The queue.

The scene above will be familiar to most people now; I took the photo whilst queuing outside of Morrison's in Erith one evening last week. Whilst I have heard a few grumbles about the enforced isolation and social separation, most people seem to be taking the new rules and precautions well.  In my experience, the queue moves quite quickly, and only adds a few minutes to the shopping experience. The queue looks long, as people are spacing themselves two metres from each other, but it also moves quickly as a result. On one occasion whilst queuing, an individual jumped over the crowd control barrier and joined the queue in front of me. Before I could say anything, the store security guard intervened - the interloper was removed after some altercation and shouting. I think this was the exception; generally people in the queue are considerate and patient. What do you think? Share your personal experiences with me by Emailing me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

CB radio seems to be making a comeback, with people stuck at home, bored and looking at for them - new ways to communicate with others for free. It seems strange that in an era of online video conferencing with apps such as Skype, Zoom and FaceTime that a nowadays relatively little known hobby that had its roots in the pre - mobile phone era of the late 1970's and early 1980's could be returning to the scene. If you are not aware, CB radio - formally known as Citizen's Band radio is a licence free, relatively short range alternative to Amateur Radio. Citizens band radio (often shortened to CB radio) is a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MHz (11 metre) band. In the United Kingdom, CB radio was first legally introduced in 1981, but had been used illegally for some years prior. In December 2006, CB radio was deregulated by Ofcom and it is now licence-free. Although the use of CB radios in the UK has declined from its peak, it is still popular, especially with the farming community, Land Rover owners and Mini-Cab services. CB radio was first introduced into the United Kingdom around 1972. Early use was known around the airports in the UK, particularly Stansted in 1973. As citizens band radio has been advertised in the US since before 1962, it is possible that a number of these radios were brought into the UK and used illegally. In the period 1976–1978, CB radio in Britain was much popularised by novelty hit songs and its use in the film Convoy and the usage of illegal CB radio peaked in 1980. Companies in Britain sold US equipment quite openly, and equipment was readily available in car accessory shops. During this time, a great many CB clubs emerged in the UK and they became centres of protest in the march towards legalisation, in the hope that existing equipment could be used legally. In response to this, the government commissioned a white paper proposing a CB service called "Open Channel" around 860 MHz. The big problem for the UK was that the 27 MHz band was already licensed legally to radio control model aircraft users. They were paying for a licence to use the band, and interference resulted in loss of control of the aircraft. Many expensive models were written off, and the safety implications were obvious, but there was no practical way to police a separation, and the government did not rate the protection of model flying as an important issue. The UK Government eventually legalised CB radio, and on 2 November 1981 a CB service was introduced on a frequency band and offset that is incompatible with the imported American radios. At the same time the ownership of non-UK approved 27 MHz transceivers was made illegal except for those obtained by UK radio amateurs. The government initially proposed an FM system on a 928 MHz band with an RF Input power not exceeding 500 mW. This was unacceptable to the CB lobby partly because the low power would give a short range but mainly because the cost of equipment to operate in this band would be prohibitive. The more knowledgeable CB enthusiasts made a counter proposal to use a frequency around 220 MHz. This was immediately dismissed by the government who pointed out that it was a reserved military frequency band. It was subsequently discovered that the frequency had been unused since the Second World War. The government initially refused to relent and continued their insistence on legalising the 928 MHz band. The CB lobby continued to insist that any CB system had to use the 27 MHz band, be AM and a maximum output power of 4 watts (i.e. the US system). Ultimately, the government hinted that they were going to give in to the CB lobby but, as it turned out, only up to a point. CB was eventually legalised on a 27 MHz band but not the band used in the US. Whereas the US used a band occupying the range 26.965 to 27.405 MHz, the UK system was to operate on 27.60125 to 27.99125 MHz. These awkward frequencies would prevent illegal US sets from being modified outside of the type approval system, though it was possible to have existing A.M. radios modified to comply with the new F.M. standard. The choice of frequency would also give the UK electronics industry a head start in the production of unique UK only radios. The system was FM as expected, but one initial surprise was that the power limit was set at 4 watts. The surprise was short lived when it was realised that antenna restrictions would limit the real radiated power to little more than a 500 mW system. A further restriction on power applied if the antenna was elevated by more than 7 metres from the ground. The antenna restrictions were largely ignored and, in the main, un-policed. The government of the day had hoped that UK based manufacturers would be able to compete on a level playing field with foreign (notably Japanese) manufacturers for a share of the potential market. As it happened: the awkward choice of frequencies conspired against this ideal. The frequencies were such that, initially, only one manufacturer in Japan had the capability of producing the frequency synthesiser chips capable of producing the transmission frequencies and the local oscillator signals for use in receive mode. This manufacturer, not surprisingly, refused to supply any UK based manufacturer while it was attempting to keep Japanese manufacturers supplied. In the event, the UK market saturated within a few months and many Japanese manufacturers and UK importers were left with vast amounts of unwanted stock. Within a year of the introduction of CB to the UK, CB radio sets were being given away free with some purchase or other by many of the major retailers. After this, many UK CB radios were relegated to the backs of cupboards or into the loft. From the inception of legalised CB radio, there has been much abuse of the system, with frequent complaints that CB radio was not policed properly in spite of the licence revenues. CB channels still remained busy in many areas, despite mobile phones becoming increasingly common and feature rich. Many of the original advantages of mobile CB have been surpassed by the development of mobile internet access, satellite navigation systems, and the proliferation of other instant communication technologies such as text messaging. The introduction of a new licence free handheld PMR 446 radio service has provided much of the features of traditional C.B., in a small handheld format. This service is not directly comparable with C.B, as PMR446 was intended to provide a short range service. Changes to the UK's amateur radio licensing system mean that it is now possible for people under the age of 14, and anyone else, to gain legal access to most of the UK amateur frequency allocation with only basic technical knowledge.  A small but very active UK CB group still carried on, and several companies sell brand new CB in this country, as a quick Google search will show. It would seem that some of the old CB rigs are being dusted down and put back into use during this period of Covid - 19 lockdown, which to my mind can only be a good thing; a substantial number of CB radio operators "get the bug" and want to go onto other radio related activities - principally getting themselves licenced as an Amateur Radio operator. In many ways Citizen's Band is a gateway that leads on to Amateur Radio. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

It is rare that I ever celebrate a business going bust; as regular readers will be aware, I am keen to publicise and promote local independent businesses - indeed, more on that theme later in this update. I do not normally comment on stories that make the national news, as there are professional journalists who can report those stories far better than I. Also the Maggot Sandwich has a primary focus on local events and current affairs. I am making an exception in this case however, as I have commented on the subject before, and I feel that it is of interest to many readers. You may have seen in the press over the last week news that the store Brighthouse has called in accountancy firm Grant Thornton as official receivers after the company became insolvent. Whilst I feel sorry for the staff who are almost inevitably going to lost their jobs, I cannot say that I am sorry that the firm has gone bust. For those that may not be aware, here is some background to Brighthouse, their dubious business model, and the people they preyed on. To my mind, the definitive indicator that a town had gone to the dogs is when Brighthouse moved in. I was reading an article recently, in which Karl Dayson, an academic who specialises in the study of affordable finance said that “I can think of no better marker of social deprivation than having a Brighthouse store open in your area”.  Brighthouse were until last week a chain of retailers specialising in household goods such as furniture, washing machines, televisions and cookers. Their unique selling point was that you could purchase goods on credit with no deposit, and with very low weekly repayments. The stores were designed to appeal to young families – the aisles between goods on display were wide enough for a child’s buggy to be wheeled easily along them. Brighthouse offered credit to those who would otherwise be unable to qualify for it – mainly people on benefits. This all sounded great – helping those otherwise unable to afford the basics of a home to get what they need. The downside of it was the eye wateringly high interest rates that Brighthouse charged. Several debt charities expressed dismay at the high charges. A basic washing machine that cost £399 in Curry's would have cost £1,560 from Brighthouse, albeit broken down into “affordable” £10 weekly payments at an interest rate of 69.9% APR. Just like the notorious pay day lenders, the poorer you are, the more you pay for goods and services. Debt advisor Anne Young, who has advised many former Brighthouse customers said “These companies are preying on people who cannot afford to go anywhere else. I do think that they are robbing the poor, when you look at their prices. They are charging a ridiculous amount for goods you can buy on the high street for a third of the price”.  To give an example, a small television which costs £99.99 in Argos would cost a total of £606.84 paid over a total of 156 weeks. Brighthouse argued that their TV was covered against malfunction and accidental damage over the course of the repayment period, but this needed to be set against the fact that you could buy six similar televisions for that same amount of money elsewhere. Brighthouse claimed that if you could find an identical product anywhere on the high street, that they would match the price. This was actually quite difficult, as Brighthouse had a lot of “own name” brands, such as Baird; these were simply not available anywhere else; they also included a number of options that other retailers on the high street don’t, and the pricing structure was so bewilderingly complex that direct comparison was rather difficult.  The demographic for Brighthouse customers is fairly straightforward; a majority are women between 26 and 45 years of age; they earn less than £13,000 a year, and around fifty percent are receiving at least part of their income in the form of benefits. You can really view Brighthouse as a cross between somewhere like Argos and loan company – and its’ customers are overwhelmingly people who did not qualify for a credit card or scored too lowly for a conventional, lower interest loan. The kind of goods that the company sold (furniture / consumer electronics) did tend to depreciate over the course of the loan period, to the point that by the time the loan was fully paid off, the goods were essentially worthless. On top of this, Brighthouse had a policy of repossessing goods if payments were not met, even if the customer was only one or two payments away from completing the purchase.  Normally a court order is required to repossess goods when more than a third of the credit payments have already been met. Brighthouse had a nasty habit of sending round bailiffs without such legal niceties – exploiting the fact that many of their customers were ignorant of the law. All in all, Brighthouse succeeded because they could – their target customer did not qualify for a loan from a conventional source, and was not aware of low cost resources such as credit unions. They relied on the customer being sucked in to the colourful, brightly lit and shiny shop with the promise of low repayments, even if they do end up paying for what seemed like half a lifetime. Fortunately this has now come to an end. The failure of Brighthouse has come over a period of around three years. In 2017, Brighthouse was ordered to pay £14.8 million to 249,000 customers by the financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority. This was in response to the retailer's inability to pay customers who had cancelled agreements after one down payment. The company at the time was told it had not been a responsible lender. Brighthouse had also been accused of charging excessive interest on lending. In April last year, the FCA introduced a cap on interest and fees companies like Brighthouse can charge. This put the company in a very fragile financial position; the compulsory closure of all of its 240 UK stores under the current Coronavirus regulations meant that Brighthouse cashflow was severely curtailed, and accountants Grant Thornton were called in to wind up the business. Brighthouse may have operated a legal business; whether they operated a moral one is open to debate. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Local businesses are working on ways to service their customers whilst they are on lock down. The excellent Bexley Brewery have just started a home delivery service. You can join their Email list by contacting shop@bexleybrewery.co.uk  They comment:- "We'll be sending out our new beer and cider list every Monday, so please look out for it. If you don't see an email from us in your in box, please check your junk/spam folder as your server/spam guard may be sensitive to attachments, if there's still nothing there, please drop me an email and let me know. As we did this week, we'll be taking orders on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, with last orders being Wednesday 12 midday (we have to be very prompt on this). We then start to workout delivery routes and organise the orders ready to deliver from Wednesday afternoon onwards". Another local organisation that is changing to accommodate the quarantine situation is The Bookstore Cafe, which has had to close to visitors. Instead they are also offering a delivery service. Their announcement reads:- "Get The Bookstore straight to your door with our Oven Ready Meal offer. Choose from a selection of meals including pies, curries and hot pots, all for £5 including delivery. Deliveries are made on Fridays. So please let us know what you are after by Thursday 9am. To place an order, follow this link, or give us a call on 01322 341144. We are offering Orbit residents our individual oven ready meals for £2.50, including delivery. Home cooked nutritious affordable ready meals made with the best ingredients by the best local chefs. To find out more, follow this link or give us a call on 01322 341144". Head Chef Louisa Budds is sharing some of her recipes. Download the recipe here, and watch the how-to video below.

Now that a large majority of the UK are working from home, it has become apparent that some of the tools that many use to keep in touch with family and friends - and not to mention work, have come under scrutiny. I don't know if you saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson early last week, when on Tuesday when he shared a screenshot of “the first ever digital Cabinet” on his Twitter feed. It revealed the country’s most senior officials and ministers were using the popular video conferencing application Zoom to discuss critical issues facing the UK. The use of the Zoom software is likely to have infuriated the security services, while also raising questions about whether the UK government has its own secure video-conferencing facilities. The decision to use Zoom, as millions of others stuck at home during the Coronavirus outbreak are doing, comes as concerns are growing about the conferencing app's business model and security practices. Most notably, the company has been forced to admit that although it explicitly gives users the option to hold an “end-to-end encrypted” conversation and touts end-to-end encryption as a key feature of its service, in fact it offers no such thing. Specifically, it uses TLS, which underpins HTTPS (secure) website connections and is significantly better than nothing. But it most definitely is not end-to-end encryption (E2E). E2E ensures all communications are encrypted between devices so that not even the organisation hosting the service has access to the contents of the connection. With TLS, Zoom can intercept and decrypt video chats and other data. Whilst this might not matter for social calls between friends and family, when big corporations, or indeed governments become involved, it is a whole different issue. Despite Zoom offering a meeting host the option to “enable an end-to-end (E2E) encrypted meeting,” and providing a green padlock that claims “Zoom is using an end to end encrypted connection,” it appears that the company is able to access data in transit along that connection, and can also be compelled to provide it to governments. So, it's not E2E. While that is not something that will bother most Zoom users, whose conversations are not highly sensitive nor confidential, for something like a UK Cabinet meeting, the lack of true end-to-end encryption is dangerous. Personal information gathered by the company included, but was not limited to, names, addresses and any other identifying data, job titles and employers, Facebook profiles, and device specifications. It also included "the content contained in cloud recordings, and instant messages, files, whiteboards ... shared while using the service." In other words, it was, arguably, the Facebook of the video-conferencing world, sucking every piece of data it can from you and any device you install it on. Speaking of Facebook, Zoom's iOS app sent analytics data to Facebook even if you didn't use Facebook to sign into Zoom, due to the application's use of the social network's Graph application programming interface. In short, while Zoom’s ease of use, reliability and excellent user interface has made it a godsend for people stuck at home, the company continues to raise red flags about its honesty, its privacy policies and its business model. 

This month marks the 35th anniversary of the first UK cellular telephones going on sale to the general public. The official launch was on the first of January 1985, but for the first few months, phones were almost exclusively sold to corporations and large businesses. It was only at the beginning of April 1985 that the general public could - for a price - buy a transportable phone, such as the model shown above - click on the image for a larger view. The companies we know as Vodafone and O2 today were Racal-Vodafone and Securicor-Cellnet back then; phones were the size of a small suitcase and only did voice calls - no text or apps, let alone any kind of camera or GPS. The two companies had spent the months up to the 1st January launch deadline fighting for cell sites and testing coverage, particularly in London. There was no hint of site-sharing. The services used analogue TACS (Total Access Control System), and later ETACS (Enhanced TACS), as more frequencies became necessary. The analogue calls could easily be monitored using a radio scanner - as in the infamous Princess Diana "Squidgygate" tapes. The cellular service was not actually the first mobile phone system available - there was a Carphone Radio service called Band 3, but that was push-to-talk and all calls had to go through an operator to be connected. Calls were limited as was the number of users. You had to go on a waiting list and wait for a subscriber to close an account before you could buy one. It was complex, limited in coverage and extremely expensive. The first modern, cellular call was undertaken by Vodafone's Michael Harrison, the son of former Vodafone Chairman Sir Ernest Harrison, who was the first to test the system, calling his father at midnight on 1st January, 1985. Michael Harrison secretly left his family’s New Year’s Eve party at their home in Surrey in the UK to surprise his father, calling him from London’s Parliament Square. Harrison made the historic call from one of the first mobile devices – a Transportable Vodafone VT1, which weighed 11lb (5kg) and had around 30 minutes of talk time - more on this groundbreaking device in a bit. Harrison recalls that the line was crystal clear, although the excited shouting of New Year’s Eve revellers in London created considerable background noise. As Sir Ernest Harrison answered the phone, Michael said: “Hi Dad. It’s Mike. This is the first-ever call made on a UK commercial mobile network”. Which isn't quite “one small step” but is better than, “Watson come here I want to see you". The official press launch was held days later at St Katherine’s Dock in London where Vodafone had hired comedian Ernie Wise make the first public mobile phone call. Wise brought the same transportable device to St Katherine’s Dock in London in a 19th century mail coach, using one of the oldest forms of communications – sending a letter – to highlight the speed and convenience of these new mobile phones. Ernie Wise’s call was received at the original Vodafone headquarters, where a handful of employees were based in an office above an Indian restaurant in Newbury, Berkshire. Heavy and cumbersome, the first generation of mobile phones were sold in the UK from 1984 – before the first products were even available and before the network was officially live. Such was the demand for a fully portable, cellular phone that more than two thousand orders had been taken by the Vodafone sales team before Michael Harrison made his call from Parliament Square. By the end of 1985, over twelve thousand devices had been sold. Very soon afterwards a good friend of mine got given a VT1 portable TACS phone by his then employer, British Telecom. The phone was so powerful that when he made trips to the Carrefour Hypermarket in Calais, he could call his Mum to find out what she wanted him to buy, connecting via the British mobile phone cell in Dover (there was no international mobile roaming back in those days).

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "Despite the lock down there have been two burglaries on the ward over the last week. Both of these occurred in Parkside Avenue. In both cases entry was gained by the front door. An Audi was taken on the first occasion. However on Sunday morning the suspect was confronted and made off empty handed in a blue Audi A3 or S3 in the direction of Parkside Cross. He was described as a white male in his late twenties with brown hair wearing dark clothing. There was also a theft of number plates in the car park in Badlow Close. Unfortunately since the lock down officers have had to move people on and give strong words of advice to people who continue to flout government advice. Please only leave your premises if absolutely essential e.g shopping for essentials daily exercise, work etc. Please keep safe". Belvedere ward:- "The team executed a drugs warrant at an address in lower Belvedere on Thursday. Cannabis was found at the address and the occupant is being dealt with for possession. Last week the team were extracted a lot from the ward due to the Corona situation. However when assisting Thamesmead Moorings Ward on Friday we stop and search a male for drugs, after a short chase that is. He was found in possession of a quantity of cannabis and lots of cash. Needless to say he is being dealt with for possession with intent to supply. Potentially a lengthy investigation is underway. On Thursday 26/03/20 we had an attempt garage burglary in Lower Park Road. Happened around 23:15. Nothing taken on this occasion but damage caused. Unfortunately this crime type is still happening so please be alert as much as possible while on lock down!" Bexleyheath ward:-"Wednesday 25/03/20 2000 – 2100 Criminal Damage Long Lane windows on vehicle smashed. Wednesday 25/03/20 1900 – 26/03/20 1040 Criminal Damage Long Lane windows on vehicle smashed. Wednesday 25/03/20 2200 – 26/03/20 1330 Criminal Damage Long Lane windows on vehicle smashed. Thursday 26/03/20 0001 – 26/03/20 1545 Number Plates Stolen Royal Oak Road. Friday 27/03/20 1740 Theft From Motor Vehicle Horsham Road. Between Wednesday 25/03/20 1400 and Saturday 28/03/20 1400 Theft From Motor Vehicle Freta Road. A few motor vehicle crimes this week, please continue to be vigilant around your homes and what items you are leaving on display". Crayford ward:-"A practically unheard of report for Crayford this week. At the time of reporting we have had one report of attempted burglary in Inglewood Road, between 22.00 on 29th March and 18.00 on 30 March, whereby the garage door was forced open but nothing appears to have been stolen. We have been actively patrolling the ward and engaging and encouraging our residents to adhere to Government direction. As ever, please call 999 in the event of an emergency, 101 for non-emergencies. You can contact our team directly on 020 8721 2584 or email at Crayford.SNT@met.police.uk Please stay safe". Erith ward:-"As a team we have been out on the ward on Foot and on Bikes patrolling every part of Erith, explaining to residents not to be out in groups and giving them advice which is in line with what the government are saying for us all to keep safe. We have a full team in Erith and are still doing the daily work we always do. Weapon sweeps are being carried out daily and we are now also twice daily visiting all shops in Erith checking everything is OK. Crime in Erith this last week has been low. Crimes of note from the last week Theft from Motor Vehicle Church Road. Theft from Motor Vehicle Maximfeldt Road." Northumberland Heath ward:-"There has been an Attempted Theft of a Motor Vehicle outside Belmont Road , Erith. Victim witnessed a male looking at his motor vehicle outside his home address. The suspect was seen taking photos of the lock placed on motor vehicle. Unfortunately there is no CCTV Evidence or further links for further investigation. Theft from a motor vehicle on Walsingham Walk, Erith .Victim had her rear cluster light and registration number plates stolen. Residential Burglary Northumberland Park ,Erith.Victim returned home and noticed her front door damaged and unlocked . Nothing was stolen from property. This report has been closed as there are no further lines of enquiries. Attempted theft of a delivery vehicle on 116 Hurst Road, Erith. Victim was a delivery driver delivering parcels on Hurst Road when he left the keys in the ignition while delivering the parcels. A witness alerted the victim of a white male trying to get into the victims vehicle. The driver then attempted to remove the male from the vehicle. Another 4-5 Males then approached the driver and ran towards Colyers Lane with the vehicle in situ. The victim had a cut to his head. This was reported by a third party as the victim left and didn't want to wait for police to attend. Police haven't been able to contact the victim for further investigation. SNT will be patrolling Hind Crescent as much as possible. The team are increasing their patrols around all four wards to provide reassurance patrols in the local area. There are no contact points organised for this month . You can always contact the local team on Twitter @MPSNorthHeath or on the ward phone 02087212502. Officers have been patrolling busy areas within the ward to prevent any anti social behaviour incidents while the outbreak of the coronavirus. As most of the shops are closed on Bexley Road we haven't had any ASB reports or theft reported to us recently." Slade Green and Northend ward:- "We had a burglary in Hollywood Way last Thursday between 0800 and 1500. Entry was made via the key in the keysafe and only specific items were taken. Please ensure nobody apart from those trusted have your keysafe code if you have one. Our team currently are patrolling and doing as much as we can to keep everyone safe and indoors. Please remember that anyone out in groups will be stopped and asked to go home if there is no valid reason to be out. This can result in a fine but we will only resort to this method if there are repeat offenders or anyone refusing to comply. We hope you are all keeping safe during these testing times and please let us know if there are any areas that groups are regularly seen congregating." Thamesmead East ward:-"Lensbury Way SE2 on Sat 28/3/20 between 10:40pm – 10:45pm Victim noticed vehicle alarm going off at 22:40pm, when victim went to check, it was found the vehicle had been entered. Items had been taken from the arm rest compartment by suspect/s unknown. Pointer Close SE28 on Sun 10pm – 1:45pm Victim reports motorcycle stolen from location by suspect/s unknown. Mangold Way DA18 on Mon 30/3/20 2:50pm Victim reports windscreen wipers have been removed from both victim's vehicles and left discarded on the ground. Criminal Damage Watersmeet Way SE28 on Wed 25/3/20 between 10pm – 7:45am Victim heard a noise at 10pm but disregarded it at the time, when victim went into the study the following morning the outer pane to the widow was seen to be smashed by suspect/s unknown. Carnoiste Close SE28 Tues 31/3/20 7:45pm – 10:30am victim returned from work to find kitchen window smashed by suspect/s unknown entry to property not gained nothing taken. Good News - A female who was circulated by PC Pruden for stealing a poppy charity box from Taris Shop Yarnton Way in October 2019 was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and sentenced to 14 weeks at her majesty's pleasure. On Sat 28/3/20 at 8pm a phone call was received from a relative worried about his elderly brother and sister in law who both have underlying health issues and are self-isolating for 12 weeks on the ward. The couple have not been able to go shopping for essentials and do not have internet or mobile phones so had been unable to organise shopping delivery. PCSO Buckley contacted the couple who gave her a shopping list which she delivered on Sunday. The couple thanked PCSO Buckley stating “it felt like Christmas”.  West Heath ward:-"Excellent news again this week, no burglaries or motor vehicle crime reported to us. Despite the current difficult climate, the team are continuing to conduct proactive burglary patrols on foot and in vehicles. We have conducted weapon sweeps jointly with our colleagues from Crook Log and East Wickham, as part of this weeks' focus on knife crime. We have carried out regular visits to local shops and businesses that are open to reassure both the public and shop shopkeepers that we are still a visible presence. Please remember to keep your distance when shopping, Keep calm and wash your hands!"

The end video this week may well be of particular interest to drinkers of bottled water. It features the story of the ill - fated Dasani brand of bottled water, which got the unfortunate nickname of "Sidcup Spring". Give it a watch and send any comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Centrepieces.

Construction work of the Erith Baths development, adjacent to the Erith Riverside Gardens, seen in the drone photograph above, nears the end. Practical completion on the residential development is scheduled for the 31st December; in reality it will probably be a couple of weeks later, due to the Christmas and New Year holidays. The properties are intended to be for shared ownership - part buy, part rent; this is intended to keep them affordable for people on average incomes. However, in doing some research for this article I have found that a median price two bedroomed apartment in the main block would have an overall cost of £310,000. The minimum purchase share of such an apartment will be 35 percent of the overall cost - £108,500. To be eligible for this, a single purchaser will need to have an income in excess of £48,000 a year, or a couple will need a joint income of £43,000. On top of this, the 65 percent rental share of the agreement will add a further £462 per month to the bill. As well as this, a monthly service charge of £225 - £241 will be added, along with a £30 a month rental fee for a parking space - or a one - off outright purchase payment of £10,000. If this was not enough, the apartments come with a 250 year leasehold, which has a ground rent of £100 per year. This to me does not in any way sound affordable. If you would like to refer to the price list and buyer requirements, then please click here to see the complete cost breakdown of all of the apartments; unfortunately information regarding the town houses behind the apartments does not appear to be available at the time of writing. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photos above were taken on Friday afternoon in the former Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road. A charity art exhibition, followed by an auction of the exhibits is currently taking place. Art is to be sold at auction on Saturday the 1st December, produced by members of the Centrepieces mental health arts project. Hosted by The Exchange. The exhibition is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 3pm, prior to the auction of the exhibits next Saturday, The Exchange say of the exhibition:- "Join us for the 18th Annual Exhibition and Auction of artwork created by artists from Centrepieces Mental Health Arts Project. The event raises money to help keep the organisation running, with 50% of sales going to the artists who are members of Centrepieces, all of whom have experienced mental health problems. This year’s Auction will take place at The Exchange on Saturday 01 December, with previewing times to be advertised leading up to the auction. Advanced bids can be made if people are unable to make the auction date. Centrepieces was founded in 1999 by a group of artists with mental health issues, living in Bexley and the surrounding areas. Originally established with a £5,000 Millennium Award from the National Lottery, Centrepieces was for many years supported by the Crayford Centre, which was part of the local mental health services. It moved in June 2014 to new premises in the Lodge at Hall Place in Bexley, financially supported by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. Today, Centrepieces consists of 120 artists, many of whom volunteer to help run the project. Centrepieces exists to promote mental health recovery through the arts, creating opportunities for people to take part in art activities, and to exhibit and sell their work; it also tries to promote a better understanding of mental health in the wider public". This is the first public event to be held in the former library, which is currently undergoing conversion into a community centre / arts hub and bar / cafe operated by The Exchange. In December there will be a series of "Pop - Up Cinema" events - more on this next week.

As regular readers may be aware, I keep a close eye on the activities of Havering Borough Council, the London borough on the opposite side of the River Thames to the London Borough of Bexley. Havering is a borough with a very similar geographic layout, an almost identical population demographic, and very similar challenges to Bexley, but it seems to me that Havering seem to do far better in terms of management of resources than Bexley do; it has just been announced that proposals for what is likely to be one of the biggest road and pavement improvement programmes of any London borough have been published this week -  in direct response to what residents say is a major issue. In the 2019/20 budget proposals Havering Council is setting out plans to spend £30 million over the next three years on resurfacing roads and pavements and fixing potholes. This will be a significant increase on the current (2018/19) budget of £3.2 million. The proposed investment in improving Havering’s roads and pavements will see approximately 7.5 miles of roads being resurfaced, that's equivalent to the distance between Romford and the Olympic Park at Stratford, as the crow flies. In addition around 1,000 potholes will be repaired each year. Around 8.8 miles of pavements will also be resurfaced, that’s more than double the distance of the Grand National. The £30m proposed investment comes on top of a multi-million pound investment in sport and leisure facilities in 2018/19 which has already seen the Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre open in Romford, with a new leisure centre and swimming pool due to open in Hornchurch in 2020. As part of the budget, Havering plans to maintain a weekly refuse collection for residents even when some councils have moved to a monthly collection. Around £250,000 has also been earmarked to improve CCTV to improve community safety. Councillor Damian White, the Leader of the Havering Council said in a recent interview:- "People told us that the quality of care and support for vulnerable people is incredibly important to them – we are protecting spend in that area. People told us that they are worried about the quality of roads and pavements – we are investing significantly to improve them. People told us that, even though we have less crime than most London boroughs, they are worried about safety after dark which is why we are planning to increase investment in better CCTV. People told us that the quality of refuse collection is important – we are one of a minority of councils to retain a weekly collection when others have moved to a fortnightly or even a monthly collection. This is a council that listens to our residents and acts in their best interests.” A somewhat different and refreshing approach when compared to Bexley Council.

Last July I wrote a fairly extensive article on the rather sensationalist leaflet which had been posted through the doors of residents of certain roads in Erith and Slade Green. The leaflet was a reaction to the proposed Bexley regeneration consultation project, which made local headlines last year. You can read the original article by clicking here. Since then, the person(s) behind the leaflet and the website Slade Green Together have been silent - the last update on their website is dated the 21st July 2017. Thus far none of their lurid claims have come to pass, and it has become increasingly evident that the sensationalist leaflet campaign and the website were nothing more than some well - meaning scaremongering. I think that whilst we always need to be vigilant against the more strenuous activities of Bexley Council, in this case the reaction was somewhat disproportionate. The problem is, next time some proposal comes from the council that does not chime well with the local population, there is the danger of a "cry wolf" situation arising.

The critically panned Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" has, as I predicted, defied professional reviewers to take over $411 million on a production budget of $52 million - a remarkable performance. The film is still showing in cinemas, so the gross takings figure is set to increase. It will also do very well when released on Blu Ray and DVD, along with online streaming. The Blu Ray and DVD releases with include around 25 minutes of footage cut from the cinema release - including songs missed from the Live Aid performance which ends the movie. I predict that the physical copy sales of the extended film will be very high indeed. If you have not already seen the movie, I would strongly recommend it.

It was reported last week that The Financial Conduct Authority are finally taking action against companies such as Brighthouse and Perfect Home - "rent to buy" companies which charge customers small amounts each week, from just £3.50, but customers often end up paying back up to three times more than an item is worth. The FCA is also considering banning the sale of extended warranties by BrightHouse and Perfect Home, which could save consumers up to £7.7million per year. BrightHouse's Black Friday sale promotion promises customers its “best deals ever” - but its PS4 bundle with FIFA 19 and Assassins Creed costs more than three times more than buying exactly the same product from Curry's. The APR interest rate Brighthouse quote for the deal is 99.9 percent. I was reading an article recently, in which Karl Dayson, an academic who specialises in the study of affordable finance said that “I can think of no better marker of social deprivation than having a Brighthouse store open in your area”.  If you have not heard of the BrightHouse  stores before, let me explain. Brighthouse are a chain of retailers specialising in household goods such as furniture, washing machines, televisions and cookers. Their unique selling point is that you can purchase goods on credit with no deposit, and with very low weekly repayments. The store is designed to appeal to young families – the aisles between goods on display are wide enough for a child’s buggy to be wheeled easily along them. BrightHouse offer credit to those who would otherwise be unable to qualify for it – mainly people on benefits. This all sounds great – helping those otherwise unable to afford the basics of a home to get what they need. The downside of it is the eye wateringly high interest rates that BrightHouse charges. Several debt charities have expressed dismay at the high charges. A basic washing machine that costs £399 in Curry's will cost £1,560 from Brighthouse, albeit broken down into “affordable” £10 weekly payments at an interest rate of 69.9 percent APR. Just like the notorious pay day lenders, the poorer you are, the more you pay for goods and services. Debt advisor Anne Young, who has advised many former Brighthouse customers said “These companies are preying on people who cannot afford to go anywhere else. I do think that they are robbing the poor, when you look at their prices. They are charging a ridiculous amount for goods you can buy on the high street for a third of the price”.  To give an example, a small television which costs £99.99 in Argos would cost a total of £606.84 paid over a total of 156 weeks. BrightHouse argue that their TV is covered against malfunction and accidental damage over the course of the repayment period, but this needs to be set against the fact that you could buy six similar televisions for that amount of money elsewhere. BrightHouse claim that if you can find an identical product anywhere on the high street, that they will match the price. This is actually quite difficult, as BrightHouse have a lot of “own name” brands, such as Baird; these are simply not available anywhere else; they also include a number of options that other retailers on the high street don’t, and the pricing structure is so bewilderingly complex that direct comparison is rather difficult. They plan to open another four hundred stores to add to the 288 that they currently operate, which are usually located in areas with high levels of poverty. The demographic for BrightHouse customers is fairly straightforward; a majority are women between 26 and 45 years of age; they earn less than £13,000 a year, and around fifty percent are receiving at least part of their income in the form of benefits. You can really view BrightHouse as a cross between somewhere like Argos and loan company – and its’ customers are overwhelmingly people who do not qualify for a credit card or score too lowly for a conventional, lower interest loan. The kind of goods that the company sells (furniture / consumer electronics) do tend to depreciate over the course of the loan period, to the point that by the time the loan is fully paid off, the goods are essentially worthless. On top of this, BrightHouse have a policy of repossessing goods if payments are not met, even if the customer is only one or two payments away from completing the purchase. Normally a court order is required to repossess goods when more than a third of the credit payments have already been met. BrightHouse have a nasty habit of sending round bailiffs without such legal niceties – exploiting the fact that many of their customers are ignorant of the law. All in all, BrightHouse succeed because they can – their target customer does not qualify for a loan from a conventional source, and is not aware of low cost resources such as credit unions. They rely on the customer being sucked in to the colourful, brightly lit and shiny shop with the promise of low repayments, even if they do end up paying for what seems like half a lifetime. The appeal of the “here and now” rather than waiting and saving to buy from a store that offers no credit, but a consequently far lower purchase price is something that BrightHouse encourage – many of their customers have little academic education, and don’t necessarily realise that they may only be paying back a tenner or so a week for their flat screen television, but doing so for several years means it is costing them a pile more money than it should. In my opinion, BrightHouse operate a legal business; whether they operate a moral one is open to debate. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

One subject that is allied to the piece on BrightHouse is the whole vexed subject of people on a low income who have a very large flat screen television. Some academic studies have been carried out on the subject, and the results have been actually quite surprising. It has been noted for some years that wealthier, middle class people tend to have fewer televisions in their houses, and they tend to be older models with smaller screens.  The reason for this is thought to be that middle class people generally spend less time watching the television, as they are likely to attend theatre, cinema, sports and the arts, as well as eating out and socialising on a regular basis. The television is regarded as an incidental item. Researchers found that people with lower incomes tend to be more home – centric; their social lives are more likely to revolve around their living rooms and the television; they tend not to go out much, and when they do, it is more likely to be local to them – to a friend or neighbour living nearby. Thus they place a far higher value on items for the home like a large television or games console, which is their principle source of leisure and entertainment. This certainly seems to make sense – and would no doubt drive the Daily Mail into a frenzy should it come across the story.  I suppose that there are exceptions to this though;  the world has changed greatly in the last decade or so; fast broadband connections mean that all sorts of media content can be streamed to the home; you no longer need to go to the inconvenience of a cinema visit, when you can see the movie in full HD quality in the comfort of your own home. I personally have little time for the theatre, and all of the hassle that it entails. I do like a live gig every so often, but nowadays it has to be something really special to entice me out of Pewty Acres on a cold and wintery evening.

The striking photo above was sent to me by a reader who prefers to remain anonymous. It shows the view out over the River Thames from one of the apartments above the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, complete with an accompanying rainbow. The photo was shot from above the Erith Riverside Fish and Steak Restaurant - a lovely venue with some great food. The problem, as I have stated before, is that the restaurant is very under - used. I was talking to a reader last week, and he and a small group of friends visited the restaurant on a recent Friday evening - apart from his group, the place was empty, at what many would consider to be potentially their busiest time. It would seem that the fish and chip takeaway side of the business is doing adequately, but the sit down restaurant business is struggling - I have walked past on multiple occasions to see the place empty at times when one would expect it to be bustling. It is a great shame, as my own experience eating in the Riverside Fish and Steak Restaurant was extremely good. I think part of the problem is that Erith residents don't go out to socialise in the town in the evening. If they want to go for a drink and something to eat, they go to Bluewater, Dartford or Bexleyheath - the evening socialisation culture just does not currently exist locally. It does not help that Erith town centre does not have a pub worthy of the name - The Running Horses in Erith High Street is a shadow of its former self that struggles on with a small handful of customers, as I have written about at some length in the past. If a new owner would come along and invest in the run - down establishment, I feel that it would do much to reinvigorate the place, but I don't see this happening any time soon.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a report from Barnehurst ward:- "One crime of note to report this week which is a burglary. On Thursday 15th November in Westfield Road between 12.30am – 6.30am. Suspect(s) have entered a semi-detached property whilst the occupiers were sleeping. Tool marks were discovered on the front UPVC porch door and the suspects have used the wheelie bin belonging to the property to aid climbing into the back garden, the rear French doors were found to be open. Property taken was a bag containing an iPad and personal documents. It is believed that suspect(s) were looking for the keys to the car parked on the driveway. If you are able, try and store all wheelie bins in the back garden, consider using a padlock and chain to secure to a fence or wall away from the house. Traditionally burglaries increase country wide this time of year, with Christmas approaching and the darker nights. Let's not make it easy for them. Secure your property as best you can, always double lock UPVC doors and windows. The team will be happy to pay you a visit to offer crime prevention advice. We will be holding a series of street briefings over the coming weeks to reach as many people as possible in regards to crime prevention. Invites will be delivered by the team a couple of days prior to the event informing residents of time and location. Please follow us on twitter @MPSBarnehurst for all the latest updates and crime prevention advice". Belvedere ward:-"After our recent ward panel meeting, it was decided that the team will be concentrating our efforts around burglary, road safety/ traffic and also ASB (Anti-Social behaviour) offences. This week the team have been making enquiries in relation to the recent burglary in Lower Road, calling at neighbouring properties in an effort to gain CCTV images of those responsible. There were further burglaries on the ward at the start of the week, on Sunday 18th in Heron Hill and Monday 19th in Ripley Road. PC Holmes has assisted officers from the neighbouring Erith ward in dealing with an assault in Erith Town centre and a shoplifter in Erith shopping centre. The team attended a strategy meeting with Bexley Council in relation to a troubled youth who lives on the ward. This was a positive meeting with various plans put in place to assist and provide support to the youth and his family. As a follow up to the recent warrants undertaken by the team, PC Holmes this week interviewed 3 people in relation to drugs offences. All three gave full admissions and were given cautions". Bexleyheath ward:- "We have had a burglary reported that happened on Monday 19/11/2018 along Dorothy Evans Close Bexleyheath, a rear window was smashed to gain entry to the property. Also, on Tuesday 20/11/2018 – there was another burglary reported along Latham Road Bexleyheath with little information. We have had received information recently that one resident had heard a bang at the front of their property and had noticed a male running away early hours in the morning. If you do notice any suspicious behaviour, please make sure Police are called.Saturday 17/11/2018 – There was a report of theft along the Broadway Bexleyheath. Saturday 17/11/2018 – Theft from motor vehicle along Highfield Road Bexleyheath. Items taken from inside the vehicle. There was an arrest made for possession of cannabis in the Marriott Car Park, also a vehicle was stopped with no insurance. The team conduct regular hi-visibility patrols. Also patrols are conducted in the car park areas and the Broadway to reduce anti-social behaviour including Martens Grove Park. We also attended the Christmas Tree Lights being turned on along the Broadway recently. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. Remember, in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "We are sorry to report there has been an increase in burglary in the Crayford area this last week. Between 19.30 on Friday 16th November and 18.30 on Monday 19th November a burglary occurred at Hall Place Crescent. The property had been locked and secure and entry was made via a rear bedroom window, an untidy search and unknown at this stage what may be missing. On Monday 19th November between 11.00-16.00 entry was made to a property in Crayford Way by smashing a rear patio door, items had been disturbed within the property, it is believed the suspect (s) were disturbed. There have been two burglaries in Green Walk. The first occurred between 07.00-20.25 on Monday 19th November, the victim came home to find the kitchen window open and signs of entry, rooms had been disturbed but at the time of reporting it was unclear if anything had been stolen. The second occurred between 07.30 on Friday 16th November and 07.30 on Tuesday 20th November, the victim came home to find a front window open, entry was via the rear kitchen window and jewellery was stolen. Please make your home look like someone is at home, lights on, timer lights, 'fake TV', radio on are just a few suggestions. Ensure windows and doors are securely closed and locked. Maybe consider having CCTV or a burglar alarm installed. For more information please look at www.met.police.uk. A silver Honda 125 was stolen from a rear garden in Marden Crescent overnight on Thursday 15th November. A large quantity of food items were stolen from Greggs on Friday 16th November at 14.40. The suspect was described as a white Female wearing a burgundy track suit and she had a baby in a pram with her. Body panels, front number plate, front grill and front bumper were stolen from a van parked in Glebelands between 20.45 pm Thursday 15th November and 06.30 on Friday 16th November. A silver Citroen Berlingo LV68KPE was stolen from the forecourt of Wilmoths Citroen Dealership in London Road, it was noted that the keys had been stolen too, they had been in the showroom. On Friday 16th November number plates ML09UPV were stolen from a vehicle parked in Mill Place. The correct vehicle they should be attached to is a white Vauxhall Combo 1700. There have been many reports of anti-social behaviour by youths in the town centre, riding bicycles at people and traffic, throwing stones, taking what is not theirs, abusive and intimidating behaviour. This is not acceptable and we would like to identify these young people to make their parents aware. We are also reviewing CCTV and will refer these youths for intervention once identified". Erith ward:- "Burglary on Bexley Road. A male entered front door and stole cash, we have spoken to all residents in this area and gave them some advice. We have been working with Bexley collage and have some joint plans for later in the year. Remember people have started Christmas shopping so if you have, make sure you do not leave items on show when you leave the house and overnight or even in your car. You will see us in Erith High Street a lot in the run up to Christmas so make sure you say hello. Crime this week - Criminal Damage U£500 Tuesday 30/10/2018 Butler Drive - By unknown suspects smashing Victims vehicle rear window. Shoplift <£200 Thursday 15/11/2018 16:25:00 Erith High Street - Suspect hit victim on the legs with a walking stick due to being annoyed with his playing; Theft of cycle Friday 16/11/2018 Avenue Road - By unknown suspect(s) removing pedal cycle from venue without consent of owner; Making off Saturday 17/11/2018 15:36:00 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way; Burg Res Friday 09/11/2018, Lower Road – entered through back door and items stolen; C/Dam Vehicle U£500 Saturday 17/11/2018 Park Crescent; Shoplift <£200 Saturday 17/11/2018, Erith High Street – goods taken; Criminal Damage U £500 Wednesday 20/11/2018 West Street – car window smashed; Theft Thursday 21/11/2018, St Johns Road - Unknown suspects have climbed through an open window and conducted an untidy search whereby property have been taken. Our next Contact Session is Wednesday 28th November 1300 - 1400 at Costa Coffee, Erith. Feel free to pop along".

Northumberland Heath ward:- "The team have been conducting violent crime disorder patrols throughout the weekend, specifically targeted in hotspot areas across Erith. This has been a proactive and preventative initiative by Bexley Police and not in response to any specific intelligence or incident in the area. During the patrols, PC Smith from the North Heath team arrested an elderly male, who had struck a young child with a walking stick in the Riverside Shopping Centre. This matter was fully investigated and the male was reported for common assault and he has received a Community Resolution as a result of this. We also spent much of the weekend patrolling through Northumberland Heath's current ASB and crime hotspot area's. In all of the areas patrolled, late into the evening's all appeared well. We have unfortunately had a few incidents of note reported this last week. Residential burglary in Mortimer Close on 17/11/2018 between 12pm - 10pm. A glass panel at the rear of the property has been smashed and entry gained. An untidy search of the entire property has taken place and mainly jewellery items and some cash has been stolen. Attempted burglary in Avenue Road on 17/11/2018 between 4:30pm – 8:30pm. An attempt has been made to force entry to the side door of the property. The house alarm which sounded appears to have disrupted the offenders and no entry was gained. Two further burglaries have also been reported in Brook Street and Eastry Road but both appear to be of a civil dispute in nature and no property appears to have been taken. A van has been broken into and tools stolen from within on Frinsted Road at some points between 19th – 20th November.  A suspicious incident of robbery / GBH has also been reported to have taken place in Hind Crescent on 18/11/2018 at approximately 12:30am. If you have any information in relation to any of these incidents please report this to the police and continue to be vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour or activity you see. . I would like to also remind you that the Bexley SNB/ BCSP public meeting on ‘tackling violent crime' is being held at King Henry School, Avenue Road on 29/11/2018 between 7pm to 9pm". Slade Green and Northend ward - no reports this week. Thamesmead East ward:- "Good News Story - On Thursday 15/10/18 PC Nana came across 2 youths with 2 motorbikes the two males made off, leaving behind one bike they were unable to get started. Also left at the scene was personal property belonging to the suspects these have been sent to forensics. On Friday 16/11/18 Working in partnership with Peabody wardens 2 stolen bikes were recovered victims updated. Wednesday 14/11/18 between 10pm-2am Theft of Number Plates Kale Road; Friday 16/11/18 Burglary Turnberry Close between 5-9pm Entry through rear UPVC door; Saturday 17/11/18 between 10pm-11am Theft of Number Plates Kale Road; Tuesday 20/11/18 between 3am-12pm Criminal Damage Hinksey Path to fence panel". West Heath ward:- "During the week commencing 14th November we have been working with our neighbouring teams to carry out high visibility burglary patrols across our three wards. The ward has had one attempted burglary - in Leckwith Avenue on Wednesday 14th November at 0430 hours. The house alarm was activated whilst the residents were sleeping. On Wednesday 14th November between 0529 – 0530 hours in Axminster Crescent a vehicle and keys were stolen, entry was gained via an insecure door. Between 1955 – 2015 on Friday 16th November in Lodge Hill patio doors to the property were smashed, an untidy search was conducted and jewellery stolen. In Leckwith Avenue on Monday 12th November between 0500 – 1430 hours a vehicle had its windscreen smashed. Between 0100 – 0430 hours a vehicle was stolen in Gypsy Road, no keys were taken. Our next community contact session will be on Friday 30th November in Brampton Road between 3 – 4pm. We look forward to speaking to you about any issues which may be of concern to you".

Further to my prediction in the summer that the Metropolitan Police were about to change their strategy when dealing with motorbike and scooter criminals, an announcement was made on Friday in this respect. Normally I never feature stories that have made the national news, as there is no point in duplicating information from other, more professional sources, but in this case the story was actually broken locally, and historically only later became of national importance. It just goes to show that something that originally started as a local crime and anti social behaviour issue centred around Thamesmead, Abbey Wood, and Lower Belvedere but now creates interest nationally. In an interview published by Time 107.5 FM on Friday, the following information was made public:- The head of the Met’s Operation Venice Team says they will be pursued even when they ride dangerously and discard their helmets. Moped crime has been in the headlines after a spike in the last few years. Police say there’s been a large reduction with 44 percent fewer moped crimes January 2018 to October 2018 than the same 10 months of 2017. There was also a 38 percent drop in moped thefts in the same period. Police say moped crime can happen at any time of the day or night. Victims are often targeted as they come out of tube stations or at transport hubs. Thieves also snatch handbags, high-value watches, and other items. Police are using a range of tactics across Greater London to tackle offenders, including DNA "Smart Water" forensic tagging and the use of automatic tyre deflation devices. Commander Amanda Pearson said: “There is a perception that if you remove your helmet or fail to stop for police when requested to do so we will not take any further course of action. This is untrue. The public quite rightly expects us to intervene to keep London safe. Our highly trained police drivers weigh up the risks and decide upon the most appropriate tactics in those circumstances.  Offenders on mopeds and motorcycles who attempt to evade the police are making a choice that puts themselves and others at risk. So our message is clear: we can, we will and we do target those involved in moped and motorcycle crime at every opportunity.” Footage released on Friday by the Met shows the tactics that specially trained drivers are able to use to reduce the need for pursuits and prevent injury occurring to offenders and members of the public. You can see the results in the video embedded below. Metropolitan Police drivers successfully ramming scumbag illegal scooter and motorbike riders off the road - something that they should have been allowed to do a very long time ago. I just wish they would adopt best practice from the Brazilian Police. In parts of Brazil, If an illegal bike rider does not come to a halt immediately upon order, the Police ram the bike off the road, then reverse back over the rider just to make sure the job is properly done. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The end of Brighthouse.

I am a regular user of local buses. Overall the service, especially on the 99 route is pretty good, with a double decker bus arriving every ten minutes or so. The current Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 buses that run on the route are more modern, spacious and comfortable that their predecessors. One thing that has definitely changed for the worse has nothing to do with the bus technology; it has for more to do with the behaviour of the passengers. In years gone by, waiting people would form an orderly queue, with the person who had been waiting the longest at the front. Nowadays this seems to largely have been forgotten. People cluster around the bus stop in no particular order and then there is usually a bustle when people try to get on. It all seems very uncivilised. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Following on from my recent article on the project to help and support Bexley's homeless people, I have been supplied with an update. Both the News Shopper and the Bexley Times have covered the story to some extent or another, and the Bexley Times is leading with an article that say the number of rough sleepers in the borough has doubled in the last year, albeit from a very low number. I have been sent the following announcement from Transform Bexley Borough, the ecumenical networking organisation for churches in the Borough:- "We are thrilled that the Bexley WINTER NIGHT SHELTER has now been up and running for its first two weeks. Attendance began at zero, then increased to 4, 5 and by the end of the first week 9 men had accessed the shelter with up to 7 men on any one night. 14 had been assessed and 1 housed. Approximately 35 churches have been involved and 130+ volunteers. We are amazed and thrilled at how this project has been taken up by churches right across the Borough, and very thankful to our Great God. Any further donations of clothing etc. must be advised beforehand as the shelter has run out of storage space (please don't leave any donations at a venue). Essentially the project has been blessed with all the materials required – thank you so much. All enquiries should be directed to Melvyn French, the Winter Night Shelter co-ordinator, at m.french7@btinternet.com / 020 8304 9669." On top of this information, another social welfare project known as XL Mentoring has been announced:- "XL-Mentoring Bexley Project is targeted specifically at young people living in difficult circumstances between the ages of 11 and 18, and may be on the verge of exclusion or excluded, and/or at risk of involvement or already involved in crime or anti-social behaviour. It is important to note that this is not a generic mentoring project and may only offered to those young people who fulfil certain criteria. The overall aim of this project is to see disadvantaged young people making wise life-style choices and positively contributing to their families, communities and society. XLM-Bexley will identify and evaluate candidate young people to take part in the project in consultation with other agencies. Home visits with each of the candidate's families will then be undertaken to further explain the project, and look for approval for the candidate to participate. It will identify and evaluate mentors drawn from the local community, who will receive training and be matched with a young person. These mentors will commit for a minimum of 12 months to build and sustain a relationship with a young person and their family and provide a consistent and inspirational role model. Mentors will meet their young person for 2 hours per week for a minimum of thirty 1-2-1 sessions over a 12-month period and have further limited contact, often via text, in between. In addition, they will also attend outdoor activity and day excursions with their young person arranged by XLM on an ongoing basis. There are now many XLM projects around the country, in many South London Boroughs and in towns and cities elsewhere. Training and support is provided by XLM-National, and each project is autonomous with a co-ordinator. XLM-Bexley is now up and running with a coordinator (Billy-Jo O’Leary) and is at the stage of recruiting the first mentors to train for a pilot year. The pilot project is coming under TBB (Transform Bexley Borough) and is being incubated at BCLC (Bexley Christian Life Centre) in Bexleyheath, which is providing the oversight, insurance and safeguarding policies and procedures."

Another "Before and after" photo supplied courtesy of local historian Martin Barnes, who is currently working on developing a new and exciting web project, which I will be covering in detail in the future. It is quite interesting that I have almost given no coverage to the McDonald's drive through fast food outlet as seen in the "now" photo above, when the restaurant is incredibly popular and gets visited by hundreds of hungry diners every day. In truth, I am not a fan of American style fast food, and I have only visited the burger outlet three times in all of the time I have been living in Erith - which is now just over twenty years. I find their sugary, fatty food tends to give me rampant indigestion. Having said that, whilst researching McDonald's for this weeks blog, I did discover that two new burgers are being launched for a limited time, and the Erith restaurant will be one of the locations chosen to promote the customised sandwiches.  McDonald's has begun rolling out mini and mega versions of the Big Mac. The classic Big Mac is constructed with two 1/10lb all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun. By contrast, the Mac Jr is made with a single 1/6lb patty and the Grand Mac is made with two 1/6lb patties. The two new sizes of the Big Mac will be available for a few weeks in early 2017. Whether they stay on the menu permanently will depend on sales. The Mac Jr has 460 calories and the Grand Mac has 860. You can see details of the original Big Mac, and both the Junior and the Grand Mac below. Click on the image for a larger version.

You can see a short video review of the three versions of the Big Mac below. Personally they look pretty unappetising to me, but I know that a lot of people really enjoy them on occasion.  The only McDonald's sandwich that I really like is the Filet O' Fish, but even that has changed over the years; I now find that the bread they use in the buns is far too sweet, and the size of the fish filet has gradually been reduced to the point where it is no more than three or four mouthfuls. A pity as it used to be a relatively healthy and tasty choice. I think I would be better off making one of my favourite light lunches at home - the classic fish finger sandwich, but I digress. What do you think about McDonald's in general, and the Erith store in particular? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Last week the Metropolitan Police instigated a firearms amnesty in an attempt to get more illegal weapons off the streets of Greater London. As well as this, more than 800 illegal firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition have been seized by counter-terrorism police and the National Crime Agency in just four weeks in a major crackdown to prevent extremists obtaining guns.  The weapons seized include a fully-loaded AK47 assault rifle, a Skorpion sub-machine gun and 200 handguns. Other assault rifles and machineguns were also recovered. A total of 282 people, included registered arms dealers suspected of selling illegal weapons, have been arrested. The large number of firearms seized was hailed by law enforcers as a “significant” success in the battle to prevent terrorists — as well as other criminals — from obtaining weapons and carrying out a marauding Paris-style attack in London or another British city. The total number of guns seized was 833 with the weapons including 11 assault rifles, two machine guns, a sub-machine gun, 99 rifles, 153 shotguns and 200 handguns. The types included Tanfoglio GT32 and Makarov pistols. The operation also led to the seizure of 4,385 rounds of ammunition, as well as 100 other potential weapons, including knives, plus 80kgs of illegal drugs and more than £500,000 in cash. Announcing the huge haul of weapons, Detective Superintendent Nick Wilcox of National Counter Terrorism Policing said in an interview with the London Evening Standard earlier this week that:- “Counter terrorism officers continue to plan and prepare in light of world events such as the attacks in Paris - but we want to remain on the front-foot and stop terrorists obtaining guns in the first place. The discovery of so many illegal weapons will also raise fears about the volume of guns entering the country and the checks applied to those licensed to sell or possess weapons".The UK has some of the strictest gun laws in the world – rifles and shotguns only permitted where the owner has a clear and demonstrable need for them (farmers and gamekeepers are the main demographic) and the weapons have to be stored in a steel cabinet, with separate locked storage for ammunition. This is subject to regular checks by the local Police firearms officer, and a licence can be rescinded at any point. All handguns, with the exception of muzzle loading black powder weapons were banned in 1997, when all legitimate owners had their weapons confiscated, albeit with pretty generous financial compensation. Time for disclosure - I held a Class 1 Firearms certificate and was a licenced pistol shooter until the handgun ban. Even before the handgun ban, the legal and social position of UK shooters was very different from not just the USA, but much of Europe too. Guns and gun ownership was never part of mainstream British culture – unlike France and Germany, for example, where owning a gun for hunting was, and is still pretty common. The USA is a poor comparison as it really stands on its own in the world in being a unique environment where firearm ownership has very light regulation, depending on state. In the past I have had a number of in depth conversations with police firearms officers about the 1997 handgun ban, and its real – life impact on criminal ownership of guns. The consensus was that banning handguns for law abiding hobby shooters did almost nothing to stop criminal use of firearms – in fact, if one uses the Home Office's own figures, the use of handguns in crime has markedly increased since 1997. Illegal weapons are smuggled in from abroad, often from former Soviet Bloc countries, and old, deactivated weapons are re – activated, which quite often means that the gun is as dangerous to the user as the victim – they can, and do explode. Anyway, having established that the situation in the UK regarding legal gun ownership has little parallel with anywhere else. The largest hand gun range in the UK used to be at Stone Lodge in Dartford, very close to Junction One of the M25. Local residents were largely unaware of the place, as it was set in a large dip in the land, and was not visible from the road. It was open seven days a week and had around four thousand active members, myself included. The Police and Royal Protection Squad used to train there as well. After the handgun ban, Dartford Council pulled the lease on the place from the operator, and it was closed down.

Work has now begun on the former White Hart pub / Potion Bar site in Erith High Street, directly opposite the Post Office. The much hated and illegal plate glass frontage has now been removed and work has been started on constructing a very accurate replica of the original Victorian acid etched glass, marble and green glazed tile frontage which has been part of the building until the owners of Potion Bar criminally ripped it out in an act of architectural vandalism during the Summer of 2009. The new owners of the building are doing the responsible thing and restoring the historic building to how it looked in the early 20th Century. The terrible weather in the past week has not really helped the construction workers, and progress on the replica frontage has been understandably slow. I hope to have further coverage regarding this in the weeks to come. The image above shows the new floor layout of the inside of The White Hart, thanks to Martin Barnes for supplying it - much appreciated. It would seem that in addition to a couple of flats on the upper levels of the building, the ground floor will be a bar, contrary to s number of local rumours. Hopefully more details in the near future.

On Friday afternoon I was strolling along Bexleyheath Broadway on my way to Welling to visit the excellent specialist shoe shop - The Wide Shoe Shop. In future I will be featuring an article on this outstanding family run business which has been based in Welling for decades, but I digress. As I walked down the Broadway, a sign in the window of the Brighthouse store grabbed my attention. It said that the Bexleyheath Brighthouse store will be permanently closing on the 25th of March, and that customers will have to take their business to other Brighthouse stores in future. I was elated to discover that this pariah of the low waged has been forced out of Bexleyheath. After carrying out some research, it would appear that the whole Brighthouse company is in danger of going bust. The struggling rent-to-own electricals chain has made a bid for survival by offering permanent reform of its controversial practices in talks with lending watchdogs. The company, owned by private equity firm Vision Capital, has submitted a detailed business plan to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in an attempt to ward off circling bondholders who are preparing for the worst. The FCA is due to scrutinise the plan and assess whether Brighthouse should be allowed to continue to lend on the basis of it. The situation is increasingly urgent for the chain, with quarterly rent payments on its 311 stores looming at the end of March, and its heavy debts due to be called in. Brighthouse’s finances are under strain from temporary lending rules agreed with the FCA that force it to carry out more stringent checks on customers’ credit history before lending to them. The guidelines also bar it from issuing punitive late payment charges. As I have previously written,  the definitive indicator that a town has gone to the dogs is when Brighthouse move in.  I was reading an article recently, in which Karl Dayson, an academic who specialises in the study of affordable finance said that “I can think of no better marker of social deprivation than having a Brighthouse store open in your area”.  If you have not heard of the Brighthouse stores before, let me explain. Brighthouse are a chain of retailers specialising in household goods such as furniture, washing machines, televisions and cookers. Their unique selling point is that you can purchase goods on credit with no deposit, and with very low weekly repayments. The store is designed to appeal to young families – the aisles between goods on display are wide enough for a child’s buggy to be wheeled easily along them. Brighthouse offer credit to those who would otherwise be unable to qualify for it – mainly people on benefits. This all sounds great – helping those otherwise unable to afford the basics of a home to get what they need. The downside of it is the eye wateringly high interest rates that Brighthouse charges. Several debt charities have expressed dismay at the high charges. A basic washing machine that costs £399 in Curry's will cost £1,560 from Brighthouse, albeit broken down into “affordable” £10 weekly payments at an interest rate of 69.9 per cent APR. Just like the notorious payday lenders, the poorer you are, the more you pay for goods and services. Debt advisor Anne Young, who has advised many former Brighthouse customers said “These companies are preying on people who cannot afford to go anywhere else. I do think that they are robbing the poor, when you look at their prices. They are charging a ridiculous amount for goods you can buy on the high street for a third of the price”.  To give an example, a small television which costs £99.99 in Argos would cost a total of £606.84 paid over a total of 156 weeks. Brighthouse argue that their TV is covered against malfunction and accidental damage over the course of the repayment period, but this needs to be set against the fact that you could buy six similar televisions for that amount of money elsewhere.  Brighthouse claim that if you can find an identical product anywhere on the high street, that they will match the price. This is actually quite difficult, as Brighthouse have a lot of “own name” brands, such as Baird; these are simply not available anywhere else; they also include a number of options that other retailers on the high street don’t, and the pricing structure is so bewilderingly complex that direct comparison is rather difficult. Brighthouse were looking to aggressively expand their stores – although they have definitely taken a battering in Bexleyheath, and with the current news of their dire finances, I feel it will be unlikely they will survive in their current form. The demographic for Brighthouse customers is fairly straightforward; a majority are women between 26 and 45 years of age; they earn less than £13,000 a year, and around fifty percent are receiving at least part of their income in the form of benefits. You can really view Brighthouse as a cross between somewhere like Argos and loan company – and its’ customers are overwhelmingly people who do not qualify for a credit card or score too lowly for a conventional, lower interest loan. The kind of goods that the company sells (furniture / consumer electronics) do tend to depreciate over the course of the loan period, to the point that by the time the loan is fully paid off, the goods are essentially worthless. On top of this, Brighthouse have a policy of repossessing goods if payments are not met, even if the customer is only one or two payments away from completing the purchase. Normally a court order is required to repossess goods when more than a third of the credit payments have already been met. Brighthouse have a nasty habit of sending round bailiffs without such legal niceties – exploiting the fact that many of their customers are ignorant of the law. All in all, Brighthouse succeed because they can – their target customer does not qualify for a loan from a conventional source, and is not aware of low cost resources such as credit unions. They rely on the customer being sucked into the colourful, brightly lit and shiny shop with the promise of low repayments, even if they do end up paying for what seems like half a lifetime. The appeal of the “here and now” rather than waiting and saving to buy from a store that offers no credit, but a consequently far lower purchase price is something that Brighthouse encourage – many of their customers have little academic education, and don’t necessarily realise that they may only be paying back a tenner or so a week for their 3D television, but doing so for several years means it is costing them a pile more money than it should. In my opinion, Brighthouse operate a legal business; whether they operate a moral one is open to debate. At least the residents of Bexleyheath will no longer have to suffer potentially being ripped off by making a purchase from the hated Brighthouse. Roll on the 25th of March and the final closure of the store. I feel sorry for the store workers who will lose their jobs, but I think that any redundant workers would be able to sleep better at night when working for a more ethical employer in the future. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph at the end of last week, a spokesperson for Brighthouse said that it would shut 28 stores before the next rent demands are due, saying “part of our plan requires us to be leaner and more cost effective”. I predict that Brighthouse will cease to exist in its' current form within the next quarter, and I for one will not be sorry to see it go.

Regular readers may recall that i wrote some time ago that your TV or other smart devices that you may have in your home can spy on you; voice recognition systems used to control smart TV's have to "listen out" for potential voice commands, and thus have to monitor all sounds in their vicinity - which can be a potential security risk.  Until recently this has all been rather theoretical, until news broke earlier this week that Chinese owned and American operated discount TV manufacturer Vizio had been prosecuted for spying on its customers. America's trade watchdog, the FTC, said today the payment will settle a complaint filed by the state of New Jersey accusing Vizio of violating privacy regulations: the business had collected the viewing habits of 11 million television sets throughout the country without warning or permission. According to the state attorney general's federal complaint, from February 2014 to March 2016, Vizio noted down exactly what its customers were watching and then resold all those records as summaries to third parties – which were mostly advertising companies. The usage data was not only collected while customers were watching over-the-air or cable TV broadcasts, but also when they were watching DVDs or streaming video from websites and web video services like Netflix. Vizio harvested surveillance on people and their families so precise, it knew exactly what viewers were watching, second by second, and even took copies of the watched video, according to prosecutors. Additionally, Vizio resold summaries of personal information about its customers it had gathered, including age, marital status, and household income, to advertisers without consent. Vizio were fined $2.2 million and ordered to delete any customer information it collected before March 1, when it began to notify people of the data theft. The settlement deal also allows the FTC to extract heavier penalties from Vizio in the future if it is found to be collecting and reselling personal data without first getting clear permission from customers. It is my opinion that this kind of behaviour is going to become increasingly common worldwide.

A number of stories have come to light relating to the possible future of Erith landmark building, and nowadays a bit of an eyesore, Electricity House; I had hoped to feature a guest written piece on the building, and what has been going on behind the scenes, but for a number of reasons it will have to wait until another edition. A previously unpublicised factor that may influence the potential sale and redevelopment of Electricity House is the news that the company that has a virtual monopoly of mobile phone transceiver mast sites in the UK (including the extensive antenna farm located on the roof of Electricity House) is itself up for sale. UK cellular tower and TV mast radio specialist Arqiva has been put up for sale with an optimistic price of between £5bn and £6bn, but its two core areas of business both have question marks hovering over them. Any mobile tower company taking a long hard look at 5G has to decide if it can get heavily into a new class of platform for small cells – notably cutting deals with smaller street furniture such as street lighting, rather than building brand new towers, or upgrading existing ones often sitting on top of buildings such as electricity House. It’s not so much that the existing macro cell towers are going away, just that the will not grow as before. Arqiva, so much a dominant force in the UK, that it might be considered a monopoly, has the additional problem of owning all the digital terrestrial TV masts in the UK, just as long term doubts have emerged over linear TV. Arqiva are currently up for sale for a reported £5 - £6 billion, with undisclosed, but large capital debts on top. Arqiva's current owners are two conservative investors, who opt for businesses with guaranteed high returns at low risks - the Australian investment bank Macquarie and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board – and they have decided to throw in the towel now, and have put the business on the market. The truth is that the weakened British Pound gives those who show their investments in Australian or Canadian dollars an asset on their books which appears to be declining rapidly now rather than over the coming years, due to currency fluctuation – so there is a feeling that they wish to get out with the value intact before the British Pound goes down even further. I would estimate that the Electricity House mast site generates roughly £100,000 a year for the building freeholder, undoubtedly the largest source of rental income from the building - which in any case is now worth far less than the land that it stand on. The building is definitely on borrowed time, and it will be instructive to see what happens over the next couple of years.

The end video this week features local, Kent based sea shanty group "Swinging the Lead" who perform all around Europe at folk and cultural festivals. In the video below you can see them performing at the Rotterdam Shanty Festival, singing a shanty about the Woolwich Ferry! Great stuff and very funny. I have to declare an interest here. band member Colin G3VTT (the chap wearing the cap with the impressive moustache) and I have known each other for very many years - I first met him when he was a transmitter engineer on Radio Caroline. We lost touch thereafter, only to bump into each other back in 1996, when I started evening classes to work towards passing the Radio Amateurs Examination (RAE) and Colin was the tutor! A small world. I never realised what a fine singing voice he has. Listen for yourself, and leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.