Moat House - a year on.

It is now just over a year since the fire that destroyed the roof and much of the upper storey of Moat House, the affordable rent apartment block in James Watt Way, Erith. The block had been open for less than two months before the fire happened. The block is still empty and covered with scaffolding as you can see in the photo above - click on the photo for a larger view. I have asked for updates from Moat Housing Association and other parties, but information has not been very forthcoming. I understand that the cause of the fire was thought to be down to a faulty voltage inverter on the solar panels installed on the roof of the block, but little if any detail has been released. When I most recently contacted Moat for an update, the only response I got from them was from their public relations department, which read:- "We have been working hard to bring the building back into use. Damage to the building was caused not only by the fire but also by the action taken by the fire brigade who pumped water into the building and the frame to ensure that the fire was fully extinguished. As a result, we have had to wait for the frame of the building to dry out fully before being able to restore the building. Clearly we will be bringing the building back into use as soon as we can and in the meantime we continue to work with Bexley Council to source other accommodation for the residents". This all sounds rather weak and designed to fob off any serious enquiries. Do you know any differently? Drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com in confidence.

I have noticed a number of advertising posters on bus stops and hoardings around the local area over the last few weeks. The posters in question have a banner headline “Amazon are recruiting in Tilbury” and are encouraging local candidates to apply for positions within the expanding company. Putting aside any arguments in respect the working practises and conditions in an Amazon warehouse, one may also wonder why the adverts are appearing in Erith, Lower Belvedere and Northumberland Heath. I think the advertising may be somewhat misplaced; as you may well have experienced in the past, the “find my nearest branch” functionality of many companies websites can sometimes return some rather strange answers when the River Thames is involved. The algorithm that the find function uses in in many cases based on “as the crow flies” distances, rather than practically navigable distances, as this is a far simpler system to implement, and is “just good enough” in many cases. I get the feeling that the advertising agency employed by Amazon drew a circle on a map a number of miles around the location of the new distribution centre in Tilbury, and then rented advertising hoardings in areas contained within the circle.  Many of the jobs currently on offer at the Amazon depot are at the lower end of the salary band, and are likely to appeal to people who are not particularly well off, and quite possibly will not have access to a car. Travelling from the local area to Tilbury by public transport is a slow and quite arduous experience, and one that I feel would deter many people from applying for the roles on offer. It seems to me that Amazon have missed a major point in their targeted advertising. I know that I am not alone in wondering exactly why they had swamped the local area with advertising – it may have been an oversight on the part of their advertising consultants. If you don't have a car and live in Bexley, commuting to Tilbury on a daily basis might as well be Las Vegas. 

In a move that has not surprised many, Bexley Council have extended their trial of the controversial outsourced litter patrols until this time next year. The patrols, run by Kingdom Environmental Ltd were featured using some underhand, if not outright illegal tactics on a BBC Panorama documentary shown earlier this year. It was thought at the time that Bexley would use the findings of the undercover BBC investigation to terminate the Kingdom contract early, but the opposite seems to be the case. In any case, I have doubts about its efficacy; the litter patrols seem to be almost exclusively confined to Bexleyheath Broadway. From what I have been told, when the patrols were extended to Erith and Slade Green, they quickly returned to Bexleyheath after they found slim pickings. They have been termed the “butt police” by some local commenters – which seems to be appropriate, as even Kingdom Environmental’s own statistics show that 94.4 percent of fines were issued for cigarette butts – I guess that this is because they are regarded as “easy pickings” by the enforcement officers. What they are doing about fly tipping and other forms of littering are currently somewhat unclear. It would seem very little. Do you have any experiences regarding the “butt police” – what do you think? 

  

The photos above show the flower beds in the Erith Riverside Gardens. You may recall that these were replanted at great expense some months ago. I expressed my frustration at the time that after all of the new dwarf bushes were planted, they were subsequently not watered during a period of heat heat and absolutely no rain. I am a member of FORGE (Friends of Riverside Gardens Erith) and I raised the matter with them; it turns out that Bexley Council limit what FORGE can do in respect of maintaining the gardens, as the work is outsourced to a private company. I have since discovered that the private company has been cheating the Bexley council tax payer. A well - placed confidential source has passed me some information that leads me to suspect that the contractor was playing more than a little fast and loose in respect of the work they were being paid for in the Riverside Gardens. After a recent audit, it was determined that the contractor had not been weeding the flower beds, and of the 3,000 plants that should have been planted, 1,200 were never planted, and of the 1,800 that were planted, they were not watered, and subsequently approximately ninety percent of them have now died. As you can see in the photos above (click on either for a larger view), all of the plants that are brown are actually dead. The contractor is legally obliged to replace dead and missing plants, and has already been subject to a substantial financial penalty. The remedial work has to be completed by the 1st of December, or a further penalty will be imposed. If they had just done the job properly in the first place, instead of skimping, none of this need have happened. The other problem this highlights is that the prime growing period is in late Spring and early Summer - a time that has now passed. Newly planted bushes may well not thrive if introduced into the flower beds in the Autumn. 

Semi regular Maggot Sandwich contributor Dana Wiffen has, after the recent and ongoing problems with SouthEastern Trains, written the following open letter to his MP, James Brokenshire; I think it may well be of interest, and strike a chord with many readers. See what you think:- "COMMUTERS AND TRAVELLERS TO LONDON BEWARE! Transport Minister Chris Grayling wants to destroy your choice of destination stations into London. I thought the massive engineering work at London Bridge was meant to relieve the pressure on trains being bottle-necked at London Bridge and therefore this would make everyone’s commute into Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and of course London Bridge stations easier. Oh no, Chris Grayling has other ideas, firstly he voices his thoughts that all trains on the Bexleyheath Line should only travel to Cannon Street, then when there is an outcry followed by a protest and petition, he says I probably won’t do that but I may halt services to Victoria Station as they are not as busy as the other routes into London terminuses. Here is a message for Chris Grayling, the Victoria route is busy, many passengers use it to travel to Kings Hospital (Denmark Hill Station) or to Victoria Coach Station (Victoria Train Station). Just because you can get a seat on this service does not mean it is underused, this is how the other services should be! The Transport Minister clearly does not understand the awful conditions suffered by commuters on SE-Trains, with overcrowding, signal failures, and train failures a constant problem. Promised longer trains have not materialised on the Bexleyheath Line and his comments that Crossrail when it opens in 2018, that it will relieve some of the problems and the need for the Victoria trains is ill advised and wrong. Instead of coming out with these crazy ideas, firstly concentrate on getting the London Bridge engineering works completed, then get rid of the useless SE-Train operators and either hand it to a new and better operator or let TFL run it. Improve and expand the choices of destinations to Victoria, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street so that they can be reached from all lines, Woolwich, Bexley and Bexleyheath. Ensure that all commuters are able to travel on clean and on time trains that do not constantly break down and with plenty of carriages. His job is to listen to SE-Commuters who pay a fortune for travelling on poor train services most of the time and not look at ways of saving money and making it more difficult to travel to and from work. He has already lost his Party bucket loads of votes in the last election, would you vote for a party that helps support an operator that provides a useless service, and then threatens to make it even worse for commuters who have to go through even more hell than usual because of the engineering works around London Bridge?" What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

I have had several Emails from readers over the last week asking me why I did not cover the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Marine Offences Act coming into force, which happened last Sunday. To be honest there are a couple of reasons; firstly the event had been extensively covered by the mainstream press - both Sky News (with an absolutely dreadful, badly filmed and very inaccurate piece) and the BBC News (with a far better article that was actually historically and technically accurate) covered the anniversary in some depth. Radio Caroline - the only offshore station to stay on air after the MOA came into force, also ran a series of events to commemorate the passing of the hated bill. Ironically the isolation and operational restrictions the new law brought into force back in 1967 coincided with the most creative and inspiring period in Caroline's history, when they switched from being a top 40 pop station to being Europe's first album station, and created a unique sound which many listeners still feel was their finest period - and something that they have returned to in the present. Secondly, I was only one month old when the MOA came into force, and thus was not best placed to have any involvement in the situation at that time. My involvement in Radio Caroline came far later - in the late 80's / early 90's when things were far different. You can see my photos from my time with the station by clicking here. There is a local historical connection to an offshore radio station, though it was not Caroline. Northumberland Heath based Grooms “The Hygienic Baker”, who began in a shop in West Street in Victorian times, became extremely successful, and later moved into dedicated premises in Belmont Road, Northumberland Heath, where it is to this day. This massive bakery also featured stables for the horses that pulled their vans, along with a tack room and even a forge for their dedicated Farrier. The bakery is still there nowadays, though it is now owned by British Bakeries, and the stables are long gone. Something now little known is that in the mid 1960’s, Rank Hovis McDougall (the company who took over and absorbed Grooms prior to the advent of British Bakeries) were a major sponsor and commercial partner with offshore radio station Radio 390. Radio 390 was located on the abandoned Red Sands sea fort, off the coast of Whitstable. The station was the third enterprise to broadcast from the fort – previously it had been used by Radio Invicta from June 1964 until February 1965, followed by KING Radio from March to September 1965. Both these earlier stations were amateurish affairs, and used a relatively low powered one kilowatt AM transmitter feeding into a rather inefficient antenna system. This meant that their signal was not heard over a wide area, and they struggled to gain a decent audience, and consequently they were largely ignored by advertisers. All this changed with the advent of Radio 390, which was a far more slick and professional organisation, and had both a rather more powerful ten Kilowatt medium wave transmitter (which they told people was actually thirty five Kilowatts, but it wasn't), and a huge and very efficient 297 foot tall vertical antenna mean that the signal of Radio 390 was audible all over London and the South East – the most lucrative market in the UK as far as advertising revenue was concerned. The format of the station was also a complete contrast to that played by the ship based offshore giants – Radio London and Radio Caroline; they both played non – stop pop music. Instead, Radio 390 was firmly targeted at housewives. When regular broadcasts began on the 25th September 1965 at 4pm on a wavelength of 388 Metres (773KHz) the musical format was easy listening, smooth classical and big bands – the first track played was “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller. While other offshore stations had shows lasting two or three hours, Radio 390's schedule contained a number of short programmes. This was more like a BBC schedule than an offshore one. And, although slightly more warm and informal, the presenters had an almost BBC-ish style too, even to the extent that at the end of each show one of the presenters would give a credit (“South Of The Border was introduced by....”) in the manner of a continuity announcer. As Radio 390 grew, other programmes were added to the mix. There was a daily drama serial, “Doctor Paul”, imported from Australia, and bravely scheduled opposite the BBC Light Programme's long-established Mrs. Dale's Diary; and there were shows devoted to musicals, blues, country and light classical music. After only three weeks on the air, the station was receiving some five hundred fan letters a day. By May 1966 National Opinion Polls estimated the station's audience as 2.6 million listeners, a majority of whom were women. This was an absolute goldmine for the advertisers, who flocked to the station in droves. Back in the sixties, it was less common for women, especially once they were married to go out to work; many stayed at home and looked after the children. They had almost complete control over domestic purchases such as brands of food and cleaning materials. The fact that Radio 390 very cleverly targeted this audience meant that advertisers were prepared to pay high rates to get their commercials broadcast; companies that took out ambitious and successful campaigns on Radio 390 included The News of the World, and the magazine Reveille, along with a host of smaller companies, but the biggest of the lot was for Mother’s Pride bread, which was produced by Rank Hovis McDougall in the Northumberland Heath bakery. There is some evidence to suggest that the advertising campaign and programme sponsorship on Radio 390 was so extensive that the baker became an investor and business partner in the radio station during the summer of 1966, though as the Government began to take action to stop the offshore stations, and prepared to introduce the 1967 Marine Offences Act, many investors decided to distance themselves from offshore broadcasting altogether. In September 1966, Radio 390 was taken to court for the first in a series of cases where they were accused of broadcasting from within British territorial limits. The cases were fought, and one by one they were lost by the station, they appealed, then lost the appeal; by the summer of 1967 the Marine Offences Act passed into law, and all offshore stations with the exception of Radio Caroline had ceased broadcasting. Radio 390 was also such a casualty. The station is largely forgotten now, but in 1966 it was one of the biggest radio hits in the UK, and had a real connection with the local area, thanks to the power of Mother’s Pride and the Northumberland Heath former Groom's bakery!

Now to some crime reports from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association; firstly from the Northumberland Heath Ward:- "Just a reminder that there is a litter pick on Tuesday 22nd August between 4pm-7pm. Please meet at Mill Road Car Park at 4pm. The Car Park, Alleyways and High Street are to be cleared. All residents welcome. There appears to be an increase of vans being stolen across the borough, one has been stolen in Parsonage Manor Way, and one from Becton Place in the last week .Both vehicles were work vans . If possible please do not leave any paperwork or tools on show and remove valuable tools from your vehicles. A black Jaguar has been stolen from Winchelsea Avenue on Saturday August 12th at approximately 2000 hours. We are pleased to report no reported burglaries in Northumberland Heath in the last week, however a resident has reported someone climbing over her rear garden wall in the alleyway behind the chicken shop in Bexley Road. Please be vigilant and remember to close all windows and ensure all doors are locked when leaving your property unattended. There has been reports of drug exchanges taking place in Limewood Road and reports of nuisance vehicles and bikes congregating outside the Northumberland Heath Recreation Ground. Our next drop in Police surgery will be held on Thursday August 24th at 1pm in the Northumberland Heath Library in Mill Road Erith". Thamesmead East Ward:- "No Burglaries to report this week. Vehicle crime reported as follows - Theft of Motor Vehicle, Haldene Road, 11th August 2017; Theft from Motor Vehicle, Haldene Road, 11th August 2017, vehicle parts removed. Female arrested for possession of cannabis, Templar Drive, enquiries ongoing. Due to recent vehicle crime, the team have been patrolling areas targeted and are looking to use the CCTV van in the future". Erith Ward - from Police SNT Team - PCSO Adam Winch:- "Over the last week we have checked car parks for any would-be thieves, patrolled in the pouring rain we had on Wednesday – I got completely soaked twice! Found a lost Staffordshire Bull terrier, we hope is now with their owner, visited and had a coffee in the new lighthouse near Erith Pier. Extra patrols carried out in Franks park, Including early morning patrols. Visited and wished luck to the new Pie and Mash shop which opened 14/8/17  next door to Sams 99p store. The next police SNT surgery is at Morrison's on Friday 25th August at 4pm. Please feel free to pop along!" Christ Church Ward - From Police SNT Team - PC Ian Williamson:- "There have been 2 reports of Criminal Damage to motor vehicles. One within Palmer Road and one in Broomfield Road, where an arrest has been made. There has also been a Criminal damage report in both Rowan Road and Robin Hood Lane. There has been a theft of motor vehicle in Heversham Road and there have been two serious assaults around the Broadway area one of which an arrest has been made and the second the investigation continues but an arrest is highly likely. The team have also been liaising with second hand shops / pawnbrokers within the ward with a view to deterring the distribution of stolen goods passing through these premises. PC Laing and PCSO Little stopped a youth with cannabis on the ward and the youth offending team and taking this forward". Belvedere Ward - From Police SNT Team - PC Ash Green:- "The Belvedere Team have been very busy this week. Following reports of vans being broken into in the Travelodge car park, Clydesdale Way we have stepped our patrols in the area and been more of a visible presence while residents have been out at work during the day. We would like to use this opportunity to remind people that it is imperative to remove valuables from vehicles. We have regularly been patrolling our regular hot spots and have been posting pictures on Twitter. We have received reports of groups of youths on bikes causing a nuisance in the Upper Belvedere / Nuxley Road area and as and have stopped many youths on bikes in Upper Belvedere to provide them with some brief cycle safety advice and take their details. PC Green has taken numerous statements and CCTV relating to shopliftings in both Upper and Lower Belvedere. We are working with staff, particularly in Upper Belvedere, to deter the shoplifters. PC Green has also continued investigating and progressing the issue of motorcycle and vehicular ASB in Lower Belvedere". Barnehurst Ward - From Police SNT Team - PC Mark Laker:- "Another good week for Barnehurst ward crime-wise with only one crime of note reported (please note we do not include domestic crimes in this update) unfortunately a red Honda JF57 scooter was stolen from outside an address in Parkside avenue, the scooter registration number LM65 XXR was parked under the front window of a property secured with a chain on the back wheel and was taken between 8pm -10pm on the 8th August . If you have a bike of any kind please make sure that if possible it is secured to an anchor point. Please see our Twitter page - @MPSBarnehurst - for crime prevention advice. On Monday 14th we received reports of youths climbing over a car in Martens Avenue, thankfully no damage was caused, our ASB Patrols continue in and around our parks and open spaces We have seen some excellent results with very little ASB reported to us".

Since I wrote the piece on illegal moped riders a couple of weeks ago, I have been doing some research into how the problem of illegal, stolen mopeds and motor bikes is dealt with in other parts of the world. It would seem that British Police, and the Metropolitan Police in particular are rather more liberal and forgiving than Police in certain other parts of the world. I have watched countless YouTube videos of Police chases in Brazil; the officers pursuing criminals on bikes generally give the fleeing criminals a blast of the siren and a flash of the lights – and if the criminals do not immediately pull over, the officers use their car to ram the offender off the road; indeed some Police cars seem to be fitted with reinforced bumpers specially designed for such a task. There is even one video of Brazilian drug enforcement officers ramming a drug smuggling plane on an improvised jungle runway to stop it taking off. It would also would seem that some other police forces around the world also use a higher percentage of officers on motorbikes to pursue illegal bikers, and they do not give up the chase if it turns potentially dangerous for the criminals. You can see an example here. I am not of the opinion that the Met should take up this tactic on a routine basis, but it does occur to me that it ought to be an option available to them in certain specific circumstances. I don’t think that very many Londoners would strongly object to a policy of this nature. I think that many people are sick and tired of the crime wave carried out mainly by teenagers on stolen bikes on false number plates. Members of the public are losing patience with the Police, who seem to be powerless to stop them. I know that in reality this is not the case, and certainly in Bexley, the Police have got illegal bikers as one of their three highest priorities. I feel that the problem in part comes from central government and the Metropolitan Police leadership, who effectively hamper the actions of the officers “on the ground” with excessively restrictive rules of engagement. What I really fail to understand is why the bikers are obsessed with wheelies – they seem to spend as much time as they are physically able to on their back wheel. Why? What is the point? It would be just as effective and considerably cheaper to have “I am a complete pillock” tattooed across each of their foreheads. Bike Life TV UK don’t just ride around intimidating other road users and pedestrians, I understand that some of their members are involved in other types of crime. I have heard it said (but not confirmed) that some gang members move drugs around Thamesmead and Plumstead using junior gang members as couriers. Body building and Mixed Martial Arts are also popular with gang members – I have also heard to date unsubstantiated rumours that they have a major stake in the trading of illegal anabolic steroids. This might well explain the extremely violent nature and short tempers of Bike Life TV UK members – who may well be suffering from “Roid Rage". The London Evening Standard covered the gang and their illegal activities a while back. you can see the article by clicking here. The problem with legitimate vehicle number plates being stolen is particularly bad in Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green, and the rise in such thefts can be closely correlated with the deployment of the cashless payment system at the Dartford River Crossing. The new system relies on users pre – registering their vehicle on the Dart Charge system, and the system using optical character recognition to scan and identify the users’ vehicle registration plate, and then debit their account with the relevant fee for using the crossing. Putting aside the inevitable comments about “the crossing was meant to be free for locals once it had been paid for” – which I do not contend, it strikes me that there is a level of resentment about the Dartford Crossing and the charges it makes which seems ingrained in the local psyche. It seems to me that many of the local crooks steal registration plates not just to anonymise their mopeds - which are not permitted on motorways or on the Dartford Crossing, as they are not full motorcycles - which go for free, but also to use the Dartford Crossing with impunity. As I have previously mentioned, it has recently become apparent that many crimes happening in The London Borough of Havering are being committed by crooks from The London Borough of Bexley. It would seem that the illegal rider think that if they operate away from their home base, they will be less likely to be recognised by the authorities - something I think is unlikely to actually be the case at all.  The ending video is a documentary on bike gangs that was shown last year on BBC Four; it heavily features gang members from Thamesmead, and is well worth a watch, even if much of it leaves one annoyed as the criminal scumbags try and justify themselves to the interviewer. Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Back on Medium Wave.

The photos above were taken recently by me in the Erith Riverside Gardens. You may recall that not long ago I wrote about how Bexley Council were replacing a lot of the old and overgrown bushes in the garden with new ones; they went as far as hiring a tracked excavator and operator for a week to dig up the old and overgrown bushes, to trim back the trees and to generally tidy the gardens up. Once this had been done, they then planted hundreds of new baby bushes. This coincided with one of the longest dry spells in recent memory. The council have since done little if any watering of the newly planted shrubbery, and as you can see from the photos above (click on either for a larger view), at least half of the baby plants have now died from lack of water. The heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday of last week was too late for many of the delicate, newly planted bushes, which had not had long enough to develop deep root systems which otherwise might have allowed them to survive the drought. Ironically FORGE (Friends of Riverside Gardens Erith) have offered to carry out the watering to take the burden off the council and their contractor, but at the time of writing, nothing has happened. I understand that a fresh water outlet is located underneath the flagpole at the Western end of the gardens, but the tap is covered by a padlocked door, and FORGE do not have the key. Suggestions were made that if a number of watering cans were obtained, these could be filled at a FORGE members apartment in West Street and transported to the gardens; this would however be impractical - you would need at least ten watering cans and dozens of refills to properly water the several hundred new bushes that have been planted - even allowing for those that are already dead due to council neglect. It seems that all of the hard work and council tax payers money has been for nothing - talk about spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar! The costs in refurbishing the Riverside Gardens will have been considerable. A tracked digger of the type used in the work costs around £700 per day to hire, along with a suitably qualified operator. The digger was on site for over a week. Forgetting all of the other associated costs, you can already tot up just how much the work must have cost - my own rough estimates put the total cost at not very far short of £10,000. Not watering the plants has invalidated much of this expensive work.  I have discovered that the contract between the council and the supplier does cover the death of plants - and that the bushes that have not survived the lack of watering will be replaced by the contractor at no further expense to the council tax payer, which is somewhat of a relief. If the council lack the foresight to do arrange regular watering when we have no or little rain, perhaps they will hand over the responsibility (and the associated budget) to FORGE who are far better placed to look after the gardens, which form one of the most attractive parts of Erith. There are willing volunteers who would love to care for the gardens, as it would appear that Bexley Council just cannot be trusted to do so. There are further implications to the whole water situation in the Riverside Gardens. Plans are afoot to hold a series of public events in the gardens later on in the year, which will necessitate a supply of fresh running water. I feel that it is down to Bexley Council to “grasp the nettle” and resolve this prior to it becoming a very high profile issue. If everything pans out as planned, this Summer could be a very good one for Erith residents, with a number of “pop up” events being planned. More on this soon. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Some excellent news was released on Friday. My former employers Radio Caroline have after many years campaigning, been granted an AM Medium Wave broadcast licence in the Norfolk / Suffolk / Essex region of the UK. Up until now the station has broadcast extensively (and very successfully) on the Internet, by satellite and in certain parts of the country by DAB radio. In a statement published on Friday morning, station manager Peter Moore wrote:- "We are pleased to announce that Ofcom have just informed us that our application for an AM licence has been approved and that a licence will be awarded. Further details will be sent to us by Ofcom in due course. Power levels and frequency are yet to be decided. This is the end of – or a further step in – a process started by Bob Lawrence in 2010 and enthusiastically supported by Tracey Crouch MP. We thank them both and further thank the many other people who have helped along the way. There are many preparations to be made and these may take some time. I am sure we will make further announcements in the future. The basis of our application was that our traditional heartland was Essex and Suffolk, where the signal from our ships made first landfall and that we wished to entertain on AM, an audience that we have not been able to serve in this way since 1990. We said that this audience may hear music radio of a style they remember and in some cases presented by the same people they remember. That in essence is what we intend to do". My understanding is that the regional licence is a stepping stone to a full, national licence - something that Radio Caroline should have been given many years ago in my opinion. You can see photos of my time with Radio Caroline at sea back in 1990 by clicking here. More on this subject later.

On Friday, the Metropolitan Police revealed that thieves on scooters and pedal cycles are committing up to 50,000 offences a year in and around Greater London. Gangs of youths are using stolen scooters, mopeds, motorcycles and bikes to commit tens of thousands of snatch offences across London. Police revealed how gangs of mainly teenage boys are stealing mopeds in outer London boroughs and using them to commit snatches in the West End - often motivated by the thrill of speed. The full scale of the moped crime surge came as police revealed details of an alarming new tactic in which a gang sprayed a fire extinguisher into the face of a motorcyclist in a bid to hijack his machine. Detectives say they are targeting at least 500 known offenders behind the crime spree - with suspects moving between using stolen mopeds and pedal cycles to snatch mobile phones. Police also urged Londoners to take simple steps to help prevent crimes, in particular warning scooter owners to use locks to secure their bikes in the street. The scale of the offending can be revealed in new figures released by the Metropolitan Police which show thieves are stealing around 1,500 scooters or motorcycles in London every month. In addition, the same criminals are using scooters or pedal cycles to commit 2,500 theft offences a month, most of them mobile phone snatches. Thefts involving mopeds or motorcycles are currently running at 13,005 over the past 12 months, a 41 per cent increase over the previous period.most offenders were in their teens and early 20s and some were organised in groups of around five to 10 people who use a stolen bike for a period before dumping it. The bikes are stolen in outlying boroughs and used to travel into the West End to commit crimes.  Many prolific offenders have 20 or so crimes to their name, one 15-year-old was only jailed after being arrested 80 times. Bike gangs such as the notorious, Thamesmead - based Bike Life TV UK are thought to be behind much of this increase in reported criminality. 

You may recall that at the beginning of this year I wrote at some length about the plans for the first shelter for the homeless that had been planned for over the New Year period; well, the report on the outcome of the project has recently been published. The night shelter programme was a great success, and will be expanded this coming Christmas. A number of lessons were learned, but overall it was a very positive experience. Many thanks to the Reverend Simon Archer, the Curate of Christ Church, Erith for sending me the details for publication, an edited summary of which you can read below:- "The idea for this project originated from Transform Bexley Borough (TBB) representing the churches in the London Borough of Bexley sometime in 2014. Rev Jim Charles visited the Greenwich shelter in the early part of 2016 and this gave him an insight to the planning process and the need for a coordinator. So, he advertised in local churches for a coordinator. On a volunteer coming forward an initial meeting with Jim took place late in July with several people who had already shown an interest in this idea. A “start-up” meeting then took place in November with some 25 interested churches/people attending. It was clear that there was good support for this venture to proceed and a steering committee, including treasurer, was formed by mutual agreement from volunteers stepping forward. This steering committee then sought to take the project forward and to manage it over the next 5 months and was to meet six times. Despite a request across the Borough churches for venues for this project, only three came forward. So the shelters were going to be at the New Community Church in Sidcup on a Monday evening, the Boys’ Brigade hall by Christ Church Bexleyheath on a Wednesday and all the other nights at the Welling Salvation Army hall. Sidcup and Bexleyheath were able to make showers available, while all three had good cooking facilities and plenty of room for sleeping, eating and recreation. They also had the possible advantage of being easily accessible and in public thoroughfares and so were unlikely to cause any problems with residents. Advertising through the churches, and then word of mouth brought forward some 150 volunteers, not all church attenders. These had to be divided up to cover three shifts viz. an early evening shift (7.00 – 10.30 pm) an overnight shift (10.00 pm – 6.30 am ) and a morning shift (6.00 – 8.30 am) and then dispersed across the seven days- taking into account folk’s preference for the shift, the day and venue. A team leader for each shift on each day was appointed and information on what was to be expected was forwarded. We had been made aware of Housing Justice - a national organisation both politically and charitably, seeking to improve the situation for folk who find themselves in this predicament for whatever reason. We had “joined up” (£1500 fee) with them and they were able to provide information on the running of shelters, a format for a Volunteers hand book and carried out two Saturday morning. It was realised early on that whatever we did had to be consistent across the venues and nights. We would open at 7.30, lights out 11.00 and our visitors left the premises by 8.00 am. On arrival the “guests”, as they were to be respectfully known, were provided with a hot drink and then a sit down two course meal around 8.15. This took the form of a set menu over a 9 day rota. Breakfast, along with cereals, was mainly things on toast. These all seemed to be acceptable to our guests with little to no adverse comments. One observation was that guests seemed to be eating less as the weeks went on! A cook book entitled “Feed my Sheep” produce by another Salvation Army unit was used as a basis for recipes and quantities. All food had to be prepared on the premises (hygiene regulations) and we are indebted to some 12 or so cooks along with the morning catering staff. For this first attempt at running a Night Shelter we were only able to accommodate men and the most we could cater for was 12 (in fact as reported below we never had more than 9 on any given night). An air bed and a sleeping bag were provided along with pillows at each venue. The sleeping bags were named and kept for each guest at each venue. The donated pillow cases were laundered locally. It was recognised early on that there had to be some way of engaging with the “rough sleepers” in the first place, and the need to have some form of assessment as to their suitability for the shelter and if the shelter was going to be suitable for their needs. We were soon made aware of a volunteer organisation called “Cornerstone” which was working out of Trinity Baptist Church with folk who had addictions, mental health problems and homelessness. This resulted in them drawing up an assessment check list and making arrangements to “interview” potential guests – initially after their food bank session on Mondays and Fridays at Trinity but, later by appointment having established a dedicated phone line for folk to ring. If the rough sleeper was deemed suitable, an “invitation” was issued and an agreement as to the conditions and requirements of the guest had to be signed. Cornerstone then advised the venue leader or team leader of the name of the invited guest. Only folk with a specific invitation were allowed to come into the venue. There was to be no “walk in” arrangement and this procedure worked very well with few hiccups.  Flyers were produced for churches and others (e.g. Council and Police) to hand out to people they came across that appeared to be rough sleepers. Most of the referrals were received via the Council, Colleges, Citizens Advice and word of mouth. The service and help provided by Cornerstone was pivotal to the project – it would have been very difficult without them. They were also able to take a firm line with any guest that seemed to not be fulfilling their part of the agreement. They assessed some 23 folk, most of whom were deemed suitable and offered an invitation for the shelter. Not all took up this invite and over the 10 weeks that the project ran, some 16/18 guests did come along for at least several nights before they moved on for whatever reason. Although we were able to offer a “dog sitting” service, potential guests were reluctant to leave their animal and in the end, did not access the shelter. Only one guest had to be excluded and in general, behaviour was respectful, good and settled down once Cornerstone had reiterated the conditions to one or two guests. The service, support, advice and help given has been recognised by the steering committee - approving a donation to them as a token of our indebtedness. Beside a safe and warm environment, along with hot meals, we were able to provide toiletries, clothing and haircuts. A little late in the day we were able to ask a volunteering GP to meet with some of the guests. She diagnosed several guests with severe mental problems that were in need of urgent psychiatric assessment and at least one guest had to be admitted to a special unit where he would have to remain for several weeks’ treatment. The volunteers did get alongside guests by chatting to them, playing games and seeking to give support, understanding and guidance. Citizens Advice has also played a large part in helping guests to sort out their circumstances. However, volunteers where under strict requests not to give money, personal details or agree to help or see guests outside the venue and to keep details confidential. At the end of the project, the guests were asked what they had thought of the service. Guests all reported that the venues were easy to find but a couple of guests expressed a difficulty in travelling between them, particularly as they had no money. All of them felt safe at the venues and felt there was enough to do in the evenings. It was noted that the Sidcup facilities were the best and that a shower at Welling would have been welcomed. One guest reported that the sleeping arrangements were a ‘bit uncomfy’ and another that the Welling venue was cold, particularly in the mornings. There were a couple of suggestions of opening earlier and one guest thought a Playstation would be nice Guests were all in agreement that there was plenty of food available, one guest commenting that he has put on weight. They also all agreed that the quality was good. 2 guests thought there could be more variety and we had some suggestions of steak (!), hash browns, stir-fry and ribs. Another guest thought the food was a bit bland and would have liked a bit more spice. There was also a comment about having too many mince-based meals. The guests were all made to feel very welcome by the volunteers and were treated with respect. According to the guests, all volunteers were happy to engage in conversation and responded well to any issues that arose. The consensus was that volunteers were friendly, caring and helpful. One guest said that volunteers were “generous with their time” and spoke about them helping with clothes etc, while another said the volunteers were “awesome”. An excellent and inspiring article; I am glad to hear that women will be admitted this year - something I did raise when I heard about the inaugural night shelter programme, but I was told that there were no female rough sleepers in the London Borough of Bexley - something I found (and still feel) to be hard to believe. 

Bexley Council found itself in the press this week again for all of the wrong reasons. A BBC Panorama investigation had an undercover investigative journalist secretly film Kingdom Services Group - the company that Bexley Council has employed to police littering in the borough, and to collect fines from people who are caught littering. As anyone who has read the Maggot Sandwich for any length of time will know, I am a keen anti littering / fly tipping campaigner, and have been involved in a couple of successful prosecutions of criminal fly tippers in the past. What was uncovered by the Panorama team was appalling - the Kingdom litter police get cash payments every time they issue over four tickets in a day - £5 per ticket, and up to £6 if they issue fines to enough people. There is a real financial incentive for the Kingdom enforcers to collar as many people as possible, and some of the prosecutions were positively Orwellian. If you are a UK resident, you can see the half hour Panorama documentary by clicking here. My concern is that the approach exhibited by Kingdom may well turn local residents against responsible waste disposal - which would be counter productive. 

On Friday, March 10, just after 9.30pm a White Ford Transit pulled into the Shell Petrol Garage in Northend Road, Erith, using a false licence plate reading AX04 XJV. The thieving scumbag was caught on CCTV in the photo above, which shows the driver filling the van with diesel, before returning to the driver’s seat and pulling away without paying. If you know who this thief is, then please contact Bexley Police directly, or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Word reaches me from a couple of impeccable sources in Erith Morrison's supermarket that the switch to self service checkout tills has not been a happy one, as I predicted earlier in the year. I hear that the level of mis - scanning and outright shop lifting has gone through the roof. One supermarket worker, who understandably wishes to remain anonymous, told me last week that "You get a different type of person using the self service tills; nobody (the staff) likes supervising the self service area, as you are constantly worried that you are about to get assaulted. The kind of people who tend to use the self service area are trying to get away with nicking things. Last week when we had the travellers in the car park, two Pikey women tried to steal over £500 worth of stuff through the self service checkouts - they did a runner when security locked the doors though". Their words, not mine. Earlier last year a report was published by the Criminology Department of the University of Leicester on self service checkout tills. The report found that installing self-service checkouts raises lost revenue by 122 percent. Some of it is accidental – people forget to scan items, or get confused by instructions; other times shoppers get so frustrated with self-service kiosks that they feel justified in not paying. But the report  states that mostly people shoplift because the technology makes it so easy. Mobile phone scanning technology is just as vulnerable – the study found that at the end of a typical shopping trip, up to ten percent of items had not been scanned, leading to “shrinkage” (loss through wastage or theft) of about 3.9 percent of turnover. Unfortunately the technology makes it very difficult to prove that customers are deliberately stealing. One retailer admitted they almost never prosecute people. For that reason supermarkets are now introducing tagging systems so un-scanned items trigger alarms. Supermarkets such as Morrison’s in Erith have now expanded the number of self – service checkouts so that now half of all tills are of this type. Finding open, traditionally staffed checkouts are becoming a challenge to find. I have always wondered why you have to pay the same price for an item when it is purchased via a self – service till when compared to a traditional one – after all, you are doing work on behalf of the supermarket, and surely this should be reflected in a cheaper cost? Answers on a postcard please.

Now for a story which in one way falls outside of my usual remit, as it took place somewhat outside of my normal coverage area, but in another way is entirely appropriate for me to address, as it concerns people's reaction to a story that they uncritically read on social media. The News Shopper have been reporting that according to a story originating on a fake news website that has subsequently been circulating on social media, a popular New Cross based Indian Restaurant has been serving human flesh to customers. If that did not immediately get one's suspicions going, I would be extremely surprised. It turns out that the story is a so called "prank" published on a notorious fake news website called Channel 23 News. The website allows individuals to publish scurrilous and untrue stories about others, which are then automatically posted onto FaceBook and then seen by millions of people.  The originator of the libellous story wrote (excuse the poor spelling and grammar):- "Last night Indian restaraunt owner Rarjan Patel was arreasted for using human meat in his food recipes at his New Cross Restaurant, it is said that a total of 9 Human Body’s were found frozen ready to be processed for meat, Rarjan Patel remains in Custody for further questioning whilst the restaurant has been closed down.” The obvious unprofessional structure of the story did not deter people from believing the entry when they saw it on Facebook however. One brainless Facebook user subsequently wrote (all in capitals - which in itself is a certain sign of somebody unbalanced) "ASIAN RESTAURANT SHUT DOWN FOR USING HUMAN MEAT”. The restaurant in question of course has had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this - but it has been bombarded with abuse by credulous Facebook users who seem to be of the opinion that "If it is on Facebook it must be true". The story has been widely reposted and the restaurant in question, which has only been operating for a little over two years has lost a substantial amount of business, as well as the owner and staff being subject to a number of threats. The Karri Twist restaurant is a relatively new development, but the same family opened their first restaurant on the original site, called the Curry Mahal, back in 1955. You can see photos of both restaurant frontages above - click for a larger view. The damage that has been done to the reputation of the family owned business may be too severe for it to survive. How people can be so malicious in originally posting such a libellous story, and how others can be so gullible to not only read the story, but to repost it to others without checking its accuracy first amazes me. I am not aware of the identity of the person who originated the fake story, but I would hope that the Patel family are taking legal action to bring the person to justice. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The ending video this week shows the ITV News at Ten report on Radio Caroline getting a broadcast radio licence, as per my earlier item. Give it a watch and see what you think. The Ross Revenge certainly looks a lot smarter than during my time on board when it was moored 13 miles off the North Foreland, in the middle of the North Sea. Happy Days.