South London Weekly - April 18th 2025

Police officers

dress as Batman and Robin in bid to tackle gangs

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VOTER ID MAY SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE TURNOUT, NEW RESEARCH HAS FOUND

It led to fall of 4.4 per cent when the measure was initially trialled at a local election in Bromley

By Noah Vickers Local Democracy Reporter

NEW RESEARCH on voter ID requirements in UK elections has found that the measure may “significantly reduce” turnout, raising pressure on ministers to reform the law.

An expert at King’s College London has found that the ID requirement – introduced under the previous Tory Government – reduced turnout by 4.4 per cent when the measure was initially trialled at a local election in Bromley.

While Whitehall sources had said in the months following Labour’s election victory that the new Government was open to the possibility of scrapping voter ID entirely, the minister for democracy Rushanara Ali recently confirmed that this was no longer “on the table”.

Instead, a spokesman said in response to KCL’s analysis that the Government is “addressing the inconsistencies in voter ID rules that prevent legitimate voters from voting”. This includes expanding the types of ID allowed to include Veteran Cards and others.

The requirement for voters to show photo ID to cast their ballots has applied for all votes in England since the 2023 local elections. However, the measure was first tested in a set of pilot schemes during 2018’s local elections, in Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking.

The new research from KCL’s Dr Tom Barton found that “out of the 240,249 people registered to vote in 2018 in Bromley, 10,571… did not vote who would have otherwise done”. Campaigners said the research “further confirms” their fears that the ID requirement has effectively disenfranchised a substantial number of voters across the country.

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “We already know that voter ID has seen people turned away over 40,000 times from polling stations

due to lack of acceptable ID and not return at the elections it has been used.

“These findings further confirm that voter ID is having a damaging and disproportionate impact on our democracy. That is why the government should scrap voter ID altogether, or at the very least greatly widen the options people can use at polling stations.”

While previous analyses by the Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office have focused on people who attempted to vote but did not have the correct ID, Dr Barton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was important to get a better understanding of how many people didn’t attempt to vote at all due to the requirement

He pointed out that the Bromley trial was less strict in terms of what forms of ID were accepted, compared with the current laws now in place across England – meaning that the impact on turnout nationwide could potentially be even greater.

“In that [pilot] scheme, you could have either a form of photo ID, or two forms of non-photo ID, like a bank statement and a credit card. One of those non-photo IDs had to have your proof of address on it though,” he said. Under the current law, only photo ID is accepted.

Similarly, voters in Bromley also had a larger range of possible ID-types to choose from in the first place, thanks to the area’s status as a London borough, such as the 60+ Oyster card.

Despite this however, the Bromley trial appeared to show that older people were particularly adversely affected by the ID requirement, as it seemed to have a bigger impact in parts of the borough with higher concentrations of retired residents.

This point was famously alluded to by Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, when he told the 2023 National Conservatism conference: “Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding that their clever scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by insisting on voter ID for elections.

“We found that the people that didn’t have ID were elderly – oh, and they by and large voted

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Conservative, so we made it hard for our own voters and we upset a system that worked perfectly well.”

Dr Barton also acknowledged however that “as these laws are in place over time, people get used to them and adapt, so we would expect the number of people being excluded to come down, based on that”.

He added: “But there should still be some [people excluded] – because if you’ve just turned 18, you might not have an ID and it’s your first time voting, your turnout is likelier to be lower anyway.

“[Also] if you’re older and, say, you have your driving licence taken away, or you don’t renew it, or you don’t renew your passport because you don’t travel abroad anymore… People go from having ID, to not, and vice versa.”

Dr Barton pointed out that while the UK has now brought itself into line with many other

developed democracies by requiring voter ID, lots of those other countries – particularly in Europe – tend to give their citizens a Government-issued ID card when they turn 18. In Canada, which accepts 55 different forms of ID at elections, a system also exists by which voters without ID can be “vouched for” by another voter who does have ID, he said.

A spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said in response to the research: “We are committed to strengthening the security of our democracy and making sure every legitimate voter can exercise their democratic right to vote.

“As set out in the manifesto, we are looking at improving voter registration and addressing the inconsistencies in voter ID rules that prevent legitimate voters from voting.”

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BOATING COMMUNITY FEARS FOR ITS FUTURE AS COUNCIL PUSHES AHEAD WITH REDEVELOPMENT

By Evie Flynn

NESTLED IN Surrey Quays, South Dock Marina is the largest marina in London and the only one with a boatyard.

The future of this close community, however, hangs in the balance.

In January this year, Southwark Council submitted plans to ‘reorganise’ the Marina boatyard. It owns the South Dock Marina and says its £6 million redevelopment - “structural upgrade”proposal will “deliver crucial health and safety works at the site and enhance the boatyard environment.” This includes a “demolition and removal of all buildings and structures” within the boatyard.

The existing small businesses are mainly based in shipping containers, which will be replaced with purpose-built workshops. Traders claim this change would result in a sixfold increase in commercial rents, and businesses have already been issued eviction notices.

The boatyard is a vital part of the community and is the current premises of roughly a dozen small businesses, many of which cater to local boats.

In 1996 the residents set up a Community Interest Company (CIC), the South Dock Marina Berth holders’ Association (SDMBHA). to preserve the marina’s historic past, promote sustainability and ensure its future.

The group is run on a voluntary basis and acts as a voice for the marina residents, in consultation with the wider community and in partnership with Southwark Council.

The association describes the development as a threat to local businesses and argues that an “ill-conceived design now will weaken the boatyard and make way for a large residential or hotel development later.

“The SDMBHA supports the development of a better boatyard but this

current proposal is not a better solution,” a spokesperson for the group said. “It will eventually undermine the boatyard and make it unsustainable long term - we ask for proper consultation and co-design involvement.

“The marina is important both in terms of the marine history of our area in relation to the Thames, its vital role in river infrastructure and as the only remaining working boatyard in the centre of London. It is a vibrant working environment- with strong ties to other the local communities.”

Charlie Murphy, SDMBHA CIC Chair and a glass artist, has her studio in one of the shipping containers. She said: “It’s made it possible for me to operate as an artist having this space at an affordable rate... I couldn’t afford the business rates they want to bring in. Why push everybody out?”

Nick Kenny, who runs his Marine Restorations & Renovations business out of the boatyard asked: “Is it going to be feasible? Is it going to be sustainable? I’m struggling as it is at the moment, so I don’t know how I’m going to manage in the future.

“They did say I can move my container anywhere in the UK, so if it doesn’t work out I can always move to another part of the UK. I have a boat that moves.”

This displacement is exactly what the traders fear, as without the expertise of businesses like Nick’s, it could trigger an exodus of people who rely on them to stay afloat.

Simon Shillito, a South Dock Marina resident and business owner, said that due to the ongoing process with the council, the community had also been “excluded from the community garden - a space used for 25 years-plus as a gathering and social space, leaving the community with no suitable alternative.”

The boatyard has seen numerous festivals and social gatherings, a vital shared resource as many have no outdoor space on their boats.

The planning process has been repeatedly pushed back. This is due to multiple objections, changes to the designation of the development as ‘significant’, and proposals for a ‘Marine Centre of Excellence’.

The Marina Centre of Excellence is an ongoing project to become the only inner city facility in London providing service to boats, providing marine services and professional advice.

However, amongst this process with the council, members of the boatyard community say they remain steadfast.

Benedict Ernst, a resident of Greenland Dock, says: “The sense of community is amazing. It attracts a hands on and creative social spirit. I bought my boat as a fixer upper project and now I’m distracted by other community projects.”

In October last year, the SDMBHA ran a series of free workshops for Year 4 primary school children and local families during October half term, in partnership with the Rotherhithe Shed.

Charlie Murphy and another local artist Kay Walsh organised a walking tour of key marina features, giving the children an insight into the lock mechanisms and crane lifting. They even created their own model boats using up-cycled materials.

The SDMBHA submitted a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for a community workshop facility. The proposal has been accepted and is undergoing an assessment.

Sustainability is also at the core of the berth holders’ association’s aims. Benedict Ernst is spearheading the marina’s biodiversity and greening initiatives, which are trying to restore wildlife into their corner of the Thames.

“All the birdlife here is still incredibly prevalent and fish life in the dock is very rich considering their is no plant life at all... I did a lot of research because when you look up and down the thames this close to the city, there’s nothing growing,” he said.

Benedict has been working on creating floating aquatic planters to see what would grow. He described the planters as being

“almost too successful”.

When asked about his experience living in Greenland Dock, Benedict said: “I’ve lived in quite a few places in London and this is pretty exceptional.”

A Southwark Council spokesperson said:

“We understand the concerns of some berth holders; however, the new pricing model helps align rents with market rates.

“It also enables the Council to provide fitfor-purpose, permanent accommodation for businesses, modernise the facilities, and enhance health and safety standards.

“Moving forward, the Council will manage business tenancies. Existing boatyard businesses will receive discounted rent, transitioning to market rates over three years, while maritime-focused businesses will be offered long-term discounted rents.

“We have actively engaged berth holders in the design process and will continue to seek their input as the project progresses.”

To learn more about the SDMBHA and the South Dock Marina development propsal, visit www.sdmbha.com

Working bee and community cleanup on 22nd March, showing residents maintaining the Marina and Greenland Dock

The residents have been locked out of their community garden (pictured)

Current boatyard businesses in shipping containers. Simon Shillitto’s workshop, the outside of the containers, and Maria Vera Light Fields studio and Gallery, @lightfields.art (left to right)

Kay Walsh 2024

WOMAN WHO FLED LAKANAL HOUSE FIRE NOW FEARS HER MOULDY HOME COULD KILL HER DAUGHTER

EXCLUSIVE

By Issy Clarke

A WOMAN who ran through the smoked-filled corridors of Lakanal House clutching her new born baby now lives in a house so mouldy her children can’t breathe properly.

Sixteen years after fleeing the fire in a block of flats in Camberwell, the woman, who wants to remain anonymous, still lives in temporary accommodation managed by Southern Housing in a home covered in black mould and damp which floods every two weeks.

Her local MP Neil Coyle said that suggesting the housing association had dragged its feet would “be offensive to zombies.”

Lakanal Fire claimed the lives of six people in 2009, including three children, and has been described as the fire that foreshadowed the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

The woman, who now lives in a twobedroom house in Rotherhithe with her five children, says her home is so cramped and mouldy that it has given her children asthma.

“I have become so anxious that I can’t sleep, because I don’t know when the next child will be in hospital or where the next leak will come from”, she said.

She says her youngest child has been hospitalised eight times since November and has to sleep while sat upright because she can’t breathe when lying down.

By Kevin Quinn

TWO OFFICERS, who dressed as the caped crusader and his sidekick, successfully arrested two men attempting to ‘fleece’ tourists on Westminster Bridge.

This new and somewhat bizarre tactic by the officers assigned to neighbourhood police in north west Lambeth comes after an influx of illegal gambling.

Illegal gambling gangs have been targeting tourists with games known as the ‘three cups challenge’ or ‘shell game’. Because the local Met officers have become so well known to these individuals, officers have had to come up with creative plans to deliver ‘vengeance’. They could never have expected the two officers to show up dressed as Batman and Robin, so the sting in February - captured on video - caught the crooks completely unawares.

It appeared to passers-by as parody of the 1996 Only Fools and Horses Christmas Special, but unlike characters Delboy and Rodney, who accidentally interrupted a robbery dressed as Batman and Robin while running to a fancy dress party, this was a deliberately disguise thought up by Inspector Darren Watson, who now also goes by the name of Batman.

He said: “We know that two repeat offenders have been operating on Westminster Bridge and have come

Doctors’ letters say the girl’s asthma is made worse by the damp housing conditions, and she regularly misses school due to her difficulty breathing.

The resident is also concerned about the mental wellbeing of her children, who can’t concentrate in school or have friends over for sleepovers because she fears the house could make them unwell.

She shares a room with two of her daughters, while her two teenage sons and her other daughter share the second bedroom. Storage space is so limited that the family’s clothes and possessions are stacked up in piles on every inch of floor space around the house.

Despite pleading to Southwark Council over the years for a bigger home, she has been advised to continue bidding for a new property on the council’s housing register.

But with each passing year the mould in her property has become worse, and she is increasingly worried that by the time she manages to secure a permanent home, it could be too late for her daughter.

She recently contacted Neil Coyle, who asked Southwark Council to move her on the grounds of overcrowding.

Coyle told the News: “Southern Housing have failed to address problems since October and to say they’ve ‘dragged their feet’ would be offensive to zombies.

“They’ve failed to lift a finger and I suspect the Ombudsman will now have to be involved due to the severe delays. I hope Southern Housing wake up and help her move now. They have been a huge disappointment for months.”

Police officers dress as Batman and Robin in bid to tackle illegal gambling gangs

When contacted by this newspaper, a spokesperson for Southern Housing said: “We understand how upsetting and disruptive it can be to live with issues like damp and mould, and we want to apologise to this resident and her family for the impact this has had on their daily lives.

“The health, safety and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority. We want to reassure this resident that we are taking this matter seriously and are committed to resolving it fully.

“From Tuesday (8 April), we’ll begin a programme of extensive repair work at this home to address the issues.

“We’ve treated previous issues of damp and mould at this home when reported over the last few years. Last year we invested £1.4m in a specialist team dedicated to addressing damp and mould across our homes.

“This new team identified a more extensive survey was needed at this home, which was carried out last month (March 2025). This confirmed a collapsed drainage system, in an external area of the kitchen, was the source of the dampness and flooding affecting the home.

“On Tuesday (8 April), we’re planning to carry out excavation work to repair this collapsed drainage system. As part of the upcoming works, we’ll not only fix the drainage issue but also treat all affected internal areas, carry out necessary redecorations, and install a brand-new kitchen.

“We’re sorry for the issues this resident and her family has faced. While the repairs

are complex and will take time, we’re fully committed to completing them as quickly and thoroughly as possible. We’ll continue to work with this resident to ensure she’s supported every step of the way.”

“Ensuring Southwark residents live in safe and appropriate accommodation is a priority for the council. We’re concerned to hear about these issues and invite the resident to contact us to discuss and see if we can help.”

to recognise me and my team from our patrols.

“I knew that if we were going to catch them we would have the think outside the box, and then I remembered that I had Batman and Robin costumes to hand which could come in use.

“Although dressing up may not be the most conventional policing method, we were thrilled to see that in this case it worked perfectly and the team were able to get some great results, taking these people off the street and protecting tourists and Londoners from being fleeced.”

On Saturday, 15 February Inspector Darren Watson and Police Constable Abdi Osman donned their alter ego costumes and launched their superhero mission.

Eugen Stocia, aged 32 (26.07.1992) of no fixed address and Constica-Gherorghe Barbu, 53, of Herbert Road, Greenwich were promptly arrested for providing the facilities to gamble.

Barbu was convicted at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 17 February after being remanded by police and fined £925.

Stocia was convicted in absence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 10 April after failing to appear in court. A warrant is out for his arrest.

If you see illegal gambling gangs operating please report to the Met Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

A Southwark Council spokesperson said:

Police Constable Abdi Osman as Robin and Inspector Darren Watson aka Batman

GENTRIFICATION HAS BEEN MOST RAPID IN CAMBERWELL

GREEN, NEW RESEARCH REVEALS

By Noah Vickers Local Democracy Reporter

CAMBERWELL GREEN has gentrified more than any other other area in South London over the last decade and sits within the top ten across the capital, according to the Trust for London.

New research revealing the 53 London neighbourhoods which have gentrified most rapidly over the last decade, includes Camberwell Green in sixth place plus six other areas in Southwark among just 13 listed across South London.

All of the areas in Southwark are in the central part of the borough taking in Camberwell, sways of Peckham and part of south Bermondsey.

Outside of Southwark notable areas on the list are Woolwich, Plumstead and Penge.

The research shows which parts of London has had the largest influx of affluent residents, in areas which up to 2012 were places where lower income families traditionally lived.

It gives a clear indication of which parts of the capital are seeing working class communities pushed out by rising property prices.

The electoral ward of Camberwell Green is home to 15,500 people and has three Labour councillors including Southwark Council leader Kieron Williams.

It stretches from John Ruskin Street in the north to Coldharbour Lane and Daneville Road in the south. It takes in Camberwell Green going east as far as Southampton Way and Denmark Road in the west.

The analysis, published by the Trust for London charity, found that areas across the East End, Southwark, Brent and Haringey saw the most extreme changes in average incomes between 2012 and 2020.

On average, the 53 council ward areas identified in the research saw average incomes increase by 11 per cent, compared with a one per cent rise seen across the rest of London – after inflation is taken into account.

The largest jumps in income were seen in Spitalfields, which saw a 45 per cent rise in residents’ pay, Aldgate, with a 29 per cent increase, and Bethnal Green

MOST GENTRIFIED COUNCIL WARDS, ORDERED BY INCREASE IN AVERAGE INCOME BETWEEN 2012 AND 2020:

1. Spitalfields

2. Aldgate

3. Bethnal Green South

4. Woodberry Down & Manor House

5. Bruce Grove North

6. Camberwell Green

7. Bethnal Green Central

8. Beckton

9. Bromley-by-Bow West

10. Somers Town

11. Beckton North

12. Bromley-by-Bow East

13. Finsbury Park West

14. Manor Park North

15. Grahame Park

16. Stonebridge 17. Loughborough Road

18. Plaistow Park

19. Woolwich South 20. Peckham North 21. Mile End West 22. Peckham North West 23. Limehouse North & Stepney East

24. Tottenham Green East 25. Mile End East & Burdett

South, at 27 per cent. All three are found in the borough of Tower Hamlets, which was found to be the most gentrified borough as it contains 12 of the 53 neighbourhoods.

Other areas which saw large hikes in average income were Woodberry Down and Manor House (22 per cent) and Bruce Grove North (21 per cent).

But Southwark features heavily, as well as Camberwell Green ward way up the list at number six the next area at number 17 is the adjoining ward of Loughborough Road, stretching down Coldharbour Lane past the train station and into Brixton, which sits within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth.

Peckham north ward and Peckham north west are placed 20 and 22 respectively. Burgess Park ward is placed number 26 on the list, Peckham Park Road at number 36 and at number 51 out of the 53 neighbourhoods on list is South

Burgess Park

University Hospital & Queen’s Road 28. Custom House

Euston 30. Poplar Leaside 31. Turkey Street 32. Tottenham Green West 33. Harringay Warehouse District & Vartry 34. Poplar West

Roundwood Park 36. Peckham Park Road 37. Harlesden

38. Plumstead High Street

39. Tottenham Lea Valley 40. Alperton East 41. Welsh Harp 42. Kilburn Park 43. Anerley North & Penge West 44. Roehampton North West

45. Woolwich West

46. Golborne & Swinbrook

47. Burnt Oak & Watling Park

48. St Mary Cray North

49. Hayes End

50. Whitechapel

51. South Bermondsey East

52. Leytonstone South West

53. Dagnam Park & Noak Hill

Bermondsey East.

This is a cutter of areas, which clearly identities the central part of the Southwark as a place where gentrification has been most rapid in the last decade. The analysis was focused only on areas which in 2012 were found in the lowest 20 per cent of average incomes in London. Many of the areas in that lowest 20 per cent have not gentrified to the same extent, and are therefore not included in the 53 identified neighbourhoods.

In its research, produced in partnership with the WPI Economics consultancy, the Trust defined gentrification as “the influx of more affluent residents in lower income areas, relative to the residents that were already there, and the displacement of the previous population”.

The analysis found that in the 53 gentrified places, there was a “remarkable” decrease of almost two percentage points in the proportion

of black people living in them, despite the fact that London’s black population remained essentially static between 2012 and 2020.

This equates to “around 10,000 black Londoners that we would see living in these 53 neighbourhoods if the proportion had stayed the same”, the research states.

Although the white population in the gentrified areas fell by a larger amount (more than four per cent), this was still a smaller fall than in the rest of London (about six per cent).

The 53 gentrified areas also saw increases (on average more than two per cent) in the proportion of couples without children. The analysis explains that “one of the biggest threats of gentrification is that it makes London so expensive families can no longer afford to raise children here”.

This trend has also been reflected in the decline of primary school applications in the capital, particularly in inner London, and in the recently confirmed closure of the maternity unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.

The research similarly identified an average fall of around five per cent in the number of households living in socialrented homes in the 53 gentrified areas, significantly more than the one per cent fall seen across the rest of London. The gentrified neighbourhoods also saw a rise in the number of people working in managerial positions.

Manny Hothi, the Trust’s chief executive said: “This research points to something that many Londoners have suspected for years – the city is becoming increasingly unaffordable for low-income families. We’re witnessing families and longstanding communities being priced out on a scale we haven’t seen before.

“London’s diverse blend of communities is what makes it one of the best cities in the world. But the current trend shows the city is at a tipping point, at risk of being a homogenous place where only people above a certain income bracket can afford to be.

“If we want London to be a city where people from all backgrounds, of all ages, can live and thrive, urgent action is needed to address the affordability crisis.”

Guy Weir, head of data insights at WPI Economics, added: “Getting under the skin of local area data is key to understanding what’s happening beneath the headlines.

“As this analysis shows, several London neighbourhoods changed dramatically between 2012 and 2020, with the available data pointing towards a displacement of those on lower incomes.

“While the overall poverty rate has declined across the capital, analysis like this highlights that beneath the surface, communities across the city are struggling to afford to live in London.”

So what are London’s most gentrified neighbourhoods?

*Additional reporting Kevin Quinn

Magistrates’ court where most rooms have no windows to be turned into hotel

By Robert Firth Local Democracy Reporter

THE FORMER Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court will be turned into a 15-storey hotel where most of the rooms don’t have windows.

Southwark Council approved plans to convert the court into a 150-bed hotel and 134 homes at a planning meeting on Wednesday, April 2. The building, which has been empty since 2020, will have seven-storeys added to it as part of the conversion, which will see its height increase by over 30 metres.

A café, co-working space and recording studio will be created in the former court as part of the project.

Victoria Lewis, a Southwark planning officer, said the proposed hotel’s 90 windowless rooms would include high levels of soundproofing and filtered air. She added: “The proposed hotel would

be unconventional in its design as most of the rooms, 60 per cent of them, would be windowless. But it would make a commercial use of difficult space in the middle of the building which arises from the retention of the existing frame.”

Only 35.1 per cent of the planned homes will be classed as ‘affordable’, despite policy generally requiring at least 50 per cent of homes to fit this definition on land previously in public use.

According to Council planning documents, a viability test carried out by consultants Cluttons found the site could only support 35.1 per cent ‘affordable’ housing. Of the ‘affordable’ homes, 24 will be available at social rents, while the other 12 will be ‘intermediate’, which is usually up to 80 per cent of local market rates.

Ms Lewis said that the proposed hotel was ‘driving value’ in the scheme and any reductions in the size of the hotel would result in less ‘affordable’ housing.

Zedwell, which has hotels in a number of locations in London, including Tottenham Court Road, Greenwich and Piccadilly, will operate the planned hotel. Rooms are expected to start at £71 per night in the first year of the hotel’s operation, increasing to £90 per night after a few years.

Labour Camberwell Green councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle MBE and a resident called Vera raised concerns about noise and pollution from construction work on people who live nearby.

Cllr Livingstone, Cllr Emily Tester, Cllr Michael Situ and Cllr Jon Hartley voted to approve the hotel conversion. Cllr Kath Whittam abstained. Explaining her decision to vote in favour of the plans, Liberal Democrat councillor Emily Tester joked: “I found myself at Labour Party conference for work last year and stayed in a windowless hotel, which actually was probably the highlight of Labour conference for me.”

ELITE FISH BAR

By Evie Flynn

SOUTHWARK PARK will host competitive league cricket matches this year, for the first time in decades.

The Southwark Park Cricket Club (SPCC) will welcome the Surrey Cricket League to Bermondsey this summer.

Southwark Council’s Olympic Legacy fund has spent £25k to rehabilitate the outfield on the historic Southwark Park Oval, due to open in May 2025.

This includes over 160 tonnes of new earth added to make the surface flatter and safer. The area has been fenced off until the league season commences in May.

After decades of neglect, the outfield will be restored to bring Southwark Park Oval up to league standard. There will also be cricket nets in the new Surrey Quays Leisure Centre.

SPCC is a community club is in its 11th year. It provides coaching and friendly league cricket for men, women and children.

Every Saturday, the Southwark Park CC First XI or Second XI will play a Surrey Cricket League match in the park.On Sundays, juniors (U10 and U11) will have a chance to play in the Surrey Junior Cricket Championship. ECB qualified coaches provide a weekly coaching for juniors on Thursday afternoons 5-6.30pm. The programme is sponsored by British Land so there is no cost and all kit is provided.

SPCC will also play take part in the Surrey Women’s Cricket League.

Cricket has been played in Southwark

Southwark Park Oval, which will be fenced off until May.

LEAGUE CRICKET RETURNS TO THE PARK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES

Park since 1870 and was the home ground of Rotherhithe boy and England legend, Bobby Abel. He still holds the record for the highest innings by a Surrey batsman.

Chair of the club, Martin Kovats, said: “SPCC was formed in 2014 with the mission to bring cricket back to the Southwark Park Oval. The club has grown rapidly and has worked with the council to

Beloved iron ship table at the Brunel Museum demolished

By Issy Clarke

A BELOVED iron sculpture of a ship outside the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe has been demolished.

Gardeners are now at work planting a wildflower meadow in its place.

The Ship of Blueprints - known locally to some as ‘Arthur’s Table’ - was a picnic table shaped like a ship that stood in the South Garden of the Museum for more than twenty years.

The community led artwork was created in 2004 with artists and children from the Adams Gardens and Swan Road estates who helped make the tiles.

The museum said it had been unable to find a new home for the ship in its current form. However the tiles on the table-top, which were created by local children, have been kept aside for future use.

The Rotherhithe-based museum highlights the Brunel family, key figures in Victorian innovation and the Industrial Revolution.

Marc Brunel’s tunnel runs from Rotherhithe to Wapping and was the

first tunnel dug underneath a river, a pioneering innovation that is still used today.

The demolition of the ship is part of a broader regeneration project at the museum which includes a new visitor centre and refurbished Engine House including new displays, improved facilities and access.

The museum is inviting people who were involved in the original creation of the tiles in 2004 to take part in a reminiscence project. If you are interested you can get in touch by emailing hello@thebrunelmuseum.com

improve facilities. It is fantastic that we now can bring league cricket to Bermondsey and Rotherhithe and we hope people will turn up to enjoy high quality, competitive cricket and support their local teams.”

The club will also be running the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) popular All Stars and Dynamo programmes, which are now open for 2025 registration.

These are summer kids’ training programmes which run weekly every Saturday, from May 31st - July 26th. It costs £50 per child for nine weeks of training and merchandise.

All Stars Cricket is for children aimed 5-8 years old and is a game based programme suitable to all skill levels, all whilst making friends in a safe and enjoyable environment.

360 STUDENT FLATS IN EAST DULWICH GIVEN GREEN LIGHT

EXCLUSIVE

By Issy Clarke

RESIDENTS HAVE hit out at an “overbearing and imposing” scheme to build almost 400 student flats in a ‘quiet’ pocket of East Dulwich.

The planning application, submitted by developer Cresswick last summer, was given the green light at a Southwark Council planning committee meeting on Wednesday, 2 April.

The development, named the Sidings, would see the construction of 360 student flats and 51 affordable homes spread across three buildings behind East Dulwich station reaching eight storeys in height. 70 per cent of the homes will contain between three and four bedrooms.

In addition to the residential accommodation, the development will provide a café area, lounges for relaxation and a gym.

Andy Moutrie, who has lived in the area for 15 years, said that while he was not opposed to the redevelopment of the site, the project would “treble the population of the street” and risk the area becoming “dominated by students”.

“There will be 360 people who we don’t know, in a different demographic to the families and couples who are most of my neighbours, with no confirmed improvement to transport or any sort of amenities in the area.”

He said he also feared the development could make the area rich pickings for thieves, by ushering in crowds of students kitted out with expensive new clothes and technology at the start of each academic year. “I wouldn’t want to see an increase in crime because there’s an easy targetneither for them nor for us.”

He added he was concerned the development would lead to a build-up of traffic on Melbourne Grove spilling over

from the entrance to the site on Jarvis Road, which is shared by The Charter School East Dulwich.

Another resident, Richard Cuevas, speaking against the application during the planning committee meeting, described the development as “overbearing and imposing”.

“East Dulwich isn’t King’s Cross or Liverpool Street” he said.

“There is a recognition among many objectors that the site needs to be developed. But if you look at the size of it - its huge. Why does it need to be seven or eight storeys high? Why can’t it be four or five?”

Currently, the tallest building on the street is the Charter School, which stands at five storeys, while the other buildings on Melbourne Grove range between two and three storeys in height.

He also questioned why there was a need for student flats there in the first place, given there are no universities particularly close by. He told the planning committee: “If we’re honest with ourselves, that’s because there needs to be money generated for the developer. Make no mistake, the student angle is entirely motivated by that.”

He added the development would “literally impair the ability to deliver much needed family homes.”

A spokesperson for the developer replied that the student component of the development was “very appropriate”, adding: “A lot of those students are taking up existing housing units, which could be freed up for residents by having a purpose built student accommodation block.”

Despite the objections raised by residents, local businesses have been more welcoming of the planning proposals.

A man working at a nearby pub said “anything that brings students into the area would be a pro for us.”

Another man employed at a nearby Indian restaurant held a similar view, telling us:

Dynamos Cricket is for boys and girls age 8-11 years old. Each week there will be a focus on a different cricket skill to build confidence and ability.

If you or your child are interested in taking up the national summer sport, please contact southwarkparckcc@ gmail.com.

“More people in the area would be good for us because it means more people trying the restaurant. So we’re welcoming towards the development.”

A spokesperson for Cresswick said: “Cresswick undertook extensive consultation with local councillors, residents and businesses. We listened to their comments and concerns.

“We believe that our scheme will bring great benefits to the local community, a view clearly endorsed by members of the planning committee who voted unanimously in favour.”

Cllr Stephanie Cryan, Cabinet Member for Equalities, Democracy & Finance said:

“The Sidings, Railway Rise represents an opportunity for the redevelopment of a builders yard and will provide the local community with 53 affordable homes as well as student accommodation next to a railway station. The project is compliant with affordable housing policy and we’re excited to see it delivered. The new residents will no doubt give a boost to local businesses.

“Southwark has a positive track record on delivering affordable housing and we’re also building more new council homes than any other council – with over 3,000 starting on site since 2016, over 500 completed in 2024 and 16 active sites today.

“Feedback from residents has been taken on board and there will be continuous consultation on construction management as well as student management plans regarding the student accommodation element of the development.”

The view from the railway

SPCC First XI

THIS GRAN GOT A SCHOOL BUILT

Bermondsey battle-axe Kate Southion passes away aged 79

By Kevin Quinn

HUNDREDS IF not thousands of schoolchildren owe an invaluable debt to one Bermondsey gran, who sadly passed away last month.

Kate Southion achieved what many thought impossible at the time – the building of a brand-new secondary school for the area.

The new millennium had arrived, but for hundreds of local children in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe hoping to make the leap from primary to secondary school, they found themselves without a place. This included two of Kate’s very own grandchildren.

The area had once been home to a few secondary schools which had to shut down. This once bustling working-class area saw a decline in families as high-flying professionals came in to buy properties in the warehouses and factories that had lain derelict since the docks closed.

New homes, especially in Rotherhithe’s Downtown area, had been built in the late 1980s and 1990s, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s London Docklands Development Corporation tried to regenerate the peninsula, while erecting Canary Wharf as a second business district for London, just across the river.

The planners had made contingencies for primary school places, but as the years went by these kids of course grew up and where there were once large schools like Scott Lidgett in Bermondsey, nothing new had come to replace it.

Kate Southion was not a politician; she was not a high-flying businesswoman, yet anyone who came across her could hardly describe her as ordinary.

This Bermondsey battle axe was a barmaid, mum of five and nan to a growing brood of grandchildren, that at the time of her death amounted to 20.

Living on Bermondsey’s largest council estate, the Four Squares, Kate was already known as a woman who got things done.

“Mum used to get everyone together and hire coaches so all of us could go to Margate, Thrope Park and Chessington World of Adventures, she was always doing things for the kids,” her son Michael told us this week.

But when Michael’s daughter Terri

found herself without a school place, despite being extremely bright, Kate could not just go out collecting and somehow get a school built for her in the area – or could she?

Kate rang the Southwark News and got all the parents she knew whose kids were without a place, plus advertised down the nearby Blue shopping area and demanded they come together at the Four Squares Tenants’ and Residents’ Association hall.

Southwark News was shocked to find all the kids lined up and ready to be pictured and documented for a featured campaign simply asking, ‘Where are we to go?’

The reaction from local people was instant, MP Simon Hughes immediately gave it his wholehearted support and Kate even managed to get all parties at Southwark Council to back her.

But where was the money going to come from? Southwark Council did not have enough, and the government was not ready to commit to the entire funding. While the bigwigs were searching

When her granddaughter was denied a school place Kate could not just go out collecting and somehow get a school built for her in the area - or could she?

around for pots of funding Kate Southion was busy setting up a self-help school in a space above Rotherhithe Library, with many teachers volunteering their time. It closed in December 2001 with the promise of a brand-new academy opening on the run-down former Patterson Park site, off St James’s Road.

The new school intended to specialise in business and enterprise and as sponsor of the school, The Corporation of London had committed £2m to the building costs, with the rest of the funding provided by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

The establishment of the Academy had been fully supported by Southwark Education Authority, which was providing the site. It was all ready to go, but the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone blocked it.

Mr Livingstone said the school should not be built at the expense of another public amenity.

“Paterson Park is the only public green

space in the area. The park should be improved for local people, not taken away from them,” he said.

Kate and over 100 parents were outraged and held protests in Paterson Park. They then staged a sit-in at the Mayor’s Romney House offices. After some behind-the-scenes negotiations with Southwark Council, Livingstone agreed to review his objection.

Kate, more than 100 children and their parents wore T-shirts bearing an image of the mayor and the slogan ‘This man said no to my school’, when they descended on Romney House.

Southwark agreed to invest £20 million in its parks over the next decade and council leader Stephanie Elsy assured Livingstone that two extra parks would be created near the site. The Corporation of London also increased the area of public parkland in the masterplan.

The school operated for a couple of years from a temporary site in Peckham Rye, and the City Academy opened to 180

Year 7 pupils from Southwark and the City of London in September 2003. The City of London Academy is now a permanent fixture, teaching 1,200 pupils aged 1119 since opening at Patterson Park in September 2005.

Whether the thousands that have attended the school in the last 20 years know of Kate Southion is doubtful. “Mum did get some recognition, she was given the Liberty of the Old Borough of Bermondsey a good few years back, so could drive some sheep across the bridge and the kids that knew her back then were grateful, but that was about it,” Michael said.

Kate’s sudden death has shocked her family - after a short stay in St Thomas Hospital suffering what the family believe was a series of mini heart attacks, she passed away surrounded by her loved ones on March 23.

In total Kate, aged 79, had five children, 20 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. This mother-figure to hundreds more was a typical workingclass woman, who was born in Dulwich Hospital on March 18, 1946, one of fourchildren to Ivy Jones and her old man Charlie, who was a dustman.

She was happy married to Bill for 52 years until he passed away in September 2017. Michael says: “Mum was the best, she was hard - you would not mess with her, but she did everything for everyone and asked for nothing in return.”

Her granddaughter Katie, who is named after her, said: “She was my rock, my soul mate, my everything. I talk to her every morning, and she’d be the last person I’d call at night. She might be my Nan but she was also my best friend.”

Former MP Simon Hughes paid tribute saying: “Kate Southion was a feisty campaigner for local school places for local children. Kate’s work with others for her community was a model of how committed people can make a difference for better for their neighbours. She will not be forgotten.”

Kate funeral cortege will leave Swan Road, SE16 at 1pm for a service to be held at Honor Oak Crematorium at 2pm on Friday April 25 followed by a wake at the

Brunel pub in Rotherhithe.

Kate Southion and the school she helped get built

Kate was mum of five, grandmother of 20 and had 12 great gandchildren

Kate and her husband of 52 years Bill Southion

MORE HOUSEHOLD ITEM BORROWING CENTRES OPEN Living Room reopens

By Issy Clarke

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL has opened two new sharing libraries in East Dulwich and Elephant and Castle where residents can borrow DIY items for ‘a few pounds a day’.

The Library of Things in Dulwich Leisure Centre and Castle Leisure Centre is offering useful everyday items such as carpet cleaners, drills and sewing machines, saving residents from buying brand new items that won’t be used regularly.

There is also popular party equipment available to rent, like sound systems and

projectors.

The opening of the two new locations follows the success of the first Library of Things site in Canada Water Library which opened in 2023, and means all Southwark residents now have access to a sharing library within 1.5 miles of where they live.

Canada Water Library of Things has already saved residents over £300,000, making sharing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to buying.

Cllr John Batteson, Southwark Council Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, Jobs and Business, said: “We are thrilled to expand Library of Things in Southwark

with two new locations, which means most of our residents now live in close proximity to a site they can use.

“We have seen in Canada Water how community borrowing can save residents money, help them pick up new skills and foster a greater sense of community –all whilst reducing their own carbon footprint and helping the planet.

“That’s why we’re proud to be leading the way for the sharing economy in London with this expansion, showing how tackling the climate emergency and becoming more sustainable is something that can be fun, convenient and allows people to save money at the same time.”

By Issy Clarke

A WALWORTH community space offering knitting workshops, coding classes and drumming lessons has reopened to the community.

Walworth Living Room in All Saint’s Hall on Surrey Square has been closed for renovations since last year.

The new and improved community hub has longer opening hours and an expanded range of activities, offering even more opportunities for people of all ages to meet and learn new things.

Founded in 2019, Walworth Living Room is part of Pembroke House, an organisation that has been fostering community cohesion in Walworth for over 130 years.

Tara Mack, Director of Programmes said: “The pandemic and cost of living crisis has had a devastating impact on the area. As Walworth continues to undergo significant gentrification, forcing many residents out of the area, we need more

spaces like the Living Room - places where we feel welcome and can be ourselves, connect with each other, and overcome the challenges that keep us apart.”

The Living Room is open between 10am - 5pm on Thursday, from 9am to 4pm on Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturday.

By Harrison Galliven

Local Democracy Reporter

SOUTH LONDON residents fear another ‘environmental disaster’ after a second oil spill in the River Wandle in just two months has been confirmed.

The Environment Agency believes most of the oil has cleared, but concerns over the impact remain unclear.

Members of the public were alerted by a video showing oil or fuel floating on water at Watermeads Nature Reserve, in Mitcham, was published on social media on Thursday last week, April 3rd.

The spill has been traced back to Poulter Park, but a cause has not yet been identified.

Residents passing the stream noted the oil sheen on the surface, as well as a notable smell emanating from the water.

Commenting on the post, Facebook user Claire Williams said: “The smell up at Mill Green and the factory estate is pungent of diesel.”

After receiving concerns and reports from the public, the Environment Agency (EA) acknowledged the incident. On X, they stated: “We are continuously monitoring the River Wandle after the recent pollution. While we still get some reports of oil, we believe most of it has cleared.”

Bobby Dean, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, shared his concerns on X. He added that he is working with the Environment Agency, Thames Water, and the South East Rivers Trust “to determine the scale and cause” of the issue.

Mr Dean later told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “While it appears to be smaller than the environmental disaster we saw in

SOUTH LONDON RIVER HIT WITH A SECOND OIL SPILL

February, the truth is we simply don’t know the full extent of the spill.

“What is clear is that this reinforces the vulnerability of the Wandle and the urgent need for independent pollution monitoring alongside better infrastructure.”

This incident marks the second incident of a spill on the Wandle. In February, South London residents and conservationists were devastated to discover that an estimated 4,000 litres of oil had contaminated the historic chalk stream.

Mr Dean described this spill from a bus garage in Thornton Heath as an ‘environmental disaster.’

While the EA is continuing its investigation into that spill, many are concerned about its lasting impact on local biodiversity. To make matters worse, the Watermeads area has been hit twice by spills this year, with the EA concentrating a clean-up operation on the Mitcham section.

In February, River Wandle expert Dr Jack Hogan told the LDRS of his concerns for the river. He said: “It’s devastating,

but we won’t know the extent of it yet.

This damage is not just measured in days or weeks but potentially years. Judging by what we have seen, this is potentially the worst incident since 2007.”

The Wandle is one of the world’s purest chalk stream rivers and is home to many unique species. It starts life in Carshalton and Croydon before flowing into the River Thames at Wandsworth.

The EA continues the current spill and have encouraged anyone who sees pollution to report it to them on 0800 807060.

Man charged with murdering his wife in New Cross

By Kevin Quinn

A MIDDLE-AGED man has been charged with murdering his wife at his home after an ambulance crew found her seriously injured at the weekend.

Forty-one-year-old Hai Van Nguyen, of Hatfield Close, New Cross was charged today (Monday, 14 April) with the murder of his wife, Hien Thi Vu, 45.

London Ambulance Service alerted police to a seriously injured woman in Hatfield Close, at 06.41am on Sunday morning. First responding officers were immediately deployed along with London’s Air Ambulance. Despite the emergency services best efforts, she was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

Ten minutes later police said Nguyen ‘self-presented at Lewisham Police Station in connection to the incident.’ He was arrested and charged with murder and was due to appear at Bromley Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.

Hien Vu’s next-of-kin have been informed and continue to be supported by specialist officers.

A post-mortem examination will take place in due course. The investigation continues.

Disabled mum fleeing domestic violence awarded

£3,500 after being housed in accommodation that split her up from her child for ten months

By Robert Firth Local Democracy Reporter

A SOUTH London disabled mum has won over £3,500 from her council after she was split up from her child for 10 months after fleeing her abusive ex-partner.

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) said Lewisham Council failed to uphold the woman’s human rights by housing her in temporary accommodation without enough space for her to live with her child.

The mum, known only as Mrs X, was unable to bathe properly in the flat, which she complained had a sewage problem, a lack of hot water and insufficient central heating.

A few days after she moved into the property, her carers—who Mrs X relied on to help her wash, prepare food and do the laundry— told the council there was not enough space for them to care for her safely in the flat.

Internal emails seen by the Ombudsman showed Lewisham knew the flat was unsuitable as early as August 2023. But according to the LGO judgement from February, the council delayed

officially assessing the suitability of the property for five months.

In the meantime the mum’s abusive former partner tracked her location down. The Ombudsman said Mrs X’s physical health conditions would have made it ‘difficult to escape a dangerous situation’ if the partner had turned up at the property.

The Ombudsman added: “The impact on Mrs X of being left in the unsuitable property was profound. Mrs X could not bathe properly. The care workers could not provide personal care in the property. Mrs X could not attend medical appointments. Mrs X could not receive procedures to support health conditions, because the environment in the property was not conducive to recovery.

“Mrs X was located by the perpetrator of domestic abuse and lived in fear of further abuse. These are significant injustices to Mrs X. In leaving Mrs X in unsuitable accommodation for the period August to June 2024 and without sufficient space for [her] to live with her child, the council failed to have due regard for Mrs X’s Article 8

right to private and family life.”

The mum was eventually moved to alternative accommodation by Lewisham in June 2024.

The LGO ordered the council to pay her £3,550 compensation and apologise to her for the handling of her situation.

The Ombudsman noted similarities to a separate case highlighted in a June 2024 report, where a mum and her children were placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation by the council for

over a year.

Following the June 2024 report, the council was ordered to produce an action plan showing how it was addressing faults identified in the case. The Ombudsman has requested an update on the council’s progress with the action plan.

Councillor Will Cooper, Lewisham’s Cabinet Member for Better Homes, said: “We recognise the significant impact of unsuitable accommodation on residents and the frustration of waiting for long periods for decisions from the council.

“We are already making sure that the findings from this investigation are being shared among all relevant departments, with a particular focus on best practice when working with victims of domestic abuse.

“We were clearly at fault in this case, but it is important to also note the role of the housing crisis currently gripping Lewisham and the rest of London. The rising costs and low availability of housing is putting huge pressures on us and our staff and too often resulting in poor outcomes.”

Dr Jack Hogan on the Wandle Credit: Harrison Galliven © Tate Modern

A NEW study has shown that artificial intelligence (AI) could help speed up pregnancy scans by 40 per cent, while still maintaining the same accuracy and reliability.

The new technology, developed between Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College London, and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), assists by taking measurements of the fetus while sonographers can focus on diagnosing any conditions and talking with parents.

For many expectant parents, the 20-week pregnancy screening can be a worrying experience as sonographers are looking for signs of 11 different conditions in a baby, such as heart defects or spina bifida. However, the extra time freed up by using the AI tool allows the sonographer more time to focus on the parents.

The trial involved 78 pregnant participants and 58 sonographers. Each pregnant participant was scanned twice, once using the AIassisted scanner and once without the use of AI.

Ashleigh Louison, 36, was one of the participants in the trial at St Thomas’ Hospital. During her pregnancy, her son Lennox was diagnosed with heart disease. This early diagnosis allowed doctors at St Thomas’ and Evelina London Children’s Hospital to plan immediate medical care for Lennox when he was born, including lifesaving surgery within two weeks of his birth.

Ashleigh said: “Receiving an early diagnosis for Lennox was really important, as it meant we

TRIAL SHOWS AI ENHANCES PREGNANCY SCANS

EVELINA LONDON

Children’s Charity is funding 7 ambitious projects, thanks to generous donations, that will help address health inequalities in the community.

People can experience inequalities in healthcare for many reasons including being on a low income

could properly plan the road ahead. We immediately knew that he would likely need open heart surgery and that we would be staying in hospital for a few weeks after his birth. This gave us the

chance to physically and mentally prepare for what was coming.”

The AI tool is now being rolled out more widely through a company called Fraiya, which is a collaboration by King’s College

Voting opens for Council of Governors on 22 April

GUY’S AND St Thomas’ governors play a key role in representing the views of patients, public and staff. They aim to make sure that services meet the needs of the community.

If you are an eligible member you can vote in the Council of Governors elections 2025 from Tuesday 22 April to Monday 19 May. The statements of nominated

candidates are available to view at: www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/ governors-elections-2025

If you have any questions contact members@gstt.nhs.uk

Guy’s and St Thomas’ want people of all backgrounds and experiences to stand for election as a governor to help ensure that the voice of the Council of Governors is representative of its diverse communities.

Making healthcare fairer for everyone

or because of discrimination. This can make it harder for some people to get the care they need.

The charity consulted Evelina London clinical teams to understand where support is needed most, and are now developing projects ranging from a new mental health toolkit for children

with communication challenges and disabilities, to training staff in specialist techniques to reduce risks associated with premature births.

The charity aims to make healthcare fairer and better for everyone. To find out more visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdt6bbnn

London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital.

Dr Thomas Day, lead author of the study, who is a consultant paediatric and fetal cardiologist at Evelina London, said: “We hope

that using AI in these scans will free up precious time for sonographers to focus on patient care, making the experience more comfortable and reassuring for parents.”

Celebrating ICU survivors

GUY’S AND St Thomas’ staff recently hosted a tea party to celebrate past and present members of its intensive care unit (ICU) recovery peer support group. The group brings together ICU survivors and their families so that they can help each other through the emotional challenges of their recovery.

Supported with funding from Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, the tea party was attended by over 100 ICU survivors

who have benefitted from the group over the years. The ICU survivors meet, connect and share personal experiences.

Katie Susser, the critical care recovery nurse who facilitates the support group, said: “Being alongside our patients during their rigorous and sometimes traumatic recoveries from critical illness, I wanted to provide a space where our ICU survivors could come together and be amongst others who truly understand their experiences.”

SCHOOL’S CLOSURE PUSHED FORWARD BY A YEAR

It has come as a ‘bombshell’ and has left teachers frantically trying to find a new job

By Robert Firth Local Democracy Reporter

TEACHERS AT a primary school due to shut down are in a ‘lose-lose situation’ after the council pushed forward the closure date by a year, a staff member has claimed.

Lambeth Council originally told staff at Kings Avenue School in Clapham that it planned to close the school in September 2026 and move existing pupils to nearby Glenbrook Primary School.

However, when the final proposals were rubber-stamped by the council’s Labour cabinet in November 2024, the closure date for Kings Avenue had been moved forward a year to September 2025.

Bisma Jones, a governor and staff member at the school, said the decision to shut King’s Avenue 12 months earlier had

come as a ‘bombshell’ and left teachers frantically trying to find a new job.

She was one of over a dozen staff members to rally outside the school on April 2 and April 3, calling on the council to commit to no compulsory redundancies as part of Kings Avenue’s closure.

The 46-year-old said: “They [the council] dropped the bombshell on November 4 [2024] and then they washed their hands with us. We didn’t even get a whole year [to find a new job]. We are [in a] lose-lose situation.

“Even to date, we don’t know what’s happening. We’ve had no HR meetings, we’ve had no wellbeing officers… not one person or support has come forward and said ‘we’ll help you through this’. Now we are striking for no compulsory redundancies.”

The earlier 2025 closure date was stated

in council cabinet papers published ahead of a crunch decision meeting in November 2024. But Ms Jones said the first she and many staff members heard of the new date was when Liberal Democrat councillor Matthew Bryant raised it with the council’s then-director of education, Abrilli Phillip, during the meeting.

Ms Phillip, who is understood to have left the council in early January, told the meeting in November last year that the decision to bring the school’s closure forward a year was because it was ‘more cost-effective’. According to cabinet papers, shutting the school in 2025 will cost £290,634 less than waiting until 2026. The council has described the closure of King’s Avenue and the transfer of existing pupils to Glenbrook Primary School as an ‘amalgamation’. However, according to Ms

F A ALBIN & SONS

Jones, only around 20-25 pupils out of the 82 at the school are moving to Glenbrook.

She added: “The objective was to merge the two schools together and that’s not been met. We have classes with four children in year one and year two. It’s because parents needed some clarity, and they couldn’t just wait around.”

According to Ms Jones, parents have opted to send their children to other local primary schools such as Sudbourne, Bonneville, and Clapham Manor.

It is understood the council is examining if the Kings Avenue site can be used as a school for pupils with special education needs in the future, as there is currently a shortage of places in Lambeth to meet these children’s needs.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “The time frame for merging the two schools is in line with that agreed

in November and communicated to the school community. We know this is a very difficult time, but with the ongoing drop in pupil numbers at King’s Avenue, we have to take tough decisions.

“The council doesn’t want to close schools, but it must because there are not enough pupils to fill the classes. Because of the national funding arrangements, schools get funded per pupil, meaning under-filled schools risk building up big debts.

“As a borough, we have to face up to this challenge as it’s the only way to ensure every young person in Lambeth is able to benefit from a high standard of primary school education, now and into the future. Sadly this will have an impact on staff at our schools, but we are doing all we can to support them through this really difficult challenge.”

Staff protesting outside King’s Avenue School in Clapham, South London on April 2, 2025

Supplied by Bisma Jones

ANGUISHED PARENTS LAUNCHING A PETITION IN BID TO STOP CHARLOTTE SHARMAN PRIMARY’S SHUTDOWN

By Issy Clarke

DEVASTATED PARENTS have launched a petition to save Charlotte Sharman Primary School, after Southwark Council began consulting on its possible closure.

More than 700 parents have signed the petition calling on the council to ‘stop the closure and explore viable alternatives to keep the school open’.

The council began consulting on the closure of the school in February, and a decision is expected in June. The proposed closure of the school would take effect by August 31.

Six primary schools in Southwark have closed since 2022 due to falling

pupil rolls, blamed on a combination of a declining birth rate and rising house prices.

Births across London dropped by 20 per cent between 2012 and 2022 – a reduction of 27,490 live births across the capital. This creates problems for primary schools which receive funding on a per-pupil basis.

One parent commented below the petition: “Charlotte Sharman Primary School isn’t just a school - it’s the heart of our community. It’s where our children feel safe, supported, and excited to learn. Closing Charlotte Sharman means uprooting children, disrupting their learning, and losing a vital part of our community”.

The National Education Union – which

represents an overwhelming majority of staff at the school – says its members unanimously oppose any plans to close the school and are now being balloted for strike action.

Last year, a merger between Charlotte Sharman and St Jude’s Primary School was called off after a long consultation which left parents waiting more than a year for a decision.

A letter sent to St Jude’s parents said the decision not to join forces was in part due to ‘opposition from the community at Charlotte Sharman that is at odds with the ethos of St Jude’s.’

St Jude’s is a Church of England school and Charlotte Sharman is of no fixed faith, yet 80 per cent of its pupils are Muslim.

A petition against Charlotte Sharman becoming a faith school garnered over 600 signatures, suggesting many were against the move.

Another reason the merger did not go ahead was that there were reportedly ‘concerns’ over whether the merger would be viable, based on the latest financial information.

Cllr Jasmine Ali, Southwark Council’s Deputy Leader and cabinet member for children, education and refugees, said: “The leadership and community around Charlotte Sharman Primary School have worked tirelessly to avoid any impact of falling rolls on their school and its children.

“The current head teacher and the chair of governors stepped up and did

everything they could to keep the school running. The council has supported them through every possible option.

“An attempt last year to merge with another local school was sadly not feasible. Further steps were taken with the support of a different local school to try to make their budget work, but unfortunately that strategy could not solve the significant budget deficit the school has faced. With much regret, the school has no option but to consult on closure.

“Thankfully, the children will all be offered places in good and outstanding schools locally – their future success and stability are paramount and we will support all families as this happens.”

Southwark’s fertility rate drops to lowest in London

By Issy Clarke

FEWER WOMEN in Southwark are having children than in any other London borough, according to a new report.

Southwark recorded a 44.2 per cent drop in the fertility rate in the past 15 years - the largest decrease in the capital, according to a report by Fertility Family.

Women in Southwark tend to be younger than the national average, with a third aged between 20 and 34 in 2023, compared to 19 per cent across England.

The single largest age group of women was the 25-29 age bracket, making up 13 per cent of the female

population in Southwark.

The average age of mothers giving birth in England is around 31, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Falling birth rates have been blamed for the number of primary schools in Southwark forced to close in recent years, as declining rolls pose problems for schools which get their funding on a per-pupil basis.

The fertility rate is a projection of the number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime based on current birth rates. The birth rate is the number of births per 1,000 people in the population.

The Fertility Family study looked at areas in the UK where fertility rates

had declined the most over the past 15 years, and found that 10 London boroughs were amongst the areas in the UK with the highest decline.

Of these, the top five where fertility rates fell the most were Southwark, followed by Lambeth, Greenwich, Newham and Lewisham.

The most common reason given by nearly half of respondents for delaying having children was to focus on their career, while one in four said they viewed starting a family as unaffordable.

In total the overall fertility rate for the UK has fallen by 26.9 per cent over the last 15 years, which means that for every two women of childbearing age, one less child is being born.

16 NEWS

By Josef Steen Local Democracy Reporter

ISLINGTON COUNCIL has confirmed it is exploring ways to force change from the government in how schools are funded, amid a slew of closures across the capital and one of those ways could involved a cross-council campaign in London.

Last month, union representatives met with Islington council officers following direct action over the looming shutdown of two primary schools in the borough.

The council has proposed closing Highbury Quadrant and St Jude and St Paul’s schools due to falling pupil rolls and growing budget deficits – triggering walkouts from teachers and pupils determined to keep their doors open.

Against this backdrop, the local authority confirmed it is “looking into” ways it can collaborate with other councils in lobbying the government to prevent any more closures.

This includes having discussions with London’s mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, and the Department of Education (DfE) around reforming overall policy for inner London schools.

A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it was “too early to say whether other councils are on board, but it’s something we’re looking into”.

Terry Sullivan, a teacher and cosecretary of the local National Education Union (NEU) branch, told the LDRS he welcomed the opportunity to join forces with the council to “put pressure on those who hold the purse strings”.

“As far as I know, [it was] the first meeting of anything of that sort nationally, and to be fair to the council, they initiated it,” he said.

“We know they don’t want to close the schools. These are essentially Labour councils having to do so because they’re being forced to by the straitjacket imposed by a Labour government in office.”

Like other local authorities, Islington has argued that falling rolls pose a severe threat to the financial sustainability of schools, as under the national funding formula (NFF) schools get less money if fewer pupils are on the register.

According to London Councils, there

COULD A CROSS-COUNCIL CAMPAIGN HALT PRIMARY SCHOOLS SHUTTING DOWN IN LONDON?

was a reduction of 27,490 live births across the capital between 2012 and 2022 – with the change being felt especially in the city’s inner boroughs like Southwark and Lambeth. It is thought to be due to London’s lack of affordable family housing – which has pushed parents outside the city or discouraged them from having children altogether.

Mr Sullivan said the high number of schools in Islington with only one class per year group or ‘single-form entry’ had put the council in a harder position than others.

“We need to find the money, and there should be a premium for single-form primary schools. There’s no efficiency to scale.”

He suggested the Town Hall keeps a larger “chunk” of dedicated schools grant funding and allocate it to those schools

with one class per year group.

But Mr Sullivan added that changing the NFF would be a “huge piece of work” that would take “two or three years”.

The council’s spokesperson confirmed it had scheduled meetings on the issue for the coming weeks, but it was also waiting for the DfE’s proposed white paper on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and inclusion.

“[This] aims to set out a suite of system reforms, including additional funding for councils and schools,” the spokesperson added.

“Additional investment in the dedicated schools grant system would reduce the financial pressures associated with the SEND and inclusion system, and with running costs for schools more generally.

“We will evaluate the contents of the white paper and consider approaches to

the DfE at that point.”

In Southwark the council is developing a capital plan to expand SEN provision, which once finalised could see at least two of the closed four school buildings they own being re-purposed as a special school between 2025 and 2030.

The other two church-run schools in Southwark are being used for other purposes rather than lying empty.

And Islington Council has also made clear that any attempt to pressure the government for change will not influence current proposals to close St Jude and St Paul’s and Highbury Quadrant.

Regarding these plans, the borough’s lead for children and young people, Cllr Michelline Safi-Ngongo, has said: “We understand that this is a difficult time for families and we are considering their feedback.

“No decision has been made yet but if the decision is made to close the schools, we want to reassure them that we will provide dedicated support to help parents and carers find the right school for their children.

“We have received several proposals suggesting alternative approaches to closing the schools. These will be evaluated and considered.”

Public consultation on the plans ended on 27 March.

Mr Sullivan said: “We must not forget the threat hanging over two Islington schools this year – Highbury Quadrant and St Jude and St Paul’s.

“We will continue to fight to keep them open. We know the council doesn’t want to close schools and we will do our utmost to try and get them to do the right thing.”

Highshore School expansion takes a step forward as council launches consultation in Camberwell

By Issy Clarke

THE EXPANSION of Highshore School in Camberwell has taken a step forward, after Southwark Council launched a consultation on the plans last week.

The council wants to expand the mixed needs special secondary school in Camberwell into the site of the former Comber Grove Primary School, which closed in August 2024 due to falling pupil numbers. Highshore, located on Farmers Road, is currently oversubscribed and demand is expected to continue rising. The proposed expansion would create around 60-70 additional places.

The council has secured £5-7 million to refurbish the Comber Grove site, with planned improvements including a new sports hall, full accessibility enhancements, green improvements for energy efficiency,

and a tailored learning environment suited to Highshore pupils’ needs.

The plans could either involve creating a dedicated post-16 provision or an integrated space catering to both secondary and sixthform students.

The proximity of the Comber Grove site, just an eight-minute walk from Highshore School, will enable shared resources and staff, ensuring continuity of care and education.

The public consultation closes on 5 May 2025. Residents, parents, staff, and other interested parties are encouraged to share their views via the council’s website or attend upcoming engagement events. Feedback will be used to shape the final proposal before it goes to the council’s cabinet for a formal decision.

If approved, final designs will be developed in collaboration with parents, pupils and the council, with refurbishment works set to take place

from summer 2025 to summer 2026.

The new Highshore School satellite site is expected to welcome its first pupils in September 2026.

Councillor Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Refugees, said: “We’re working hard to make sure every child in Southwark can have a great education in a local school, including children who need specialist provision.

“Highshore School has been a great success since it opened ten years ago, so much so that it is now oversubscribed. So we are very pleased to be able to consult on these proposal to extend the school and provide more places for secondary aged students with complex mixed needs.

“This is an opportunity for families, staff, and the wider community to share their views and help shape the future of a much loved school.”

Highbury Quadrant Protest

DO YOU KNOW OR INTERACT WITH SARAH REYNOLDS BEFORE HER DEATH?

By Kevin Quinn

POLICE LEADING a murder investigation into the death of woman in Croydon have appealed asked people they might have seen or met her to come forward.

While formal identification is yet to take place, officers have named

the woman as 58-year-old Sarah Reynolds. Her family are being supported by specialist officers.

A man, who is believed to have been known to her appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court this week charged with her murder.

Earlston Bennet, 57, of Towpath Way, Croydon was charged on

Monday, 14 April.

An investigation into was launched after officers were called to an address on Towpath Way, in the early hours of Saturday, 12 April at 4.55am Police arrived shortly after, but despite the best efforts of attending emergency services, she was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

Susan Hall says sharing AI image of Sadiq Khan drowning was ‘lighthearted joke’

By Noah Vickers Local Democracy Reporter

AN OFFICIAL complaint has been lodged against the former Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall, after she shared on social media an AI-generated image of Sir Sadiq Khan drowning.

Ms Hall, who continues to sit as a London Assembly member after failing to unseat the Labour mayor in last year’s City Hall election, said her post on X was “meant as a lighthearted joke”.

But allies of the mayor have branded the post “disgusting” and have demanded she “reflect and apologise”.

The image on X, initially posted by a separate account, depicts the mayor struggling to stay afloat in a large body of water with the caption “What would you throw to save Khan?”

Ms Hall shared the post with the words: “A ULEZ camera……”

After another user responded “send two!”, Ms Hall – who Sir Sadiq claimed last year was “unfit to be mayor” –replied with a laughing emoji.

In a formal complaint to City Hall’s monitoring officer, Labour assembly member Leonie Cooper pointed out that Ms Hall had pinned the post to the top of her X account for a period of time, in an apparent effort to maximise its visibility.

Sir Sadiq has faced repeated threats to his life throughout his mayoralty and requires constant police protection as a result.

In her complaint, Ms Cooper drew attention to the fact that the Greater London Authority (GLA) code of conduct states that elected members must “treat others with respect”.

It further states that members “must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute.”

Ms Cooper told the monitoring officer: “Reposting, sharing and making jokes about AI generated imagery which depicts violence against politicians is unacceptable.

“Political disagreements are vital to the democratic process and it is right that we can take different views and can debate robustly against those with whom we disagree. However, posts such as the above dehumanise political opponents and encourage political violence.”

Neil Coyle, the Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, has meanwhile urged the Conservative Party to separately investigate the matter.

“These comments from Susan Hall are a disgrace,” he said. “Joking about someone drowning should be below

© London Assembly

The Met said: “It is believed Bennet was known to Sarah and detectives are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.”

But added: “Detectives continue their work to build a picture of Sarah’s life in the weeks leading up to her death.

They are keen to speak with anyone

any decent politician, from any party.

“I hope the chair of the Conservative Party will investigate these disgusting remarks and take appropriate action.”

Ms Hall told BBC London on Wednesday: “I was responding to a joke on X – which is something I often do – clearly it bore no relation to any other news story.

“It was meant as a lighthearted joke, as many of my tweets are, and certainly not intended to be taken seriously.”

The Conservative Party did not respond when asked if it had any comment.

who interacted with, or saw Sarah in recent weeks.”

You can contact police using the dedicated online portal mipp.police. uk/operation/01MPS25X57-PO1. You can also report information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

London’s biggest outdoor lido reopens for the summer

By Louisa Woolf

TOOTING BEC lido reopened this week for the summer.

It is the UK’s largest freshwater swimming pool at 90-metre and will be open to the public for daily swimming sessions until the end of September.

Unheated the lido opened way back in 1906 and will be open to the public everyday from 10.30am until 2pm for the rest of April. Throughout May to August, it will offer two swimming sessions, from 10am until 2.30pm and from 3.30 until 8pm. And throughout September, the lido will offer two sessions back to back, from 10am until 2pm and from 2pm until 5pm, until it closes for the end of the season on September 30th.

London’s has 17 lidos. Tooting Bec is known for its multi-coloured changing huts, and also has lockers, a cafe, and a children’s paddling pool on site.

Visitors to the lido will be able to book

‘Just Swim’ sessions with areas of the pool dedicated to lane or open swimming, or ‘All Welcome’ sessions with no lanes.

Tickets will be £9.60 for adults per session, and £5.30 for children, with children under five going free

There will also be 130 free tickets per swimming session available for eligible residents under Wandsworth’s ‘Access for All’ scheme.

Last year, the lido enjoyed a £4 million refurbishment, including a modern UV filtration system to keep the water clean and upgrades to the surrounding landscaping.

The works have safeguarded the lido’s future for the next 50 years, according to Wandsworth Council. Judi Gasser, Cabinet Member for Environment, called Tooting Bec Lido the “jewel in the crown” of South London’s sports facilities. Booking online in advance is recommended, although it is possible to walk-in.

Susan Hall ran against Sadiq Khan at the last election

Police released this picure of Sarah Reynolds

POPULAR PARK TO GET MAJOR FACELIFT

By Harrison Galliven Local Democracy Reporter

A POPULAR Croydon Park is set to undergo a major facelift after receiving a £1.5 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund,

The funding will bring major improvements to Ashburton Park in Addiscombe, which some locals say has started to feel ‘run down’. It will also be used to address long-running issues like the derelict tea kiosk with its collapsed roof.

In its place, a new bandstand will be built alongside improvements to lighting, pathways, and the creation of a community garden. The park’s persistent flooding problems will

By Noah Vickers

Local Democracy Reporter

E-BIKES HAVE hit the headlines once again after a fire believed to have been caused by one at a block of flats left eleven people in hospital.

Increasingly popular with Londoners, e-bikes now fill the capital’s streets – and pavements – and have quickly become one of the city’s regular sights and sounds.

But they have also for some time been one of the capital’s fastest growing fire risks. In 2024, the London Fire Brigade recorded 142 fires involving e-bikes, along with 29 e-scooters. On average, there was an e-bike or e-scooter fire once every other day

The previous year, three people died in fires caused by e-bike battery failures in London and more than 100 people have been hurt by them.

The fire in Bethnal Green on Wednesday night comes shortly after Transport for London (TfL) announced a ban on all non-folding e-bikes on the Tube.

The transport authority had faced pressure from the Aslef train drivers union, who warned there was “no justification for continuing to put staff and passengers at risk by continuing to allow potentially explosive devices on London Underground trains”. The union had threatened strike action over the issue, after an e-bike exploded on a platform at Rayners Lane station.

Not all e-bikes are created equal. Some of the most dangerous, in terms of fire risk, are often ordinary bikes which have been adapted using cheap, badly-designed ‘conversion kits’.

These kits are typically used by gig economy workers, such as food delivery

also be tackled with upgrades to the historic wetland area, ensuring the space is not only restored but also enhanced for future generations.

The funding follows a successful bid in 2023, which secured £300,000 for developing plans to upgrade the park ahead of its 100th anniversary. The plans were shaped through feedback from the local community, with the Friends of Ashburton Park and the Oasis community hub playing key roles in workshops and events.

Following the announcement, a spokesperson of the Friends group told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This funding marks 100 years of history and honours all the communities that have enjoyed Ashburton Park as an urban

sanctuary over the decades.

“We are thrilled that the funding will revamp our heritage features, celebrate our history and welcome new flora and fauna through a range of ecological improvements. We are hugely grateful to the team at Croydon Council who worked tirelessly on this bid, and to the Heritage Lottery Fund.”

A series of heritage-focused activities, such as a community archaeology project and guided walks, is also planned for the park ahead of the centenary.

The grounds have changed a lot over the past century. Once home to vineyards, stables, an Italian garden, and a croquet lawn, today, they feature a running track in need of

repair, tennis courts, a playground, and a bowling green.

It also houses the historic Ashburton Hall, which sits in the middle of the park. Jason Perry, Croydon’s Executive Mayor, spoke of his hopes for the funding earlier this week. He said: “This funding will transform Ashburton Park into an even better space for residents now and in the future.”

Andy Gill, Oasis Youth and Innovation Lead, said: “We are delighted that this grant will enhance the park’s safety for children and young people in Croydon. After the tragic events of previous years, this investment is a demonstration of how working with local people can bring about lasting change, improving the

life chances of our young people at a time when support is most needed.”

Stuart McLeod, Director of England – London and South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

“We’re thrilled to support Croydon Council with their vision to create an accessible green space for the community at Ashburton Park. We believe everyone should be able to access, connect with, and enjoy the natural heritage on their doorstep.

“It is thanks to National Lottery players that we can support projects like this, which bring people together and transform the communities we live in.”

Work is set to begin this summer, with the full restoration expected to be completed by November 2028.

riders looking for a cost-effective way to boost the number of deliveries they can complete in a day. After working a long, tiring shift and returning to their home – usually a shared house or bedsit – they may then leave their e-bike charging overnight.

If the bike’s lithium-ion battery pack overheats, it can explode and can “compromise a good-sized double bedroom in 10-15 seconds”, the LFB’s

former deputy commissioner Dom Ellis told the London Assembly in 2023. Through their #ChargeSafe campaign, the Brigade have been working to share safety tips and advice to e-bike users, including warnings that batteries should never be left charging while the owner is asleep, and that escape routes must be kept clear.

The LFB also warns that a?battery “bulging or swelling out of shape is

a common sign of it failing” and the same applies “if you notice a strong or unusual?smell coming from the battery”.

To crack down on the issue at its source however, mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has urged the new Government to place tighter regulations on the sale of e-bikes and electric conversion kits –something ministers are looking to do through the Product Regulation and

Metrology Bill.

The Bill started in the House of Lords and will next make its way through the committee stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is close to passing into law.

In the meantime, e-bike owners can reduce the risk to themselves by visiting the LFB’s #ChargeSafe campaign page: www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/ lithium-batteries/

Croydon East MP Natasha Irons said: “The CARS is not just good for Croydon. It’s good for the entire southeast” Credit: Natasha Irons MP

what’s on

The Devil is in the Detail

PAINSTAKINGLY GATHERED in the gloom of this National Gallery setting, laid to evoke a cathedral-like space, are Sienese treasures from a 50-year period when its leading painters built on the success of the city’s goldsmiths. Buoyed by stable governance and merchants’ cash they created innovative public art and private commissions to rival the majesty of the Florentine Renaissance, writes Ed Gray. ..

These paintings beckon in the dark, shimmering on approach, the gold highlights the humanity of the faces, and gives rhythm to the delicate folds of drapery, then suddenly silhouette the Virgin and saints depicted as if reminding us that these are eternal spirits inhabiting an afterlife. Imagine the sense of wonder for a believer, or indeed a doubter, stepping into a church from the sweat and stink of a Sienese street to be confronted by these candlelit scenes.

Siena is a city devoted to the Virgin, and her painters pulled every trick out of their paintboxes to do her justice, including complex structural scenes of Sienese architecture, keeping it real, as they sought to make work that would put them and their city on the map. Duccio Di Buoninsegna’s infant Christ in Virgin and child is dandled and coddled as he reaches up to touch her in a vision of maternal intimacy redolent of many in the exhibition. Her look is one of every new parent, revelling in the blessing of their child. But Mary’s gaze also reveals her fears as he pulls a veil across her face. There will be an end to it. Siena’s painters are storytellers, packing multi-dimensional narratives into minimal dimensions. Human touch is everywhere in these paintings, whether saint or Sienese sinner. The centre piece of this exhibition is Duccio’s eight base panels depicting the life of Christ, made for a huge altarpiece that was later sawn up and sold off after Siena fell on tough times, suffering both pandemic and plague. Here the panels are brought together to reveal familiar scenes of Jesus rebuffing the temptations of a charcoal black devilyou can almost smell the soot. He probably shouldn’t evoke sympathy, but I’m all for an underdog. Later, in an amazing painting of multiple complex perspectives by Ambrogio Lorenzeti the devil strangles a child, and I concede Jesus’s point.

A serpentine line runs through the set of Duccio’s panels with Jesus at dynamic structural points throughout the line as he inexhaustibly delivers the goods at the wedding at Cana, heals the blind man in a brilliantly delivered triple portrait and raises a befuddled Lazarus who emerges from his tomb with a look of total disbelief and fear at the awe-stricken gathered crowd, as you would.

Back in the gallery of earthly delights a belligerent man is arguing with his wife over which saint is which in Simone Martini’s stunning series Madonna and Child and Saints as she identifies them correctly, much to his annoyance. The saints are truly alive after seven hundred years and Siena’s crowning glory has risen again at the National Gallery. Until June 22nd. Book via nationalgallery.org.uk

JAMES LEO Herlihy’s 1965 novel Midnight Cowboy, later adapted for the big screen in the 1969 film of the same name, is ripe source material for the stage. An uncomfortable look at the gritty underbelly of sixties New York, it mixes sex, friendship, partying and heartache, resulting in a hard to swallow cocktail of emotions, writes Melina Block.

This new musical production uses humour and, as the genre demands, singing and dancing, to provide moments of pathos and levity in what is, ultimately, a pretty bleak tale. Gripping performances from the leads, Paul Jacob French (Joe Buck) and Max Bowden (Ratso), provide an essential platform from which the story can unfold. Bolstered by an equally impressive ensemble cast and dancers, the show is both exciting and thoughtful.

I do, however, feel like the second half slightly outshone the first, as the stakes ramped up to a devastating conclusion.

Joe and Ratso are the heart and soul of Midnight Cowboy. Their friendship, although starting out in a slightly rushed manner, is what carries the whole story.

Jacob French and Bowden have great chemistry; almost good enough that you can easily overlook the somewhat confusingly established foundation of their connection and reliance upon one another.

Not all the musical numbers will be for everyone and I would again argue that the second half integrated the songs more fluidly, delivering a greater dramatic and emotional impact. But even the most staunch hater of musicals will surely be moved at least once or twice. Dance-wise, the top-level choreography and technical abilities of the dancers makes for brilliant theatre, giving the entire piece such a professional, slick sheen that you get the feeling that it would not be out of place in

a West End theatre.

Raunchy and unflinching, Midnight Cowboy may be a difficult story, but it is an important one. This musical excels in

A HARD TO SWALLOW COCKTAIL OF EMOTIONS

humanising marginalised characters in a way which feels eerily relevant, even six decades after the novel was originally published.

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, 1 Dante Place, London, SE11 4RX until 17 May 2025. Booking and full details: 020 7407 0234 / southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

An open and shut evening

AS SPRING has well and truly sprung in London the long evenings have people out and soaking up the sun. On such an evening there is sometimes no nicer way to cap it off but with some comedy. Sunday Assembly teamed up with Quantum Leopard for a fundraising night at COLAB Towers, writes Christopher Peacock.

Sunday Assembly is a secular community who meet every 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, organising poetry readings, talks and other community events that embody their ethos as a group. Their mission is to live better, help often and wonder more. Quantum Leopard comes into the fold to bring the comedy to the comedy night fundraiser. They run regular comedy nights across Zone 1 with a focus on bringing comedy that doesn’t punch down and have won many awards in doing so.

James Ross from Quantum Leopard compered the evening and his buzzing energy and enthusiasm certainly

helped get everybody in the mood for a laugh. Playing games with the audience and spinning some of his own material he certainly knows how to loosen up a crowd. The night consisted of four comedians. Due to other commitments the order of performers was shuffled around with headliner and opener

switching, but that didn’t cause too much disruption due to the quality of both performers.

Headliner turned opener Mark Thomas took to the stage firing off his intense political left wing tirades.

For want of a better phrase at a secular event, he was preaching to the

converted. The audience lapped it up as rants about golfers and the church got many laughs. A short drinks break followed before the next two acts, when Alex Franklin followed Jamie Mykaela. Mykaela’s style of cabaret/comedy was dark and sinister at times but always did well to get the crowd back onside. Alex Franklin’s was more personal. Rooted in their transitioning journey and what people in the trans community face, his set played to a supported and allying crowd. To finish the night, Ben Pope, who was initially meant to open, closed the evening. What we got from Ben’s material was a more straightforward observational set, a highlight of which was his thoughts about the Night Bus.

A great evening for Sunday Assembly as it was well attended and will surely help them with the assemblies and events they have planned throughout the year. Usually based at Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnel Green, they can be visited at sundayassembly. com for those interested in joining the community.

Heading south - our pick of upcoming spring events

Easter Art and Adventure Trail, Greenwich Peninsula

To celebrate Easter, the Greenwich Peninsula are offering a fun-filled trail, perfect for the whole family. There will be riddles, sketch sculptures, public art, and local landmarks.

Date: 12th April - 3rd May

Time: Tuesday - Sunday 10am-5pm

Tickets: FREE Starts at Firepit Art Gallery & Studio, Cutter Lane, London, SE10 0XX

Live at the Works with Troy Hawke

Character comedian and internet sensation Troy Hawke is headlining a comedy night at Woolwich Works. The president of the Greeter’s is joined by BBC’s Live at the Apollo’s Laura Smyth and Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominees Josh Pugh and Ania Magliano.

D ate: Saturday 26th April

Time: Doors open at 6:30pm, performance starts at 7:30pm

Tickets: £18.70 - £28.60

Woolwich Works, The Fireworks Factory, 11 No 1 St, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6HD

Showdown at the Albany

Upswing and Chamäleon Theatre Berlin bring Showdown to the Alabant this May. Six acrobats combine jaw-dropping circus stunts and humour in a competition where the audience is invited to vote for their favourite performer! Suitable for ages 12+

Date: Thursday 1st MaySaturday 3rd May

Time: 7:30pm on Thursday and Saturday, 7pm on Friday.

Tickets: £12-14

The Albany, 9 Giffin Street, London, SE8 4RJ

Late night Jazz in the bar, Blackheath Halls- 1st May

Enjoy late-night jazz courtesy of Ethan Sweeting from the Trinity Laban Jazz Department. It’s free for all, just walk in and enjoy the jazz vibes.

Date: Thursday 1st May

Time: 9:30pm

Tickets: FREE

Blackheath Halls, 23 Lee Rd, Blackheath, London SE3 9RQ

TCS London Marathon

Don’t forget about the iconic TCS London Marathon, the 26.2 mile course through Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, and Westminster. Good spots to watch include Greenwich Town Centre, areas around Cutty Sark (mile 6) which is earlier in the course and doesn’t get too busy.

Date: Sunday 27th April

Time: 9am-5pm

Tickets: FREE to spectate

Start: Greenwich Park, SE10

Trinity Laban Opera Scenes

Trinity Laban Vocal Studies students are presenting four programmes of opera scenes to give a taster of different operas. It’s ideal for people who want to experience opera but aren’t sure where to start.

Date: Wednesday 30th April - Friday 2nd May

Time: Performances at 6:30p, 7pm, and 8pm.

Tickets: FREE

Blackheath Halls (Great Hall), 23 Lee Rd, Blackheath, London SE3 9RQ

THE UK’S ‘FIRST TEENAGERS’ CAME FROM ELEPHANT & CASTLE

phase of life different to childhood or adulthood, and all its responsibilities of marriage and children, was a completely novel idea.

The concept of the ‘teenager’ was an alien phenomenon. The word had only come into popular usage at the end of the 40s, popularised by films like Rebel Without a Cause.

The look might have been based on Saville Row-tailored clothes designed for aristocrats, but it had a distinctly south London twist, too. Walworth Road, Old Kent Road and other high streets all over south-east London were known for their tailors and suit makers.

By Emily Buckley Bunn

IN 1953, South London youths made headlines for being part of what was deemed a vicious ‘Edwardian cult’. These adolescents were known as the Teddy Boys, famous for their love of Edwardian suits, rock and roll and, in some cases, violence. Considered to be Britain’s first true teenagers, they marked the beginning of UK youth subculture.

The Teddies first made a name for themselves in 1953 over a murder in Clapham Common which resulted in the arrest of six gang members. What distinguished them from more run of the mill delinquents of the age was their sharp style: long Edwardian drape jackets with velvet collars, narrow drainpipe trousers, thin ties and silk patterned waistcoats.

Three years later, at the premiere of the film Blackboard Jungle at the Trocadero Cinema in Elephant and Castle, Teddies began rioting, dancing and slashing the seats.

The incident made national headlines and inspired similar riots at showings of the film across the country. The film was banned in cinemas, and many places of entertainment closed their doors to teenagers dressed in Edwardian style clothing.

There was wide-spread moral panic

over the Teddy Boy and the issue was even discussed in Parliament. But who were the Teddy Boys, and girls, of south London? Many had no links to criminality or violence. They just wanted a good time, leaving the war, rationing, and all its suffering behind.

Camberwell-based writer and filmmaker, Mark Baxter, was born in Camberwell in 1962 to Southwark Teddies Jeannie and Johnny Baxter. His father, born in 1932, had been an evacuee in Cheshire.

“When the Teddy Boy thing kicked off around 1953, he’d have been in his late teens,” Mark tells us.

“After the war, there was a big population of young men who were maybe the sons of guys who never come back from the war, or their dads came back, and they would have been traumatised or affected by the war years. These kids were, not to say left to run riot, but they would have been just street kids.”

The war had irrevocably changed Southwark. Nearly 2,000 people had been killed in the borough, and thousands of homes had been destroyed by bombs. A shortage of workers remained, years into peacetime, and made it easy for fifteen year olds like Mark’s father, who worked in a local factory, to walk into well-paid blue collar jobs as soon as they left school.

For the first time, very young men were

coming home with good money in their pockets and they wanted what all young people crave: excitement. Mark’s parents, who loved going to the Trocadero, were no exception.

“Everything was so tough during the war and when it finished, it was a sort of bit of freedom and they were the first teenagers after all that, so they suddenly had the money to just be different and break away,”

Mark says.

“They would have been more adventurous. If something comes along, then they’ll go for it, they’ll do it.”

Teddies created a distinctly teenage identity through Rock ‘n’ Roll and fashion, with the craze quickly catching on with other teenagers across the country.

“The street life back then would have been all about music, clothes, football,” Mark continues.

“If you were trying to impress other people in that area, you’d have done it by the clothes you had and what records you had and what gigs you were going to… They just created their own life.”

The Teddy Boy look was a mix of trendy fashions from America, and the upper-class Dandy style which was being revived by Saville Row tailors in London at the time. It was, although perhaps hard to believe now, shocking to older generations.

In fact, the idea of adolescence as a distinct

Fashion designer Tommy Roberts, who grew up in Deptford recalled buying his drape jacket at an outfitter and having his trousers altered to the requisite 12-inch cuff by a tailor in Lewisham High Street. A Teddy Boy would have spent up to £20 on a decent suit, which in today’s currency is over £500 – a far cry from fast fashion.

Teddies in different areas of London had distinguishing styles, with the colour of the velvet trims and the types of buttons on the jackets showing what area they were from.

An important influence on both the Teddy style and the Teddy identity was American culture and music. Teddies incorporated American elements to their look, such as the rather accurate ‘Duck’s Arse’ hairstyle, narrow string ties, and later on, the aptly named Elephant’s trunk hairstyle and suede shoes.

The desire for young people to look extremely sharp and be proud of it certainly felt like an American import –don’t you step on my blue suede shoes.

Teddy Boys wouldn’t have existed without Rock ‘n’ Roll. Elvis Presley was one of the new breed of sexually magnetic performers who turned the music scene upside down. It was less How Much Is That Doggy In The Window and more All Shook Up.

After attending a showing of Rock Around The Clock at the Gaumont Palace Cinema in Lewisham, in 1956, where teenagers who had gone to see the film

every night that week and jived on the stage until the police came, journalist Anthony Samson wrote in the Observer:

“In the long, bleak streets of South London, Rock ‘n’ Roll seems suddenly to have touched off frustration and boredom.”

NJ Stevenson, a Peckham-based curator, writer and lecturer in Fashion History at the London College of Fashion, emphasises how revolutionary the Teddy Boys were in the cultural context of the 50s and beyond.

Before the 1950s, she explains: “There was nothing for young people to wear. The expectation of young people before that was that they left school, and they got a job and then got a suit from Burton’s and started dressing like little old men.”

Teddy Boys changed all that.

“It was kind of an emulation, you know ‘we have money, we can do what we want, so why shouldn’t we dress as well as the posh people?’ It was also a parody and there was an element of humour, but there was also a huge amount of arrogance,” Stevenson continues.

“It was really about the appeal of being affluent and being sharp and showing that you can afford stuff. It was utterly groundbreaking because of that notion that young people could make their own decisions and not have life decisions made for them.

“Young people in the 1950s gifted all of us with this expectation that you were allowed to have a separate identity as a teenager and to develop in a way that your parents hadn’t developed and to establish a separatism which was your birthright.”

So we have Teddy Boys to thank for every other youth subculture to follow after, from mods to rockers, skin heads and goths, emos and all the new crazes yet to come.

And, as the writer, musician and Teddy Boy historian Max Décharné has written: “They discovered a feeling enjoyed by every successive youth movement: the pleasure of provoking that magical reaction from parents and the adult world in general, ‘you’re not going out looking like that?’

Two young Teddy boys pose in the street

A group of boys in Teddy boy dress outside a London pub

© London Museum Henry Grant Collection

Johnny Baxter 1952

© Mark Baxter

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A3205 GLA ROAD (BATTERSEA PARK ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF WANDSWORTH) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING) ORDER 2025

1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to enable electric vehicle charging point installation works to take place on A3205 Battersea Park Road.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from stopping in the Parking and Disabled Persons' vehicles bay outside Bank Court, No.193 Battersea Park Road.

The Order will be effective at certain times 7:00 AM on 18th April 2025 until 7:00 PM on 18th April 2026 or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.

4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

Dated this 18th day of April 2025

Matt Standell

Planning and Performance Manager, Transport for London, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A24 GLA ROAD (BALHAM HIGH ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF WANDSWORTH) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING) ORDER 2025

1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to allow Thames Water works to take place on A24 Balham High Road.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from:

(1) stopping in the Loading and Unloading Only bay outside Nos.123a – 129 Balham High Road;

(2) stopping in the Loading/Unloading and Disabled Persons Vehicle Bay outside Nos.3 – 5 Ramsden Road.

The Order will be effective from 6th May 2025 and 12th May 2025 every night from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM or when the works have been completed. The prohibitions will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.

4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

Dated this 18th day of April 2025

Claire Wright

Co-ordination & Permitting Manager

Transport for London, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015

NOTICE UNDER ARTICLE 13 OF APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION

(Notice 2: This notice is for publication in local newspaper if Certificate C or D is completed)

Proposed development at: Land between 80-82 Hurst Road, Erith, Kent, DA8 3EN

Take notice that application is being made by: Mr Bachintt Singh Rattan

For planning permission to: Construction of two storey end-of-terrace dwelling with off-street parking and landscaping

Local Planning Authority to whom the application is being submitted: Bexley

Any owner of the land or tenant who wishes to make representations about this application, should write to the council within 21 days of the date of this notice.

Local Planning Authority address: Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 7AT

Signatory:

Mr Bachintt Singh Rattan

Date 08-04-2025

Statement of owners' rights:

The grant of planning permission does not affect owners' rights to retain or dispose of their property, unless there is some provision to the contrary in an agreement or lease.

Statement of agricultural tenants' rights:

The grant of planning permission for non-agricultural development may affect agricultural tenants' security of tenure.

This notice is for publication in a local newspaper. 'Owner' means a person having a freehold interest or a leasehold interest the unexpired term of which is not less than seven years. 'Tenant' means a tenant of an agricultural holding any part of which is comprised in the land.

Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015

NOTICE UNDER ARTICLE 13 OF APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION

(Notice 2: This notice is for publication in local newspaper if Certificate C or D is completed)

Proposed development at:

Land between 80-82 Hurst Road, Erith, Kent, DA8 3EN

Take notice that application is being made by:

Mr Bachintt Singh Rattan

For planning permission to:

Construction of a two storey end-of-terrace building comprising of two self contained units, off-street parking and landscaping.

Local Planning Authority to whom the application is being submitted: Bexley

Any owner of the land or tenant who wishes to make representations about this application, should write to the council within 21 days of the date of this notice.

Local Planning Authority address: Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 7AT

Signatory: Mr Bachintt Singh Rattan

Date 08-04-2025

Statement of owners' rights:

Notice of Application to apply for a Premises Licence made under the Licensing Act 2003

Please take notice that BIB’S ESFIHAS LTD have made application to the London Borough of Merton to apply for a Premises Licence in respect of Bib's Esfihas, 178 Streatham Road, Mitcham, CR4 2AF.

The application is for as follows: Sale by retail of alcohol - Sunday to Thursday 12.00 to 23.30 Friday & Saturday 12.00 to 00.30

Recorded Music - Sunday to Thursday 12.00 to 23.30 Friday & Saturday 12.00 to 00.30 Late Night Refreshment - Sunday to Thursday 23.00 to 00.00 Friday & Saturday 23.00 to 01.00

A register of all applications made with the London Borough of Merton is maintained by: LICENSING SECTION, LONDON BOROUGH OF MERTON, 2ND FLOOR, CIVIC CENTRE, LONDON ROAD, MORDEN, SURREY, SM4 5DX

A record of this application may be inspected by appointment at Merton Civic Centre. Please email licensing@merton.gov.uk or telephone 020 8545 3969.

It is open to any interested party to make representations about the likely effect of the application on the promotion of the licensing objectives. Representations must be made in writing to the Licensing Section at the office or email address above and be received by the Merton’s Licensing Section within a period of 28 days starting the day after the date shown below.

Note: It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with an application. A person guilty of such offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine.

Date application given to the Council: 10/04/2025 LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14

TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS, SUSPENSION OF THE ONE-WAY SYSTEM AND INTRODUCTION OF A TWO-WAY TRAFFIC SYSTEM - FERNDALE ROAD

1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable crane operation works to be carried out safely, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth, with the agreement of Transport for London, have made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily; (i) ban vehicles from entering, waiting (including waiting for the purposes of loading and unloading a vehicle) at any time that length of Ferndale Road which lies between Brixton Road and the property boundaries of Nos. 248 and 250 Ferndale Road; (ii) ban pedestrians and cyclists from entering the footway between the property boundaries of Nos. 207 and 251 Ferndale Road (pedestrians to use the opposite footway and an alternative route for cyclists will be available via Ferndale Road, Bellefields Road, Stockwell Avenue and Stockwell Road).

2. An alternative route for vehicles will be available via Brixton Road, Stockwell Road and Chantrey Road.

3. Whenever the ban referred to in paragraph 1 above applies, the one-way system in that length of Ferndale Road which lies between Nursery Road and the property boundaries of Nos. 248 and 250 Ferndale Road will be temporarily suspended and a two-way traffic system will be introduced to allow access to and egress from properties and premises in that length of road.

4. The ban and suspension will only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing and covering of the appropriate traffic signs.

5. The Order will come into force on 27 April 2025 and will continue for a maximum duration of 1 month (to allow for contingencies) or until the said works have been completed, whichever is earlier.

The grant of planning permission does not affect owners' rights to retain or dispose of their property, unless there is some provision to the contrary in an agreement or lease.

Statement of agricultural tenants' rights:

The grant of planning permission for non-agricultural development may affect agricultural tenants' security of tenure.

This notice is for publication in a local newspaper. 'Owner' means a person having a freehold interest or a leasehold interest the unexpired term of which is not less than seven years. 'Tenant' means a tenant of an agricultural holding any part of which is comprised in the land.

Local media reaches you in huge numbers.

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Written

Transport for London Public Notice

VARIATION ORDER 2025

1. Transport for London, hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Order under section 6 of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984.

2. The general nature and effect of the Order will be to:

(1) remove the parking and disabled persons vehicles bay outside Nos.4 The Broadway, Croydon Road;

(2) introduce an electric vehicle charging bay with a length of 7 metres outside No. 4 The Broadway, Croydon Road;

(3) introduce 7 metres of No stopping at Any Time double red lines outside No. 4 The Broadway, Croydon Road.

3. The road which would be affected by the Order is A232 Croydon Road.

4. A copy of the Order, a statement of Transport for London’s reasons for the proposals, a map indicating the location and effect of the Order and copies of any Order revoked, suspended or varied by the Order can be inspected by visiting our website at https://haveyoursay.t.gov.uk/tro and selecting the relevant borough and reference the Trafc Order relates to or by appointment during normal ofce hours at our ofce at the address below. To arrange an appointment please email trafcordersection@t.gov.uk. Copies of the documents may be requested via email at trafcordersection@t.gov.uk, or by post at the address below quoting reference SNO/REGULATION/STOT/RC/TRO, GLA/2025/0359

5. All objections and other representations to the proposed Order must be made in writing and must specify the grounds on which they are made. Objections and representations must be sent to Transport for London, Streets Trafc Order Team, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ or by emailing trafcordersection@t.gov.uk quoting reference SNO/REGULATION/STOT/RC/TRO, GLA/2025/0359, to arrive before 9th May 2025. Please note due to hybrid working access to post is restricted and requests for documents and conrmation of your objections or representations may be delayed. Objections and other representations may be communicated to other persons who may be affected.

Dated this 18th day of April 2025

Matt Standell Planning & Performance Manager Transport for London, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A200 GLA ROAD (JAMAICA ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK)

(TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC AND STOPPING ORDER 2025

1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to enable resurfacing works to take place at A200 Jamaica Road.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from:

(1) proceeding in a westerly direction on Jamaica Road from its junction with Southwark Park Road and Keeton’s Road;

(2) stopping on the southern kerb line of Jamaica Road between its junctions with Southwark Park Road and Keeton’s Road.

The Order will be effective from the 28th April 2025 until 16th June 2025 every night between 8.00 PM and 6.00 AM or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.

4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

5. At such times as the prohibition is in force an alternative route will be indicated by trafc signs via Southwark Park Road, Grange Road, Tower Bridge Road, Tooley Street and Jamaica Road to normal route of travel.

Dated this 18th day of April 2025

Andrew Ulph Co-ordination Manager Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A232 GLA ROAD (HIGH STREET, LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING) ORDER 2025

1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to enable water connection works to take place at A232 High Street.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from stopping on High Street between its junctions with Sherwood Way and The Grove.

The Order will be effective at certain times from 8.00 PM on the 28th April 2025 until 5.00 AM on the 30th April 2025 or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.

4. The prohibition will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

Dated this 18th day of April 2025

Andrew Ulph

Co-ordination Manager, Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

Transport for London Public Notice Local

THE A202 GLA ROAD (CAMBERWELL CHURCH STREET, LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING)

ORDER 2025

1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to enable sewer repair works to take place at A202 Camberwell Church Street.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from stopping on Camberwell Church Street between its junctions with Artichoke Place and Wren Road.

The Order will be effective at certain times from 7.00 AM on 21st April 2025 until 7.00 PM on 5th May 2025 or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.

4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

Dated this 18th day of April 2025

Claire Wright

Co-ordination Manager Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

By Mark Baldwin

NICK GUBBINS and Toby Albert were Hampshire’s heroes as they denied Surrey’s last-day attempt to force a first victory of the new Rothesay County Championship season at the Kia Oval.

Gubbins scored a five-hour 117 and Albert an equally defiant 78 not out as Hampshire, starting the day on 35 for three in their second innings in pursuit of a 377-run win target, finished on 300 for five.

Bad light actually had the final say, forcing the players from the field for what turned out to be the loss of four overs, when ten overs were left and Hampshire were still 78 short of what would have been a remarkable triumph against the 2022, 2023 and 2024 champions.

In truth, however, and despite Tom Prest being unbeaten on 32 alongside Albert, it had seemed increasingly unlikely that Hampshire could have scored the remaining runs anyway against a testing Surrey seam attack in gloomy conditions and with the floodlights on.

In 22.2 overs with the second new ball, Surrey had restricted Hampshire to 80 runs for the loss of Gubbins and runscoring was difficult against a high-class pace quartet in which Matt Fisher and Clark were especially impressive.

Earlier, it took Surrey almost an hour and a half to claim their only wicket of the morning session, Fletcha Middleton pinned leg-before by Matt Fisher after advancing steadily from his overnight eleven to 42.

With just six overs left when the players returned, Jordan Clark sent down two balls – one of which was hit for a single by Albert – and then the players shook hands on the draw.

Middleton’s fourth wicket stand with Gubbins had been worth 74 and provided Hampshire with much-needed stability following the chaotic slide to 30 for three in the murk of the third evening, when Kemar Roach had removed opener Mark Stoneman and both nightwatchmen, Brad Wheal and Sonny Baker, had fallen to Jordan Clark.

Better was to come for Hampshire, with Toby Albert – who had laboured through 27 balls for just one run before

‘EXCEPTIONAL’ SURREY DENIED FIRST WIN

lunch – joining Gubbins in a partnership that eventually realised 143 in 52 overs and which grew in authority during an afternoon session in which Surrey went wicketless.

From 121 for four at lunch the fifth wicket pair combined watchfulness with sensible accumulation and the odd flash of aggression, such as when Gubbins went to 83 with a superb square cut four off Fisher and Albert reached 44 by reverse-sweeping Dan Lawrence’s off spin to the ropes.

By tea Gubbins, three short of his hundred, and Albert, who had gone to his half-century from 111 balls, looked in total control as Hampshire contemplated the final session of the game at 216 for four, but with the second new ball due in two overs’ time.

This was duly taken by Clark and Dan Worrall, although by then Gubbins had reached his 20th first-class century from 215 balls in what was a chanceless, superlative performance after coming in on a Clark hat-trick.

Only 27 runs came from the first nine overs with the second new ball, with Clark particularly miserly, and then Fisher replacing Worrall at the Vauxhall End brought an almost immediate

Scotney heads for bright lights

By John Kelly

CATFORD’S ELLIE Scotney will face Mexico’s Yamileth Mercado on the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano trilogy card at New York’s Madison Square Garden in July.

Scotney, who is signed to Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, is the unified world champion with an unblemished 10-0 record after she defeated Mea Motu in Nottingham in January.

Mercado, 27, is the superbantamweight WBC champion. She has 24 wins and three defeats in 27 fights. It will be Scotney’s first fight out of England.

Scotney acknowledged it was, “a massive moment in my career, but one I know I am ready for”.

She added: “What MVP is doing for women’s boxing is changing the game, and I’m proud to be part of it.

“Yamileth Mercado might be the longest reigning champion in our division right now, but on July 11 I’ll be showing why I’m the number one at 122lbs and moving one step closer to becoming the undisputed champion.

“Sharing this card with inspirations like Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano makes this even more meaningful and I want to leave my own mark on a special night.

“My whole career has been based in the UK, but I’m ready to make a statement on the biggest of stages and show the world what I can do.”

Mercado said: ”I am very excited to unify titles with Ellie Scotney and raise my WBC belt for my country and my home in Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua on MVP’s card at Madison Square Garden and in front of the world.

“This fight will be a war, and we will continue to demonstrate that women’s

reward.

Looking to whip a ball from around the wicket that appeared to keep a little lower than expected, Gubbins was trapped lbw after facing 247 balls and hitting twelve fours, perhaps the best of them a magnificent on drive off Worrall that took him to 114.

“In our first game last week at Essex, I thought we were easing into the season a bit and then, in this game on an exceptional cricket pitch for mid-April, I thought we were exceptional,” Surrey head coach Gareth Batty said. “So there are very good signs for us to take forward into our next match.

“In this game I’d have to pick out Dom Sibley, because to score two hundreds in a first-class match is always a wonderful effort. But I’m also very pleased with the way Matt Fisher bowled throughout, because he was superb in pretty much every spell and he will be a great addition to our squad.”

Hampshire century-maker Gubbins said: “We’re very pleased with how we’ve played over the last two days, and until the bad light came along towards the end we did think we might even have a chance of winning it with 78 runs needed from ten overs. But going off for those

Lionesses set for Den season finale

By John Kelly

MILLWALL LIONESSES were defeated 2-0 by Ebbsfleet United in the L&SERWFL Premier Division at St Paul’s last weekend.

Goals from Maddie Farrand and Lydia Wills gave the visitors all three points.

Millwall’s last match of the season is at The Den against Ashford United on Sunday, May 4 (1:30pm).

Ted Jones’s side can still finish in the top half though have to hope other teams drop points from their games in hand.

four overs meant that it was then out of the question when we came back out again.

“But it is great to come away with the draw because after the first two days we were really up against it. I thought we bowled well to restrict their scoring rate on day three and then Sonny Baker really ran in with great energy to get his five wickets when they were trying to get quick runs to set up the second innings declaration.

“Brad Wheal as nightwatchman did a great job too on the third evening, having to bat in poor light for much longer than we thought he might have to when he was sent in. And then I came in on the hat-trick ball but we got through to today and Fletcha Middleton did so well both last night and then this morning to help to take the sting out of their new ball attack.

“We know it is always tough to come to play Surrey here at this time of year, as our record here over the past few years shows. But the pitch does generally get better as the game goes on at the Oval and so we knew if we were calm today then it was possible to get through and both myself and Toby Albert really enjoyed being able to put our partnership together and bat for a session and a half.”

By John Kelly

DULWICH HAMLET remain threatened by relegation after their 1-0 defeat to Bognor Regis Town at Nyewood Lane at the weekend.

The hosts had to win to stave off relegation from the Isthmian League Premier Division for at least one more game week, and they managed it through Japser Mather’s fourthminute goal.

Bradley Quinton’s Dulwich are five points above the relegation zone with three games left.

The Hamlet host Canvey Island - who are three points ahead of them - at Champion Hill this Saturday at 3pm.

boxing brings a guarantee of both spectacle and boxing quality.”

Surrey 253 & 342/9 dec drew with Hampshire 219 & 300/5 Surrey 12pts, Hampshire 11

Ellie Scotney

By John Kelly

Omar defends Dons skipper ENZO UPSETS BLUES FANS

OMAR BUGIEL leapt to the defence of AFC Wimbledon skipper Jake Reeves after he was sent off in the 1-1 draw at Doncaster Rovers in a League Two clash of automatic promotion hopefuls last weekend.

Reeves was dismissed for a high and late challenge on Harry Clifton in the 28th minute, with Johnnie Jackson’s side leading 1-0 thanks to Alistair Smith's fifth-minute goal.

Billy Sharp was sent off after an off-theball incident with Joe Lewis on 72 minutes before Jamie Sterry rescued a point for the hosts eleven minutes from time.

The Dons would have moved ahead of their rivals into fourth place with a win. Instead, they are three points off Walsall in the last automatic promotion spot with four games left. Doncaster have a game in hand on all of their promotion rivals and sit a point off third.

“An incident, which I believe was completely accidental, changed the game,” Bugiel said. “We had to dig deep and change formation. We stuck to what we believed was the right thing to do to see the game out, but unfortunately we were undone by a deflection.”

It was midfielder Smith’s sixth goal of the campaign, his second in two games.

Bugiel said: “I’ve known Smudge for a very long time. That’s him, once he gets an opportunity like that, he always scores. I’ve seen him do it at Sutton, he scored close to ten goals that season. I had a good chat to him and made a big effort to bring him to the club and tell him what being a Dons player is all about. You can see how much he is embracing it all.”

Bugiel had to drop back into midfield after Reeves’ sending-off and has scored only one goal in his last 23 games.

“I’m frustrated with myself because as a striker you want to score goals but on the other hand it’s about winning games now,” Bugiel said. “We have to ensure the final four are positive results.

“You have to play in a position that you’re not used to but you have to do your job for the team,” he added. “I thought the young boys which came on – Aron Sasu and Osman Foyo – did really well and I’m sure they’re both going to have a very good future.”

Wimbledon host Chesterfield, who are ninth, four points outside the top seven, at 3pm on Good Friday.

Ravens shot down

By John Kelly

BROMLEY SUFFERED their heaviest defeat of the season after they were hammered 5-0 by League Two leaders Port Vale at Vale Park.

Jack Shorrock gave the Valiants an early lead before striker Lorent Tolaj scored a brace either side of substitute George Byers' goal.

Ryan Croasdale added the fifth in the 82nd minute as Darren Moore's side made it six wins in their last seven games to move three points clear of Bradford City at the top with just four matches remaining.

Andy Woodman’s Ravens will have to settle for a mid-table finish in their firstever season in the Football League. They sit ten points off the play-off places in fourteenth.

Bromley host bottom side Morecambe at Hayes Lane on Good Friday at 3pm.

Chelsea boss suggested atmosphere at Stamford Bridge didn’t

help

By Paul Green at Stamford Bridge

CHELSEA BOSS Enzo Maresca admitted his side let their heads dip after conceding a shock opener to Ipswich Town last Sunday.

Maresca also riled some Blues fans by suggesting the “environment” at Stamford Bridge contributed to the Tractor Boys taking a two-goal lead.

Chelsea appeared to be in complete control early on and created several chances against their relegationthreatened opponents.

However, Stamford Bridge was stunned when Julio Encisco put the Tractor Boys ahead on nineteen minutes before things went from bad to worse just after the half hour as Ben Johnson added a second.

Having been booed off at the break, Chelsea produced an instant response by forcing Axel Tuanzebe to put the ball into his own net within thirteen seconds

of the restart.

And although substitute Jadon Sancho’s sublime 79th-minute finish secured a point, Maresca accepted the early setbacks had proved costly.

Maresca said: “I think we start quite well and make chances. Then when they score the first goal it really changed the dynamic of the game.

“I think for 20, 25 minutes of the first half we were not good enough, especially defensively because the two goals we conceded were both from our mistakes.

“And then in the second half we just came back in the game.

“It is tough because even in the first 20 minutes at this stage of the season against these kind of teams, if you are able to score the first one the game completely changes on your side.

“Unfortunately we missed chances and then we concede. The team was not good enough in different things and this

is where we need to analyse and react in the right way.

“We lost a little bit of confidence because we concede, probably because of the environment and this is the moment you have to continue doing the right things and don’t change plan.”

Only the woodwork prevented Nicolas Jackson firing Chelsea ahead, before the visitors broke the deadlock.

A quick counter-attack saw Johnson burst clear on the right and his low pass was swept home by Encisco to stun the home supporters.

Jens Cajuste fired inches wide from outside of the box, but that was only a brief reprieve because Ipswich doubled their advantage moments later as Encisco turned provider for Johnson to head past Robert Sanchez.

Maresca sent his side out early for the second half and there was an instant response from as the unfortunate Tuanzebe put the ball into his own net

from Noni Madueke’s cross.

George Hirst squandered two good chances in close succession to restore Ipswich’s two-goal cushion.

But parity was restored by substitute Sancho’s curling shot from inside the box to rescue a point.

Alex Palmer did well to somehow keep out Trevoh Chalobah’s header and again in stoppage-time to deny his namesake Cole.

Jack Taylor hit the side-netting and there was still time for Alex Palmer to shine again with another fine stop from Enzo Fernandez.

But there was to be no late winner and Chelsea will still consider this two points dropped in their bid for Champions League qualification.

Chelsea are in action against Legia Warszawa in the second leg of the Conference League quarter-final on Thursday (April 17) leading 3-0 from the first leg.

Jones: Charlton’s biggest game in five years

ByJohn Kelly

NATHAN JONES believes

Charlton Athletic’s game against Northampton Town on Good Friday is the Addicks’ biggest in five years as they aim to secure a League One play-off place with a win.

Charlton are ten points clear of Leyton Orient in seventh with four games of the regular season left after Tyreece Campbell's fourteenth-minute goal clinched three points at Cambridge United at the weekend.

The Addicks still have an outside shot at automatic promotion as they trail Wrexham by six points.

“It’s as an important a game as

Charlton have had in many a year, probably since the final game of Covid when they got relegated,” Jones said. “It’s probably that important. We’ve put ourselves in a wonderful position, we’ve got to keep hammering home.

“It’s going to be a real tough game, we saw against Lincoln that if we’re not at it, we don’t make the right decisions before, during and after games then we come unstuck. We’ve a week to prepare, then it’s going to be three seasondefining days.”

Josh Edwards assisted Campbell for the only goal at the Abbey Stadium.

“I've dropped short to get the ball and TC went and spun his man,” Edwards said. “The gaffer always talks about finding areas. Gladly I found the area

and TC does what he does and takes it inside and sticks it in the bottom corner.

“He makes me look good. He's that type of player that makes my job easy. Just give the ball to him and he'll produce something, it makes yourself look good.

He’s a player every team wants and I cannot speak highly enough of him.”

The clean sheet was Charlton’s nineteenth of the season in the league.

Edwards said: “It was one of the main things that the manager first spoke to me about when I first came down here, that we need to keep more clean sheets.

He’s been driving it all season. We went away from it a little bit, maybe midway through the season, but it's definitely one thing that we take serious pride in and another one today, a tough place

to come, and in the end I think we deserved.”

Edwards added: “I would love to get promoted in the top two. It's a tough ask, but all we can do is focus on ourselves. We're going to go out and try and deliver on every game we've got left. If we win them all, who knows, who knows.”

Edwards also had praise for the Addicks fans who sold out the away end.

“They were really good," Edwards said. "It was not too bad of a trip for them today, nice weather, so I'm glad they all turned out in their numbers and we really appreciate it. Obviously a big game coming up on Friday now at, home, so hope to see you there again. We appreciate your support.”

Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo has a shot blocked

© Action Plus

‘THAT’S THE GOAL REALLY’

EXCLUSIVE

By Will Scott

FOOTBALL ACADEMIES can be

ruthless — as Rafiq Lamptey found out at just sixteen. Instead of being handed a scholarship at Watford, Lamptey was released and had to break the bad news to his friends.

“It’s never a good feeling being released and not getting a scholarship, especially when you feel like you’re so close,” Lamptey said. “To go back into full-time school and mates are all talking to you ‘how’s Watford going, how’s this been?’, and you have to say, ‘I’m not really there anymore.’ It’s heartbreaking.”

The central midfielder rebuilt his confidence at Kinetic Academy, spending two years there before joining Millwall’s under-21s at the start of the season. After an initial adjustment period, the eighteenyear-old has become an integral part of Kevin Nugent and Paul Robinson’s side, scoring his first goal in the Lions’ 4-1 win against Barnsley on April 1.

Lamptey, who picked out Ryan Gravenberch and Frenkie De Jong as players he aspires to play like, sat down with our paper to tell us more about his story.

At Brentford from under-eights to underelevens, Lamptey moved on to Watford when the Bees shut down their academy. He was there until under-sixteens, when he was released.

Instead of joining another professional football team’s academy, Lamptey joined Kinetic Academy, a London-based football and education charity that boasts Southampton’s Joe Aribo and Millwall’s Kamarl Grant as graduates.

“The first year especially was a very good experience,” Lamptey said. “We got to the first round of the FA Youth Cup. It was just brilliant…I made friends for life. That’s my family right there. I enjoyed it so much. Second year, not so much. I didn’t get to play as much because I was injured.”

By the time Lamptey recovered, Kinetic Academy were already out of the FA Youth Cup, which he described as “the big thing” at the academy.

He therefore decided to try to get experience outside of Kinetic, and try playing in an older age group. He joined non-league side Harrow Borough, an experience that he said matured him as a footballer.

“When I first went there I wasn’t nervous,”

Lamptey said. “I don’t think I’m really ever nervous because to be there you have to have a good ability.

“I was just apprehensive. I didn’t know really what to expect, what the level would be like. But then as soon as I got there, they were all really welcoming. They were all really protective of me. They made sure everything was good. I never really felt apart from them. I always felt included and all of that.

Lamptey played a few games for Harrow Borough’s under-23s before training with the first team in pre-season. Shortly after, Millwall came knocking.

“My dad told me Millwall want to get you in on trial, would you like to go there?”

Lamptey said. “I was like, ‘I would love to.’

“I came here on trial, my first game was against Cray Wanderers [July 24, 2024] actually and I got an assist. I played really

Hughes bags new deal

By John Kelly

CRYSTAL PALACE midfielder Will Hughes said he was “extremely happy” after signing a new deal until the summer of 2027.

Hughes has made 32 appearances this season and registered five assists.

Hughes - who turns 30 this weekmade his 100th Eagles appearance against Brighton & Hove Albion in December. He then captained the side for the first time in their win against Southampton at Selhurst Park.

Former England under-21 international Hughes started his career at Derby County where he made 187 appearances and scored twelve goals.

He joined Watford for £8million in 2017 and added 118 appearances and

eight goals to his career tally.

Hughes has played 115 times for the Eagles, scoring twice.

“I’m extremely happy to sign a new contract,” Hughes said.

"I’ve really enjoyed my time here, so I’m delighted to extend it by a couple of years in what's a really good moment as an individual and as a team collectively.”

Chairman Steve Parish added: “In addition to being an important player in our squad, Will exemplifies the hard work, humility – and humour – of our football club.

“He is a leader both on and off the pitch, a characteristic appreciated by both his team-mates and supporters alike, and I am delighted to see him extend his time in red and blue.”

for helping him get used to the level.

Academy midfielder Rafiq Lamptey on bouncing back from Watford release, his journey to Millwall

and his dream of playing with his brother

well. I came on for the last half an hour, but within the first ten minutes I got an assist. It was just a perfect start really. Then I built into that.

“Ra’ees [Bangura-Williams] helped me a lot. He was talking to me most days, we did extras with Nug. That whole trial period Nug was really helpful. He was doing extras with me…showing me where I need to improve as well.

“Obviously because Alfie [Massey] was with the first team that summer, it was me and Ra’ees in midfield during the pre-season. Having Ra’ees next to me, I’m learning whilst I’m playing the game. Coming from non-league, the tactical side isn’t as strong as the under-21s. So he’s always teaching me. During the game, I might do this, he’ll tell me, Raf get in position, Raf do this. Just him speaking to me, it really helps a lot.

Addicks reward prospect

“I’ve improved a lot,” Lamptey said. “At the start the immaturity was still there.

“Going from Harrow Borough, like the level is still good, but it’s not as high as this and you don’t get as much time on the ball. So at Harrow Borough I’m dribbling, I’m beating loads of players. I’ve come in and I thought maybe I can do the exact same thing, but you can’t.

“The first couple games I was turning and then someone was coming and taking the ball off me. Nug and Robbo were refining my game and telling me, just keep it simple. We were doing extra after training. They were just making sure everything’s clean.

“At Harrow Borough you can get away with the small stuff because the level is not as high, here you can’t get away with that. They were making sure I’m always switched on. They’re showing me clips after the games where I can improve, all in training. They’re doing specific stuff, so always on a half turn, always scanning. But it’s just brilliant, really good coaching.”

Lamptey has also received help from someone closer to home. His brother Tariq came through Chelsea’s academy, and now plays regularly for Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.

Despite the six-year age gap, the 24-yearold full-back trained with his younger brother growing up and still gives him advice.

“When we were younger, obviously we were training together,” Lamptey said. “Him being physically stronger than me, it’s always better.

“Then after that I played a few more games. I think I played Reading and Dulwich Hamlet. Fun fact: Nug and Robbo actually came up to me in training and were like, ‘Raf, your parents must be so excited’. I was like, ‘what’s going on here?’

“Then I put two and two together and I was like, oh wait, actually my dad didn’t tell me, my dad was keeping it a secret. Then I was like ‘they’re really proud’, but really and truly like, I didn’t know. Nug and Robbo, they already thought I knew, but I didn’t actually know.”

Lamptey signed for the under-21s on August 23, 2024, and made his debut a few weeks later, coming on as a late substitute in the Lions’ 4-1 loss to Birmingham City in the Professional Development League on September 17.

The midfielder has now become a firstteam regular. Lamptey credited his coaches

By John Kelly

CHARLTON ATHLETIC academy prospect Ibrahim Fullah has signed a new long-term contract with the club.

The versatile eighteen-year-old has been one of the most impressive players for the Addicks’ academy sides this season.

He has scored eleven goals - including the club’s August Chicken George Goal of the Month winner - and notched five assists.

Fullah joined the Addicks at the age of nine and signed his first professional contract in April 2024.

“I’m obviously really delighted to get another contract,” he said. “I’m really excited now to kick on and just do what I can to push on to the first team and kick on from there really.

“Even now he comes to a lot of my games, if he doesn’t come to it, he watches it back. He is always giving me pointers on where to improve, how I can do this, what to do in training so that I can help improve myself.

“Having him in my house, you can’t ask for much more really, because he’s experienced everything. When he talks I just listen basically. He gives me pointers and I listen.”

Lamptey admitted playing with or against his brother is one of his career goals.

“A hundred per cent, that’s the goal really,” Lamptey said. “From a young age, we’ve always said the goal is to play with each other, that would be brilliant. So if we could even get that option, even if for like five minutes, that’s the goal really.

“My dad will tell you as well, Tariq was his first project, I’m his second project. So yeah. That’s the goal really, that would be amazing.”

"All of my coaches have really believed in me throughout the season. I feel like they’ve made me feel comfortable to play with a bit of freedom and as time’s gone on that’s helped me a lot to impact games. I’m really happy."

Senior boss Nathan Jones added: "Ibby's a player we have real high hopes for. He's another one who has come through the academy and trains with us on a regular basis. He handles any level that he plays at and we're delighted to secure him because we believe in him.

"His athleticism, quality and desire to do well is amazing and we see that in him when he comes up to us. He adds to our training sessions so he's another one that we're all really delighted to tie down to a contract, because he's come through the academy and he epitomises everything that we do here."

Rafi q Lamptey celebrates after scoring against Barnsley

LondonWeekly.

Sport INSIDE

‘YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF’ INSIDE

Charlton have unlikely fan

By John Kelly

CHARLTON ATHLETIC have received unexpected backing to be a play-off success - from former Millwall boss Neil Harris.

The Addicks defeated Harris’ Cambridge United 1-0 at the Abbey Stadium last weekend thanks to Tyreece Campbell’s goal.

EXCLUSIVE

By Will Scott

RYAN LEONARD believes Millwall can learn from past play-off heartbreaks by taking the pressure off, as they aim to secure a top-six finish in the Championship for the first time since 2002.

The Lions’ 1-0 win against play-off rivals Middlesbrough on Saturday, April 12, has put them right in the mix. They are only three points off sixthplaced Coventry City with four games to go in the season.

Millwall have come close to cracking the play-offs a number of times in recent history, famously losing 4-3 to Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the 2022-23 season to finish one point outside the top six. The Lions also finished two points off the playoffs in 2019-20.

They face Blackburn in another potentially play-off deciding clash on Friday, April 18 at Ewood Park.

When asked what lessons Millwall could learn from previous misses, Leonard said: “I think just take as much pressure off yourselves in the situation as possible. Try not to look too far ahead.

“I’ve said it before, this league is relentless. You see it every week, everyone beats everyone. Anything can happen on any given day. Sheffield United were 1-0 up against Plymouth and went and lost the game 2-1 in the last 10 minutes.

“You just have to take the pressure off yourselves, not look too far ahead. That’s what we are going to do. We’re not going to look any further than Friday. It’s a massive game for us and for Blackburn. Everyone’s fighting for their own pride and their own part of the season.

“I think for me, the biggest lesson is to take the pressure off and not look too far ahead. We’ll certainly be doing that and I’m sure that’ll be part of the manager’s thought process as well.”

Millwall’s task was made easier when sixth-placed Coventry City

missed an opportunity to go five points clear of the Lions by drawing 1-1 with relegation-threatened Hull City on Monday, April 14.

When asked if he was watching the game, Leonard said: “Definitely, I celebrated when Hull scored, that’s for certain.

“But I’ve always kind of said, in the situation we’re in, we need to win our games. We have no choice but we need to win games. If we didn’t win on Saturday, the importance of the other night’s game wouldn’t have been as important. There’s no point looking at other results unless we win our game.

“We’ll go on Friday and we’ll go to win the game and if we win the game, great, we’ll look at other results. But if we don’t win the game then it’s obviously going to be a little bit tougher. We can only focus on our part of the job and I know it’s a cliché but we can only take one game at a time and that’s just how it is. But it was nice when Hull scored last night.”

Millwall head into Friday’s fixture

having successfully navigated a tricky stretch of fixtures. They played nineteenth-placed Portsmouth, thirdplaced Sheffield United and eighthplaced Middlesbrough in eight days and emerged with nine points.

“In the fixtures you kind of have like little runs together of games that you know are going to be tough,” Leonard said. “When you look at Portsmouth at home, Sheffield United away, Middlesbrough at home in a week, you think right, that’s going to be a tough week.

“We’ve obviously got a late game against Sheffield coming back late from the game and then straight into Middlesbrough on a Saturday. I think to get three wins in a week is a hell of an achievement for the players.

“It’s put us in a position where we have something to fight for at the end of the season and we’ll go out there now on Friday and give it everything again. We’ll try and win as many games as we can from here until the end of the season and see what happens.”

Harris won two and drew one of his three games in charge of the Lions against Charlton, but Nathan Jones broke that unbeaten record as the Addicks moved closer to confirming at least a play-off spot with four games left in League One. Cambridge are struggling at the other end, seven points off safety ahead of a trip to Huddersfield Town on Good Friday.

Harris admitted he was a “big Nathan Jones fan”. He added: “I love the way he sets his teams up and the mentality of his teams, I really like it.

“Yes, I’m not the biggest Charlton Athletic fan, it is safe to say, but that is just sporting rivalry built up over many years.

“Charlton have had a brilliant season and they are going to be in the play-offs. I really fancy them to do well in them. They have got an excellent squad and built it really early.”

Harris felt Charlton demonstrated the quality that the U’s lacked.

“I just said to the guys that sometimes it is just levels and the reason why their budget is five times the size of ours,” Harris said.

“The ball ends up in the back of your net and we can’t score the other end.

“The majority of football games are won in both boxes. The amount of balls we put into their box or areas we got into, we weren’t good enough is the honest reality.

“They got into our penalty area once, one moment of quality and the ball ends up in the back of our net.

“It is painful because there was nothing in the game, if not we were the better team. We dominated on the majority of stats apart from the important one – which is the goal.”