Author: Blake Foster

Fourteen-year-old Farzin Shahid was named the winner of the 2025 Design a Dame competition, with her sketch for Dame Trott’s costume chosen from more than 100 entries from across Havering. The competition invited budding designers to create a costume for the pantomime character, who will star in the theatre’s upcoming festive production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Farzin entered the competition through a school workshop and will now get to attend design meetings with the show’s professional designer before seeing her design brought to life on stage. She said: “I am thrilled to have won this creative competition, designing outfits has always…

The owners of Post Bar on the Water had applied to Haringey Council for a licence to sell alcohol on the premises of a converted boat on the River Lee Navigation called De Zwann. De Zwann has a permanent mooring at the Stonebridge South mooring area but applicant The Post Tottenham Ltd, which also owns and operates The Post Bar in Tottenham High Road, planned to trade on the council-managed stretch of the river. Where space permitted, the applicant proposed setting up a number of tables and chairs near the boat during trading hours in locations such as the Hale…

B & W Food and Wine applied to Sutton Council for a licence to sell alcohol at 575 London Road in Cheam. The applicant, Shahpoor Bazmangal, has asked for the selling of alcohol to be held between 7am and 11pm from Monday to Thursday, 8am to 12am on Friday and Saturday, and 8am to 10pm on Sunday. In order for the application to be approved, the applicant must meet four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm. Shahpoor and his agent have assured the council…

Essential maintenance work is scheduled from Monday, August 11, to Monday, August 18, affecting thousands of commuters and freight vehicles who rely on the vital crossing. The Dartford Crossing carries more than 150,000 vehicles a day between the south east and the rest of the country. Diversions will be clearly signposted via National Highways’ network and local routes. Monday, August 11 – Tuesday, August 12 A282-Northbound A282 Northbound Dartford Crossing West Tunnel closure Tunnel closure for maintenance works 10pm – 5.30am Diversion via National Highways network Tuesday, August 12 – Wednesday, August 13 A282-Northbound A282 Northbound Dartford Crossing West Tunnel…

Now in her 80s and helping to care for beloved husband Godfrey, the Hampstead resident is remembering the sheer tenacity of keeping London’s longest running pub theatre going for 57 years. Despite a “sitting tenancy” with freeholder Camden Council since 1971, she was served notice that her lease on the upstairs room at The Horseshoe would be terminated by current landlord Urban Pubs and Bars. Ben Elton, who did early comedy gigs at Pentameters Theatre, has donated £500 to the Crowdfunder to help with storing equipment and continuing to make theatre work. (Image: PA) They brought the curtain down on Pentameters Theatre citing unpaid rent, poor repair, and dwindling…

Sydney Mimer, 77, died on March 26 at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire where he was serving an 18-year prison sentence.  A Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has concluded that Mimer died from sepsis. In the mid-2000s Mimer had carried out attacks on a girl aged seven to nine at the time at an address in Poplar and in a vehicle he owned.  The abuse came to light in 2016 when the girl confided what had happened to her mother.  When he was jailed Det Con Neil Golding described Mimer as a “predatory paedophile”.  He also said he suspected Mimer may have carried out other offences.  “We…

From today (August 11) to September 5, lanes of the A206 southbound are closed with temporary traffic lights on Pettman Crescent. Greenwich council warned, “there will be delays”, but it has been called “a complete and utter disaster”. One person said: “What a complete and utter disaster – absolute gridlock.  “How did no one see this coming and get diversions in place? How long are those of us who rely on the buses in Woolwich going to have to put up with this?” Another described it as ‘Busmageddon’ due to the number of buses they saw stuck in traffic queues.…

On Thursday (August 14), thousands of students across the country will get their A-Level or post-GCSE exam results from tests they took earlier this summer. After that, the Department for Education will update school ratings. Each school gets a score based on how much its students have improved during Key Stage 5 and further education. The data shows which schools have students who did better than the national average. Below is a list of sixth forms and colleges in Croydon with their current scores. Special schools are not included.   Above average: Norbury High School for Girls (Academy): 0.32 Oasis…

These are part of a planned maintenance to boost road safety and infrastructure. Drivers are forewarned that diversions and delays might accompany these crucial works. National Highways maintains motorways and major A-roads, so smaller road shutdowns are not on its schedule. The A2 serves as a crucial link connecting Dover to the heart of London. It spans nearly 72 miles from Borough in the capital and finishes at the Dover Docks. Here are the planned closures from Monday, August 11 to Sunday, August 17: Monday, August 11 A2 westbound – Dartford Heath to Danson Interchange: Carriageway closed from 10pm to 5am…

It was put on by Middlesex Freemasons, and brought in £4,500 for both the hospice in Kenton and for Shooting Star children’s hospices at Hampton in Middlesex. The family day, with miniature train rides, food stalls and traditional games was held at Chertsey in Surrey by the Middlesex lodge. “This made a real difference for two fantastic causes,” one of the organisers said. “It also brought people together.” St Luke’s provides specialist end-of-life and palliative care to people in Brent and Harrow for anyone with an incurable illness to have the care they need to live well with their family — and…