of logistics and of the officers needing breaks. It may be better to send officers from other forces rather than return officers. But we are reviewing all of this," said a source.

The difficulties of coordinating a response to geographically disparate rioting led Boris Johnson, London's mayor to call for a rethink of government plans to cut 16,200 police officers. "This is not a time to think about making substantial cuts in police numbers," said Johnson.