A hoax call.

A worrying incident took place last Sunday afternoon, only minutes after I posted my last Blog update. Local resident and occasional Maggot Sandwich contributor Miles took the photo above from the corner of Morrisons car park, looking towards the entrance to Erith Pier. Several fire engines, ambulances and at least two Police cars were congregated close to the river bank and Erith Pier. Miles was unable to determine exactly what had been going on, and contacted me for information. After making some enquiries with local contacts, I was able to determine that the call - out of the emergency services was as the result of a malicious hoax phone call. Someone had phoned 999 and told the controller that a crane was on fire on the banks of the River Thames at Erith. The fact that no dockside cranes have been located in Erith since 1999 when the pier was refurbished and opened to the public by its then new owners Morrison's did not seem to register with the hoaxer. Consequently valuable first responders were tied up for a considerable period of time, when they could have been far more productive elsewhere. It was lucky that there was no major incident at the time, or lives could have been lost. I understand that investigations are under way to try and identify the malicious hoaxer and bring them to justice. 

In a surprise move by Bexley Council, the waste and recycling contract with Serco has been extended by eighteen months; many observers were convinced that the contract would be awarded to a different company, due to the perceived poor performance of Serco. As regular readers will be aware, there have been multiple incidents - including some caught on video - of Serco employees taking residents carefully sorted recyclable waste from their individual bins and pouring it all into the same dustcart, thus undoing all of the good work carried out by the residents. This has been repeatedly reported to the council, but nothing whatsoever has been done about it. Changes to the waste collection schedule are also being brought in by the council, including the introduction of two new wheelie bins – one for paper and cardboard and one for mixed recycling. What mixed recycling actually amounts to is at present somewhat unclear. Strangely the new bins are being imported from a manufacturer in Germany; I presume that a UK sourced equivalent supplier could not produce bins for a competitive price or quality. One thing that does strike me is that many people's front garden are already filled with a multitude of waste and recycling bins, and these two additions are going to make this even worse. Personally I fully support the recycling plans for Bexley Council, but I abhor the unsightly and bulky bins that they deploy. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

The Bookstore Cafe in the former Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith are looking to hire a Cafe Assistant for the successful new local business. The Exchange, the not for profit organisation behind the library renovation have made the following announcement:- "The Exchange is looking for enthusiastic and dedicated individuals to assist in its recently opened Bookstore Café which offers a fresh, quality and delicious menu developed by Chef Marina Power who trained and taught at the world-renowned Ballymaloe cookery school in Ireland". Anyone who is interested in this paid role can find out more about it by downloading the full job description by clicking here. 

Now that The White Hart controversy about opening hours has been laid to rest, and the African restaurant is now in normal operation, the development of the former pub garden is now being processed. As you can see in the top photograph above, the garden has been excavated and there is now a drop of around ten to twelve feet to the new ground level. The site is being redeveloped, and an application has been submitted to Bexley Council. Two of the drawings featured in the planning application are also above. The submission to the council states that:- "Erection of one 4/5 storey building comprising 3 x 3 bed. and 7 x 2 bed. flats and a commercial unit. Provision of associated amenity space, refuse and cycle storage areas and car parking within the lower ground floor". The application may undergo rather more scrutiny than usual, due to the somewhat dodgy history of the proposed developer, as has been documented in some detail by fellow local Blogger Malcolm Knight - click here for the details. Malcolm has been following the story for some considerable time. 

As I have previously mentioned, I rely on readers alerting me to stories and issues in the local area; I don't have some kind of magic prescience regarding local stories. Recently I was contacted by regular reader and occasional contributor Shane, who asked me if I had any information about the closure of the newsagent and coffee shop at Erith Station. At the time I was not aware of the closure, and Shane in return did some digging around. On Thursday morning he Emailed me to say that:- "It is back, with new owners and renovated. The woman running it seems friendly. The previous lot left under a cloud I'm told". So good news - the station now once again has a shop. Thanks to Shane for doing the investigation. 

The press advert above was originally published back in 1955; the product advertised is Cookeen hard vegetable cooking fat, which to this day is still manufactured in the ADM Edible Oils factory - the largest manufacturer of edible oils in Europe. If you have bought a supermarket ready meal in the UK, the oil used to cook it will have come from ADM Oils in Erith. It is also one of the largest local employers, with around 1,200 workers, many of whom live in the local area. It originally started up in 1908, when it was known as Erith Oil Works – the business then was similar to now; they crush and process all kinds of seeds, to extract their natural oils, which are used in foodstuffs, cooking oils and animal feeds. The seeds, then as now are brought upriver in large bulk freighter ships. The distinctive huge concrete silos that are still present on the ADM site were constructed in 1916, where they were some of the earliest surviving examples of reinforced concrete construction in the UK. They were constructed by Danish structural engineering company Christiani and Neilsen, who invented reinforced concrete construction techniques.

Half of British children will own a mobile phone by the age of eleven, according to new research published recently. The study of 2,000 parents shows the average child will receive a phone worth £120 on their eleventh birthday, and will then spend two hours every day glued to the device. But four in 10 parents end up regretting giving their youngster a phone at such a young age – as by their teenage years the child is transfixed by the likes of social media, texts, and computer games. Incredibly, researchers found one in 20 children will own a mobile handset by the age of six, as parents give in to primary school peer pressure. Owning a mobile phone comes at a price for parents – in addition to the £120 upfront fee, mums and dads will be expected to replace the phone at least twice due to it being lost, stolen or damaged. The study, which considers mobile phone ownership amongst children, reveals two thirds of parents will allow their child to have internet access on their device as soon as they get it. On top of this, 28 per cent of children are then allowed to use their phone all day without any supervision from an adult – despite 46 per cent have access to social media channels. The report also highlights that a third of parents fear their children spend far too much time on their phone – with one in eight youngsters spending more than four hours a day chatting to friends and playing games. According to the data, one in 10 children will use their mobile during the school day, and 12 per cent will log in to their phone as soon as they get home from school. Just 10 per cent of children can wait until after dinner before checking their phone. Just one in six parents will limit their child’s phone usage to emergencies only – with many admitting their child uses their phone for a range of activities. Unfortunately, purchasing a phone only adds to the worry parents have. A fifth of parents are concerned their child’s phone has now led to them not enjoying enough quality time with the family, and 16 per cent are concerned their child is missing out on face-to-face interactions with others. Apart from my usual antipathy towards mobile phones, I do have a concern that giving children such devices limits their ability to think for themselves or act fully independently. If they are out and miss the last bus, or some other problem occurs, all they have to do is ring Mum or Dad on their mobile phone to get picked up. They won't learn about improvisation, and in later life this will impair their ability to act in a fully independent manner. What do you think? Do the safety aspects outweigh the downsides of giving children mobile phones? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

You may recall that I recently wrote about The Metropolitan Police who are in the midst of what it is calling a trial of automated facial recognition (AFR) technology, although it has been using the kit since 2016. Recently it used the kit in Romford, parking a van outside the station between 10am and 6pm. The cameras scan the faces of passersby and checks them against a watch list that is supposed to be freshly drawn up for each deployment. Forces have argued the public expects them to use emerging technology to improve policing, but critics railed against the fact it is being tested in live environments without a legal framework and in the face of evidence it has a 98 per cent false positive rate. Since that trial, more information has come to light that the figure is the highest of those given by UK police forces surveyed by the campaign group Big Brother Watch as part of a report that urges the the police to stop using the tech immediately. Forces use facial recognition in two ways: one is after the fact, while cross-checking of images against mugshots held in national databases; the other involves real-time scanning of people's faces in a crowd to compare against a "watch list" that is freshly drawn up for each event. Big Brother Watch's report focused on the latter, which it said breaches human rights laws as it surveils people without their knowledge and might dissuade them from attending public events. Despite Police insistence that it works, the report showed an average false positive rate – where the system "identifies" someone not on the list – of 91 per cent across the country. That doesn't mean nine out of ten people seen on camera are wrongly flagged up, instead it means that 91 per cent of people flagged up turned out to be not on the watch list. The Metropolitan Police has the highest percentage, at 98 per cent, with 35 false positives recorded in one day alone, at the Notting Hill Carnival 2017. The system, though, hasn't had much success in positive identifications either: the report showed there have been just two accurate matches, and neither person was a criminal. The first was at Notting Hill, but the person identified was no longer wanted for arrest because the information used to generate the watch list was out of date. The second such identification took place during last year's Remembrance Sunday event, but this was someone known as a "fixated individual" – these are people known to frequently contact public figures – but who was not a criminal and not wanted for arrest. Typically people on this list have mental health issues, and Big Brother Watch expressed concern that the police said there had not been prior consultation with mental health professionals about cross-matching against people in this database. The criteria for the deployment and use of Automated Facial Recognition technology is defined by the Metropolitan Police thusly:- "1. Public Interest. The use of this technology is permissible only when it is being employed in the public interest. In some cases, this might be straightforward, for example, there is a public interest in being able to identify those engaged in criminal activity. Other cases may be less straightforward. 2. Effectiveness. The use of this technology can be justified only if it is an effective tool for identifying people. 3. The Avoidance of Bias and Algorithmic Injustice. For the use of the technology to be legitimate it should not involve or exhibit undue bias. This can be unjust in two ways. First, some kinds of mis-recognition are inherently demeaning and insulting. Second, technology with these biases can result in unequal and discriminatory treatment of some individuals (for example, members of some groups may be much more likely to be detained and/or required to identify themselves). 4. Impartiality and Deployment. If the technology is deployed for policing purposes it must be used in an even-handed way. For example, it should not be used in ways that disproportionally target certain events, but not others, without a compelling justification. 5. Necessity. Individuals normally have rights to conduct their lives without being monitored and scrutinised. (a) Given that the use of the technology interferes with these rights, such technology can be used only if other, less invasive, techniques are not available. (b) Furthermore, the technology should be used in ways that minimize interference with people engaging in lawful behaviour. 6. Proportionality. In addition to meeting a ‘necessity’ requirement, the technology should also meet a ‘proportionality’ requirement. That is, it can be permissible only if the benefits are proportionate to any loss of liberty and privacy. The benefits have to be sufficiently great so as to justify any interference with other rights. 7. Impartiality, Accountability, Oversight and the Construction of Watchlists. (a) If humans (or algorithms) are involved in the construction of watchlists for use with the technology, it is essential that they be impartial and free from bias.8 (b) The construction of ‘watchlists’ needs to be subject to oversight by an independent body. 8. Public Trust. If the technology is to be used for policing purposes it is important that those using it (either in operational deployments or trials) engage in public consultation and provide the rationale for its use. 9. Cost-effectiveness. Any evaluation of the use of this technology needs to take into account whether any resources it requires could be better used elsewhere. Biometric recognition systems (including data training sets) that will be used in public places should be to be open to scrutiny and effective oversight". As previously stated, I am all for the Police using new technology to catch criminals, but it does need to be properly tested and effective, which in this case it would seem not to be. 

Bexley Council finally made a decision as to the future of the former Belvedere Police Station in Nuxley Road last week; the old building will be demolished and replaced with a four and five story apartment block which will contain 26 flats. Many locals are concerned that the development will be too large, and overshadow existing buildings, such as All Saints Church, which is directly opposite. There are also concerns about the very limited number of parking spaces that will be provided in the new apartment block; the developers counter this by arguing that they expect many of the residents to use bikes rather than cars. I find this somewhat unlikely, as any occupants of the high - end flats will probably work in London, and need to commute via Belvedere station, which is about half a mile away at the bottom of a one in seven hill. Whilst this is fine when going down it in the morning on a pushbike, it is not so great at the end of a long day at work, when your only option would be to walk up the hill, pushing the bike with you, as it is too steep to cycle up, and even electrically powered bikes struggle with the very long and steep incline. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. First a report from Barnehurst ward:- "Another good week crime wise across the ward. A theft from motor vehicle occurred in Beverley Road overnight from 4pm on the Monday 25th February, suspects took small change and sunglasses from a Ford Galaxy parked on a driveway. There was no damage to the vehicle which is believed to have been left unlocked. We have CCTV of potential suspects, enquires are continuing. Please make sure that your vehicle is locked securely, do not rely on the electronic fob always check manually that your vehicle is locked. Suspects are just walking down a street trying car door handles and taking whatever they can when they find a door unlocked. You can help reduce crime considerably just by simply checking that your vehicle is secure. On Thursday 21st February at about 3.30 pm a caravan was set on fire within an old garage block in Chipstead Road .The area had been suffering from fly tipping and the caravan was pushed up against a metal gate in an attempt to prevent further offences. The fire has also caused damage to fence panels on neighbouring properties. If you have any information on theses or any other crimes please get in touch or call CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800 555 111 this is completely anonymous and you do not have to give any personal detail. A member of the team will be at Barnehurst Golf course on Friday 8th March at 1pm. Please come along for an informal chat about any concerns or issues that you may have or just pop in to say hello. As Always please follow us on Twitter @MPSBarnehurst and Facebook Barnehurst Police". Belvedere ward - no report this week.  Bexleyheath ward:- "We have had one report of a burglary along St Audrey Avenue Bexleyheath on the Thursday 21/02/2019 between 7am and 8pm. Entry was gained via the ground floor kitchen window. Also we have had a report of a distraction burglary along Heversham Road on the 26/02/2019 at 1030am. Males posing as gardeners in order to distract and enter property and take jewellery and money. Report of motor vehicle scratched on Park Grove 0n the Tuesday 26/02/2019 between 8am and 7pm. Theft from motor vehicle on Gravel Hill Close between Saturday 23/02/ - Monday 25/02/2019 between 1800 0800hrs. Window smashed -taken air bag Sat navigator and radio and external skirt panels removed. On the Broadway 3x purses taken from bags. On Saturday 23/02/2019 0n the Broadway two females after been advised by Town Safe Officers to move on this was ignored. Stopped and arrested for vagrancy and begging. By Methuen road on Wednesday 20/02/2019 a group of youths stopped by your local police for anti - social behaviour. Engaged with the youths and advised. On Saturday 23/02/2019 on Iris Avenue reports of youths blocking the road local policing team attended and youths stopped on push bikes for anti – social behaviour. Good news officers from your local team conducted Met Trace on ST AUDREY. Met trace is a Metropolitan Service operation to help residents make their homes more secure by providing crime prevention advise and Smart Water forensic property marking kits". Crayford ward:- "Please be aware that there are bogus builders in the area. A resident agreed to a small roof repair, the “roofer” then said the job was bigger than thought and would cost much more, the money was given. The “roofer” has come back and asked for a further amount and the work has not been completed, confirmed as a scam. These people prey on people's fears and concerns and by agreeing to have a small job done this opens the door for the bogus person to demand more. Do not agree to having work done by someone cold calling at your door, always ask for personal recommendations from family or friends if you need to have work done at your home and don't be afraid to make your own checks. We surveyed Bourne Mead, Mount Pleasant Walk and part of Hall Place Crescent and will continue with this in the coming week. Overnight on 20th into the 21st February a venue in Woodside Road was broken in to by means of an unlocked door, damage was caused to electronic items and graffiti was put on the wall. A silver Renault Traffic van was broken in to on Thursday 21st February between 06.00-17.30 at Hall Place car park and an electric tester megger, tool bag and 3 Dewalt Drills were stolen. On Wednesday 20th February at 22.40 suspects were disturbed whilst gaining entry to a garage at Old Road, two Males were seen to make off in a white van. An IPhone 8 was stolen from a van parked outside Bookers Cash and Carry on Wednesday 20th February between 14.15-14.30, please don't leave valuable items on show in your vehicle. On Monday 18th February between 02.00-03.00 a black Ford Mondeo had all windows smashed whilst parked in Heathview Avenue. Between 16th and 17th February, number plates F17 LEE were stolen from a parked vehicle in Tanners Close, these plates belong to a white S3 Audi Quattro. It was reported that on Friday 1st February windows and doors were damaged by an unknown suspect in Shearwood Crescent. On Friday 22nd February between 18.00-18.30 a teenager had his mobile phone and bicycle stolen from outside McDonalds by a group of youths. On Tuesday 26th February between 08.05 and 20.15 a burglary occurred in Crayford Way. The resident came home to find the living room and upstairs lights on and realised that the patio door had been smashed, there were visible tool marks on the frame. The bedrooms had been ransacked and at this time it is not known what was stolen. We have leafletted the local homes with preventative information. Between 22.00 on Monday 25th February and 6am on Tuesday 26th February, a blue Ford Focus was broken into whilst parked at Chapel Hill, items were strewn across the drive and money was stolen. On Tuesday 26th February between 14.00-14.07 a blue Giant bicycle was stolen from outside KFC whilst the owner had gone inside to order food. Suspect was described as being about 20 years old, wearing a blue and white hat, blue body warmer, grey jumper and sunglasses. We will be at Crayford Library on Wednesday 6th March between 14.00-15.00 if you would like to come along and speak with us about anything". Erith ward - no report this week. Northumberland Heath ward:- "One Residential burglary in a flat in Brook Street reported to us this week between 0300 – 0400am on Monday 25th February. An Xbox, passports and other personal items were stolen. The suspect climbed on to a roof and entry was gained via an upstairs window. One attempted break in to a garage in Swanton Road on Thursday 21st February at 01.30am. A white transit van was seen backing up to the garage door causing £600 of damage. On Friday February 22nd at 11.40am officers were patrolling in Bexley Road when they were approached by a member of the public who had witnessed two males in a white van attempting to steal a motorbike. A witness to the attempted motorbike theft saw and informed the officers of what they had seen just before they entered Limewood Road. Suspects in a white van were trying to steal a motorbike by trying to load it into a white van. They appeared to be disturbed and quickly made off in the white van without the motorbike. In their haste they left a piece of their van, the sliding side door discarded in the road. The witnesses knew the owner of the motorbike and called to informed him. She had also been on the phone to 999 but having seen the officers did not compete the reporting process and spoke to the officers instead. The team have continued to conduct a number of stop and searches and focus our patrols in our hotspot areas Bexley Road, Becton Place, Northumberland Heath Recreation Ground and the alleyways leading to Hengist, Horsa, Northumberland Park and Charlieville Road. The next Community Contact Session (Drop In Police Surgery), will be held at the Library in Mill Road on Monday March 4th at Noon. All are welcome to attend".  Slade Green and Northend ward:- "Not good news to start with. 4 garage burglaries have occurred in the last week. Two were at Clark Close at some point between Feb 20th and Feb 24th with tools taken from one garage and nothing taken from the other. A pushbike was taken from a garage in Boundary Street at some point between Feb 23 and 22nd and finally overnight on Tuesday 26th Feb a garage in Reddy Road was seemingly rammed but access wasn't gained. We will be patrolling all our garage areas in the coming shifts. PC's Mark and James have had several positive stop and searches across the ward in the last week resulting in one suspect being charged with possession of cannabis. 2 Community Resolutions were given for the other 2 who had drugs on them. An uninsured moped was recovered in Erith after the suspects fled upon seeing mark and James patrolling. Unfortunately they got away but did leave the moped for recovery. Alderney Road has a new Neighbourhood Watch coordinator and we await registration forms for new watches in Festival Close and Cook Square in Frobisher Road. A meeting was held with Hollywood Way N.Watch after recent issues on the estate with some good intel gained from the meeting. Our next CCS is on Tuesday March 5th from 11am in Forest Road Café, please come and say hi if you are free". Thamesmead East ward:- "Unfortunately one burglary to report this week, which occurred on Sunday 24th Feb, between 1730 and 2100 hours, St Andrews Close, Thamesmead. Entry was forced via the rear patio door, untidy search, jewellery stolen. The team attended the location the following day making CCTV and House to House Enquiries. We will also be holding a street briefing on Sunday 3rd March between 1500 and 1600 hours to discuss the above, and allow residents to discuss any other issues they may have concerns about. Two motor vehicle crimes to report this week, both happened on Sunday 24th February. A Green Mercedes was stolen from Southmere Drive during the early hours, and at around 0700 hours a black Mercedes was broken into, Manordene Road. This vehicle had a taxi badge on display in the rear window. Unfortunately the ward had been targeted recently regarding mini cabs/taxis being easily identified. It is believed the suspects feel money may be left in the vehicle overnight. Other News, a male has been identified for breaking into motor vehicles, after he had left DNA behind, enquiries ongoing. The team arrested a male who was wanted by the courts for failing to appear". West Heath ward:- "Burglary - We are extremely pleased to inform our residents that we have not had any residential burglaries during the last week and we hope that this continues. Non residential burglary - On Thursday 21st February at 0730 hours police were informed that several garages in Osborne Road had their padlocks broken off, no entry was gained and nothing stolen. Theft of motor vehicle - The ward has not suffered any thefts of motor vehicles, please stay vigilant and remember to secure your vehicles and do not leave any property on display. Theft from motor vehicle - During Thursday 21st February at 2230 and Friday 22nd at 0615 hours a vehicle in Ashbourne Avenue was broken into and a mobility scooter was stolen. PC's Gill and Mo have carried out plain clothes patrols in several areas where residents have brought our attention to drug use and drug dealing. We will continue to patrol these areas in plain clothes and full uniform to address the issue. The team had a street briefing in Hadlow Road and were joined by one of our councillors. We were spoken to by a number of residents who raised a few issues about drug dealing, anti-social behaviour which the team will be addressing. Yesterday we had a good attendance at our street briefing in Brampton Road j/w Shakespeare Road, residents raised the issue of vehicles speeding along Brampton Road and not stopping at the pedestrian crossing. Our next street briefing will be held on Monday 4th March outside the library in King Harolds Way from 7pm".

The end video this week features a video by a chap who has set himself the challenge of walking all the way around the London Loop and filming each stage of his journey to be published on YouTube. The London Loop is more properly known as the London Outer Orbital Path; it is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walkers". The walk begins at Erith on the south bank of the River Thames and passes clockwise through Crayford, Petts Wood, Coulsdon, Banstead, Ewell, Kingston upon Thames, Uxbridge, Elstree, Cockfosters, Chingford, Chigwell, Grange Hill and Upminster Bridge before ending at Purfleet, almost directly across the Thames from its starting point. Between these settlements the route passes through green buffers and some of the highest points in Greater London. The chap starts his round London walking trip at Erith, and in this first video makes his way to Crayford. Do give the video a watch and see what you think. Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.