An off-duty British policeman hailed as a hero for taking it upon himself to protect a store from looters as nearby shops burned down said he would do the same again to defend his community.

Police Constable Andy Hewlett survived a barrage of stones and waves of looters as he held out for 90 minutes with no protective equipment.

The 41-year-old was returning to his home in suburban Croydon, south London, with his partner last Monday when they saw a branch of Argos, a general goods retailer, being looted by thugs.

The bearded cop, who served in the British army in the Gulf War, called the police but was told no-one was available -- so decided to defend the store himself, with the help of his partner, who is not a police officer.

"It was obvious that Argos was being looted because there were people pouring out the back of it and they'd obviously forced open the fire exit and they were coming in our direction," he told AFP.

"Now, that's our community, that's where we live. And we made a decision to take action. Off duty, on duty, you need to do something. And we chose to challenge those rioters.

"At that point, stones started to be thrown at us, squaring off, approaching us and it was evident at that point that they knew I was a police officer because it was whispered around 'he's a copper, he's a copper' and that they either wanted me or wanted to go through me to get in to Argos at that point."

Despite having no protective equipment, Hewlett and his partner blocked the way in for 90 minutes, while the nearby family furniture store House of Reeves, a Croydon landmark which had survived the Blitz and stood for more than a century, burnt to the ground.

The police have faced criticism for standing back in some neighbourhoods and waiting for reinforcements in the face of overwhemling mobs.

"It's when I suppose, en masse, they got courage and came towards us and the stones were being thrown and it was evident just by their body language what they were doing -- that they were either going to go through us or get us," Hewlett said.

"It was at that point that I grabbed my partner and pulled him out of there quickly."

Hewlett has been with the police for 18 years and works as a safer schools officer in Lambeth, inner south London.

Neither he nor his partner, who took pictures of the rioters, were injured in their defence of Argos.

"I slept well that night knowing that I had done what I could do," Hewlett said.

"Even with all those kids and young adults, and adults there doing that, if I had closed my door and done nothing then I think that would have stayed with me a lot longer.

"The ability to challenge inappropriate behaviour and wrongness is really important and important in the community.

"But in the face of all that and the fact that Reeves Corner just got burned round the corner, to the ground, and the violence and the disorder and the criminality that's happened, I think there's very little that the community could have done that night without putting themselves at great risk."

Hewlett laughed at suggestions he was a hero.

"If I was in the same situation, I would do the same again," he said.

"But faced with a mob in front of you, there is a potential for things to go horribly wrong."