Wednesday 20th April 2011 M1 fire was arson
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said that the fire under a raised
section of the M1 was started deliberately. The fire caused the major
motorway that connects Leeds to London to be closed for several days
between junctions 1 and 4. The heat generated by the fire has severely
damaged the structure of the elevated section of the motorway near the
Scratchwood Services at Mill Hill in North London. The major
disruption caused by this blaze under such a major trunk road has led
to an audit of possible threats to all major roads and rail links. London

Tuesday 19th April 2011 Barnet residents in 200% council tax rise
Residents of north London borough Barnet got a shock when the council
took double the usual payment from households paying their council tax
instalments by direct debit. The Tory-run council were forced to
apologise to angry residents left short changed by the error.
Residents were also assured that any costs they had incurred, such as
overdraft charges, would be reimbursed. Councillor Daniel Thomas,
cabinet member for resources said: "One hour after realising this
problem we started the process of reimbursing those residents. They
obviously have my sincere apologies, and we'll make sure there is no
financial cost to any residents as a result of this." London

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Olympic countdown clock stops
Officials were left red faced after the clock counting down to the
start of the Olympic Games stopped. The timer was unveiled in a
ceremony in Trafalgar Square but failed less than 24 hours later. A
spokesperson for the Swiss-based Swatch Group said: "We are obviously
very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue.
The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and
fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square. We are currently
looking into why this happened." The clock was restarted later. London

Monday 28th February 2011 Britain’s most expensive street named
Victoria Road in London’s Kensington has been named as Britain’s most
expensive street. With the average price of property at an
eye-watering £6.4m, Victoria Road dominates even London’s expensive
property league. The road climbed from 10th place to top in 2010 due
to a property selling for £11m there last year. It took top spot from
Chester Square, home to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
According to the survey, carried out by mouseprice.com, 14 of the 20
most expensive streets in Britain are in the borough of Kensington and
Chelsea. London

Friday 25th February 2011 Fox found at top of the Shard rehoused
A fox discovered living at the top of the UK’s tallest building has
been rehoused. The fox, who has subsequently been called Romeo, was
found in the 945ft Shard building and was thought to be surviving on
scraps of food discarded by construction workers at the as-yet
uncompleted building. The fox was trapped and taken to the Riverside
Animal Centre in Wallington and later released back onto the streets
of Bermondsey. London

Tuesday 22nd February 2011 Olympic velodrome opens today
The 6,000-seat velodrome for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics,
situated in east London, will open on today (February 22, 2011). The
velodrome is the venue for the olympic indoor cycling and BMX events
is the first venue to be completed at the Olympic Park. The velodrome
was design with help from Sir Chris Hoy, who won three cycling gold
medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. "I believe the new velodrome is
going to be the best in the world. I can't actually wait until 2012
when I can compete on it," Hoy said. "It will be nice when we turn up
on race day for the first day of competition at the Olympics. All of
the Union Jacks will be out and, hopefully, the noise and the
atmosphere will give us an advantage - maybe put the fear of death
into the other countries too." London

Friday 7th January 2011 Power firm apologises for Hoxton blackout
A Power firm has issued an apology after a power cut left more than 500 homes and
businesses without supplies in east London. The firm blamed a
"particularly difficult" fault in an underground cable near Hoxton
Square in Shoreditch for the blackout. The area is a popular social
hub and local bars and restaurants used candles to continue to trade
during the power cut. The problem began at 1037GMT on Thursday,
December 6, 2011. Power was eventually restored to the 529 affected
customers at 4am the next morning. A spokeswoman for UK Power Networks
said: "We recognise how uncomfortable it is being without electricity,
especially in such cold weather, and we apologise to customers for the
inconvenience caused." London

Tuesday 21st December 2010 Bank tube in re-tunnelling plans
A planned revamp could see Bank Tube station in the City of London
being re-tunnelled. London Underground (LU) said the refurbishment
work was needed to "relieve congestion and provide step-free access to
the Northern line platforms". The work could begin in 2015 and should
finish by 2021. 300,000 passengers a day use the station which has
seen a 43% rise in passengers in the last few years. Bank is on the
Central, Northern, Waterloo and City lines and Docklands Light
Railway. Richard Parry, LU's strategy & commercial director, said:
"Currently the Northern line platforms at Bank in particular suffer
severe congestion during morning and evening peak times, which will
get worse as passenger numbers grow. If this work is not carried out
station control measures, such as restricting access at busy times and
non-stopping trains, would have to be implemented even more frequently
than today." London

Friday 17th December 2010 Fixed rate black cab rides
People taking rides in black cabs from a rank on Coventry Street in
central London this weekend can opt to pay a fixed rate for some
journeys. The officially backed off the meter ‘golden fares’ scheme
will operate from the selected rank, which sits midway between
Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, on Friday and Saturday nights.
London will be divided into four zones, with fares of £20, £30, £40 or
£50, depending on the destination. Westminster Council's trial service
has backing from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. The golden fares service
runs from 2200 to 0400 GMT on 17 and 18 December. It will also be
trialled again on 8/9, 15/16 and 22/23 January. Passengers will be
asked their destination and are required to pay in advance. London

Monday 13th December 2010 Councils moving Londoners out to avoid impact of housing benefit change
Some London councils are moving families out of the city ahead of the
government’s cap on housing benefit payments. A BBC London survey has
found evidence of the exodus ahead of the April 2011 date when the
£400-a-week limit on housing benefit for private rentals is due to be
enforced. Thirteen councils replied to the survey saying they are
already rehousing people outside the city. One such authority is
Waltham Forest, which is moving people to Luton. Councillor Marie Pye
said: "At the moment we are already moving people out of London
because there is not enough private housing. We have already got some
good quality accommodation in Luton and people want to move there." London