Episode 9 Oxford Street Revealed


Episode 9

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Oxford Street is the most famous shopping street in the world

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in the heart of Britain's capital city.

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A mile and a half long with 30 million visitors each year.

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With some of the world's most famous shops,

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-biggest stars...

-Kate Moss!

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-..and busiest stations.

-Sorry, guys, stand back for me.

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What does it take to keep it running 24 hours a day...

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It's the busiest street in the world so it needs constant attention.

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-..seven days a week?

-Oi, clear off!

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Welcome to Oxford Street. Welcome to the pickpocket team.

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Are you ready, London?

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A street that never sleeps.

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This sort of thing wouldn't happen anywhere else.

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-Today on Oxford Street...

-Yeah, go ahead.

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..there's an injured passenger...

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He's fallen down the escalator. He's in considerable pain right now.

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..and two disgruntled tourists for the police to deal with.

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Why the hell were they being charged £240?

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Hello, how are you?

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-The clean team get to grips with Friday night.

-Are we on TV?

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And can these miners stop a £1 billion project

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hitting the buffers?

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You can hear the trains coming and going every couple of minutes.

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It can be a bit frightening sometimes.

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It's early evening and Police Constable Adam Mee

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and Trainee Police Community Support Officer Lauren Grey are beginning their patrol on Oxford Street.

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They are two of the nearly 3,000 officers of the British Transport Police,

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the national police force tasked with keeping the UK's rail network safe.

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Oxford Street, with its four Tube stations and 30 million annual visitors,

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is one of the busiest and most important areas they police.

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As you can see now, it's the afternoon rush hour on Oxford Street, it's very, very busy.

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Lots and lots of people around.

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Oxford Circus is the biggest station in the UK,

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with 130 million passenger movements a year.

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For the officers that police it, rush hour can be crunch time

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and as they enter the station tonight,

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they're greeted by a sight no-one in the Underground ever wants to see.

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A closed escalator means more chance of passenger congestion

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and in this case, there's someone at the bottom.

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PCSO Lauren gets a call which sends her to the supervisor's office.

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She is not stopping to explain to Adam what the issue is.

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I have no idea what she's doing in there.

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I look like a confused idiot right now, cos she hasn't told me,

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but I'm sure we'll find out soon and all will be revealed.

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Lauren's call was about Hussein Ali.

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He was coming down the escalator on crutches

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due to an injured knee he damaged playing football,

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but he slipped and fell a long way.

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He needs medical attention and Lauren is doing her best to help.

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Can I get any painkillers of some sort?

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Will they have ibuprofen upstairs to give to him?

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I don't want to give him anything until the paramedics have seen him.

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-Do you want to explain to him?

-We're not...

-It's only because he's asking.

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On you go.

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With Adam answering the radio,

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Lauren will have to break the bad news.

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We can't get you any painkillers at the moment, only because we are not medically qualified,

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even if you're asking for them.

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That's why we've called the paramedic, then they can come down.

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Not the news he wanted to hear.

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Yeah, can I please request LAS to Oxford Circus Underground Station?

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We've got a gentleman that's fallen down the escalator about halfway,

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he's in quite considerable pain right now.

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The officers won't reopen the escalators until Hussein has been moved,

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so rush-hour passengers are squeezed into one lane.

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Well, basically what happened was I was trying to come down the escalator

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and I just fell down.

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I didn't have no balance and I was saved by a guy

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and I think I'd have broken my knee even further, I think, if it wasn't for the person.

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Thank God he saved me.

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After 20 minutes, Adam decides to go up top and look for the ambulance.

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But on the surface, he's attracted the attention

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of two flustered foreign tourists in need of help from the law.

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So, what were you meant to be paying for?

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-What were you buying?

-A gift.

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-A gift. What shop?

-Not far away.

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The two lads think a souvenir shop on the street

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has massively overcharged them for something they've bought.

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-And they told him just

-£8. £8?

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They're having a laugh, aren't they?

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-Right, we'll go have a chat with them, shall we?

-OK.

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-So what were you buying?

-All they've bought is three e-cigarettes.

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The lads up here have come to me with these receipts here.

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Apparently they were charged £8 for an item,

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but on these receipts, they're saying they've been charged £240 and £180,

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so we're going to see if we can figure out what happened

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and hopefully clear this matter up.

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Later in the programme, we'll see if these are the three most expensive e-cigarettes ever made

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and whether Hussein gets home.

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If Oxford Street is to continue competing internationally for shoppers

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with New York's Fifth Avenue and Paris's Boulevard Haussmann,

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it's got to make sure it is kept as attractive a place to shop as possible.

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A large part of that job falls to Samuel Oyema and his Westminster Council cleaning team.

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Making sure all aspects of the pavements

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and streets come up to scratch falls on their shoulders.

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If you can pick up any litter bin lorry there...

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Environmental manager Samuel and his team have got a busy shift ahead of them.

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Samuel oversees the night cleaning of the street and, as it's a Friday,

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there's going to be plenty to clean.

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Everyone all over the world knows Oxford Street is one of the busiest streets in the whole world

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and that is why that street must always be kept clean.

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Oxford Street generates between 50,000-100,000 kilos of waste every single day

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and it's Samuel and his team's job to get rid of it.

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The team have some of the most sophisticated cleaning equipment going

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to help them in their mammoth task.

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For fellow clean team member John, it is his night to work the automated sweeper.

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It can be very messy.

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A lot of people, a lot of mess.

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It's not a bad bit of kit. 26mph, excellent turning circle.

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It beats pushing a broom.

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The average time to fill up the bins is five to ten minutes.

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Within ten minutes, we will go and come back in ten minutes

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and see the bins will be overflowing.

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A key problem for the team is the waste generated by customers from fast food restaurants.

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Anywhere you see the fast food, you will always see litter around.

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By the time they've finished eating, they leave everything and move away.

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Other waste left over is even less attractive.

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If you look on the floor here, that is a urination on top of the bag.

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Further down the street

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and Samuel is witness to just the sort of careless behaviour

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that creates unnecessary work for his team.

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Did you see? Watch, watch. Watch him throwing it on the floor.

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We just have to clean it and make sure it keeps to the standard.

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Later in the programme, as the evening wears on,

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the clean team come face-to-face with the general public.

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I'm Chris Cusworth, get to know.

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British Transport Police officer Adam Mee is on his way to an Oxford Street souvenir shop.

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Two foreign tourists believe they've been charged well over the odds

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for three e-cigarettes they've bought from the store.

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Adam is shocked and has agreed to get to the bottom of things.

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Who do we need to talk to then? Who sold him the stuff?

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You're all looking very blank here. Who sold him the stuff?

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-Finally, someone steps up.

-He's the manager.

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Right, these lads here, they've apparently bought these three items here,

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they've come up to me with these receipts here for £240 and £180

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and they're only meant to cost about £8, so I'm a bit confused

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as to why they've been charged this amount of money.

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-Really?

-Yeah.

-I was not even here, so let me find out who did that.

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These are £8. Are they meant to be £8?

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-How much are they all meant to come to?

-£10.

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-£10? So why the hell were they charged £240?

-I don't know, I was not even here.

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-Oh, that one was declined, sir.

-Yeah, so here we go. This one here.

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Wait, wait, wait, one second. This is your mistake, officer.

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-Can you read this?

-What about this one here?

-Can you hold on, please?

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-What is this?

-240, yeah.

-Declined.

-OK.

-What's this?

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-Yeah, yeah, declined.

-Declined. What's this?

-OK, we see that, but...

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-So this is nothing, they are just rubbish.

-But Adam's not letting go.

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-OK, so what's this for then?

-This one, why have they charged them £140?

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-Because that is... Did you buy something else as well?

-Just read.

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Yeah, they charged him only £120. That's the price for it.

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-They told me it was

-£8. Who said £8?

-Orange shirt.

-So why have they charged you £120? They are stupid.

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The manager has an answer for everything,

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but Adam thinks a mistake has definitely been made.

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-You said they were £10 a minute ago.

-Who said that?

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-I said how much do they cost, you said £10.

-Come here, I'll show you.

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Some of them, officer, they cost £20,

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some of them cost £80, £90, £100.

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They cost different prices. They're not the same prices.

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Orange shirt, a man with orange shirt, told him £8.

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-Don't worry, I'll help them out, officer.

-You sort the money out, OK?

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The boys have clearly been overcharged,

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-but staff are now promising to sort them out.

-We spoke to the manager.

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He seems as confused as to why they have been charged that much.

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Most of the receipts had "declined" written on them,

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but there was one in there that was still 120 quid

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so hopefully the manager will sort it out.

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We'll then go back and see if this ambulance has turned up.

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And thankfully, it looks like Adam's intervention has resolved the problem above ground.

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The tourists have their money back, to no doubt spend elsewhere on Oxford Street.

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They give £100.

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-So are you happy with that, yes?

-Yeah, OK.

-Excellent!

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Take care, enjoy the rest of your time, yeah?

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-Thank you very much.

-OK.

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That's two happy customers for Adam on the street, but down below,

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Hussein and his injured leg are still waiting at the escalator.

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Later in the programme, can Adam and Lauren help him get home?

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The central part of Oxford Street is synonymous with upmarket sophistication.

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In contrast to the somewhat down-at-heel eastern end.

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Most dilapidated of all is its Tube station, Tottenham Court Road.

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Every day, it's used by tens of thousands of passengers

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who have to contend with a cramped ticket hall and crumbling infrastructure.

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Something is broken down up there.

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The ticket machines are all busted.

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The machines are breaking down cos they're refurbished rather than new.

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This is a bunker, very old, and there is no fresh air.

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At over 100 years old, it's showing its age.

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But all that's about to change with Tottenham Court Road undergoing a £1 billion redevelopment,

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including a new station, brand-new railway line called Crossrail, road system, pedestrian zone and shops.

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In the meantime, most passengers would never guess that hidden behind the tunnel walls

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is part of the biggest construction project in Europe.

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Making his way through the crowds is Alan White,

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the station upgrade tunnelling supervisor.

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It's his job to look after the excavation side of the project.

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RUMBLING

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Yes, you can hear them there. Can you hear? You can hear them working.

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Just an ordinary door separates the public from the new station.

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Once it's finished, it will have eight new escalators,

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a ticket hall six times the size of the existing one

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and a two-storey basement.

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But at the moment, it still looks like a building site.

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The whole development is due to be finished by 2018

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and the section that Alan is working on has hit a crucial phase.

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They can't move forwards until a new lift shaft for the Central Line,

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providing step-free access, has been dug.

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This is a drawing of the lift shaft.

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We've got to dig in between the two running tunnels

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and prop it as we go down.

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It might sound straightforward,

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but it's actually one of the most fiendishly difficult tasks in the entire project.

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The constrictions on space caused by the layout of the existing tunnels

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mean there is no way of digging with modern heavy plant machinery.

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To do the job, they've had to bring in a specialist team, not of builders,

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but miners, and the success of a £1 billion project now comes down

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to two men and two spades.

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We use clay spades for digging, so it is all traditional methods

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we're using here.

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Working just inches away from the existing train line on either side of them makes this job unique.

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Patrick heads up the specialist mining team brought over from Donegal in Ireland.

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Well, we can hear the trains coming and going every couple of minutes

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and if you're not used to it, it can be a bit frightening sometimes.

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The ground shakes a bit.

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It's a specialised job and most of the miners are from mining families

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where the expertise has been passed down from father to son.

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It's hard work, I've been at it since I was 18 years of age

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and I'm used to it, it's all I know, so I've made a good living from it.

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Every day, we've got to excavate about a metre and a half of muck.

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We use this, it's called an FL22. It's quite noisy, as you can hear.

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This is basically what we do for ten hours a day.

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It's their hard graft that means the project is able to stay on schedule.

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Every day, about six cubic metres of clay is dug.

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It's then winched up in a bucket...

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..poured onto a conveyor belt...

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..removed in a tipper truck...

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transferred into a skip...

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..and then craned up to the surface.

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Because it's such a big project,

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new parts of the station are opening at different times.

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There's another year to go here on the Central Line.

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But elsewhere, things are more advanced.

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This is going to be the new station concourse. Welcome to my office!

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Mick Gould is a construction manager

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working on the section of the station that's only months away from being ready.

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These are our new ticket machines that are being installed.

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They'll be linked up to the new gateline that we've got here.

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Watch the old hole in the floor there.

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As you can see, the boys are working on the escalators there.

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That's the main escalators down to the Northern Line lower concourse.

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It's looking like a building site at the moment,

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but I guarantee you in January 2015,

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you'll see a big, massive transformation.

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Back below ground at the lift shaft tunnel,

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it's time for the weary miners to head off.

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The lads have finished for the day now, they've done a good ten hours.

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They're the type of men who just love digging every day.

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They'll probably go to the pub and have a few pints now.

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Their hard work means that soon, the east end of Oxford Street

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will have a state-of-the-art underground station

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fit to last for another 100 years.

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British Transport Police Officer Adam Mee is trying to help an injured passenger.

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Hussein Ali has taken a tumble down an escalator

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in an Oxford Street Tube station.

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The London Ambulance Service is taking a large number of calls at the moment

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and with his injuries not urgent,

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Hussein's not the highest priority call for them.

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With one Oxford Circus escalator still closed,

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Adam and Lauren decide on a change of plan.

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We might get staff to assist the gentleman onto the train

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and then get someone to meet him at the other end.

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I'll talk to the staff now, see if we can sort out some sort of service for this gentleman,

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we can get him on the train and get him to his next location.

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I'm going to have to take a risk

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because honestly, I've waited for over an hour now.

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I'm getting really frustrated and I'm going to try to...

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No, no, no, no, no.

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I think I might have damaged it further now.

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And that's a bad start, but as there is definitely no ambulance,

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he's going to have to pluck up his courage and go for it,

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-and with Adam to help, he's back on his feet.

-What are we thinking?

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-I just need to get to my destination as well.

-You want to try?

-Yeah.

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OK, matey.

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You've got to go for it here, matey.

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And on this down escalator, he's getting a hand from Adam and Lauren.

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-If I get closer, do you mind holding my crutches, please?

-Yeah.

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Just do a big hop and I'll support you.

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It's going to be a long trip to Walthamstow,

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where Hussein needs to get to, the last stop on the line.

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We've got a gentleman coming in on crutches.

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Do you mind moving up one seat for us, please? Thank you.

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Don't rush it, you're all right.

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You all right? OK, matey, good luck. Let them know where you're getting off at.

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He's away and it looks like he made the right call.

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We've had an update from our control room that the ambulance still hasn't been assigned to the call

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and he was adamant that he wanted to get home.

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The staff are going to help him off the train,

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he'll hopefully get home or if he needs to go to the hospital,

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he can get himself down there in a cab.

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With Hussein safely on his way, Adam and Lauren call it a day.

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They've helped one injured man and two flustered tourists,

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but most importantly,

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they've done their bit to keep the country's busiest station and most visited shopping street moving.

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Samuel Oyema and his Westminster Council clean team are doing their best

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to keep Oxford Street clean on a busy Friday night.

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Samuel's aim is for the street to be clean and safe enough

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that people could walk down it in bare feet,

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and tonight, some people are putting this to the test.

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Hello, how are you?

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You're walking barefoot with confidence on the street.

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Yeah, this street is clean.

0:20:110:20:13

For John in the automated sweeper,

0:20:140:20:16

some of his biggest obstacles are members of the public.

0:20:160:20:20

They'll just jump out in front of you and stuff like that.

0:20:210:20:25

Some of them even try and flag you down,

0:20:250:20:27

thinking that you're a cab, you know.

0:20:270:20:29

You've got to be very aware.

0:20:290:20:31

-Are we on TV?

-Sorry, lads. Mind yourselves.

-What are you saying?

0:20:340:20:37

I'm Chris Cusworth, get to know. I'm from Essex, yeah?

0:20:370:20:41

You're from Essex as well, yeah?

0:20:410:20:44

As you can see, you do get some characters.

0:20:460:20:49

HE LAUGHS

0:20:510:20:52

Further down the street,

0:20:540:20:55

Samuel is putting the finishing touches to his tour of duty.

0:20:550:20:59

I'm checking around the area and I am happy. The sweeper has done his best.

0:20:590:21:04

He's got everywhere cleaned up.

0:21:040:21:07

So we'll come down here now and get all these bags off the street.

0:21:070:21:11

When we've done that,

0:21:110:21:12

you will see Oxford Street is as new as it is supposed to be.

0:21:120:21:18

We've left it in a grade-A standard.

0:21:180:21:21

-Get those bags there.

-While Samuel sweeps up the final bags,

0:21:230:21:27

John runs into an old friend.

0:21:270:21:30

It's you again, it's Joey Essex, look.

0:21:300:21:33

You all right?

0:21:340:21:36

About six o'clock in the morning.

0:21:420:21:43

I made a friend - Joey Essex.

0:21:490:21:52

Round on the other side. Get the red bags there.

0:21:550:21:59

The red rubbish bags are the waste from Oxford Street businesses

0:21:590:22:03

and all of these must be removed.

0:22:030:22:05

Dawn is beginning to break.

0:22:060:22:08

The team have worked all night and the sweepers have done their jobs.

0:22:080:22:12

Team leader Samuel can sleep safe in the knowledge

0:22:120:22:15

that the street is clean enough for people to walk on it, shoes or no shoes.

0:22:150:22:19

It's a wonderful night, I'm happy

0:22:190:22:22

so I'll give kudos to myself and the team for a job well done.

0:22:220:22:27

Thank you.

0:22:270:22:28

Being based in the West End of London,

0:22:350:22:37

it's not unusual for Oxford Street to be a place for young couples to meet, greet and celebrate.

0:22:370:22:44

And that's exactly the case tonight for one couple who got together a year ago today

0:22:440:22:49

and who have come to the street to celebrate in style.

0:22:490:22:52

Except theirs is a date with a difference.

0:22:530:22:55

For their anniversary, they've convinced Thames Water to take them down a sewer.

0:22:550:23:01

Meet Dan MacIntyre and Dunya Kalantery.

0:23:010:23:04

We hooked up around the time of the news of the fatberg,

0:23:040:23:11

that was found under Kingston upon Thames, first hitting the Metro

0:23:110:23:15

and we both became a little bit obsessed.

0:23:150:23:18

Fatbergs are massive build-ups of congealed fat

0:23:210:23:24

and other deposits so big they can block an entire sewer.

0:23:240:23:28

The one removed in Kingston the day Dan and Dunya met covered a vast area and weighed 15 tonnes.

0:23:280:23:35

The couple are hoping to see a fatberg,

0:23:350:23:37

but are worried about the smell.

0:23:370:23:39

They've been very reassuring, have Thames Water.

0:23:390:23:42

They might have been feeding us lies, but they've said that the smell isn't that overpowering and...

0:23:420:23:46

And it's been mixed with a lot of rain water

0:23:460:23:48

so it means that the rain is sitting on top of the normal sewage.

0:23:480:23:53

So they tell us.

0:23:530:23:55

It's going to be Gary and Dan's job from Thames Water

0:23:550:23:58

to take the couple down and show them the ropes.

0:23:580:24:00

But they're not just there as tour guides. They've also got work to do.

0:24:000:24:06

The Victorian sewer under Oxford Street that they're about to visit

0:24:060:24:10

had a mini-fatberg removed recently.

0:24:100:24:12

Today, they're checking if Fatty has returned.

0:24:120:24:16

I feel a little bit like I'm going to go and combat SARS.

0:24:190:24:22

Dan and Dunya are beginning to feel the love.

0:24:230:24:26

It's so romantic because it's realising this weird thing that you are into,

0:24:260:24:30

someone else is also really into it.

0:24:300:24:32

It's an amazing thing to do for an anniversary.

0:24:320:24:35

-Time to buckle up and head down.

-Just sort of edge down slowly.

0:24:370:24:42

Take it easy, yeah? Put your light on too. You're on now, yeah.

0:24:420:24:47

Kev! We're going to go down, yeah?

0:24:520:24:54

In the 1850s, over 400,000 tonnes of sewage were flushed into the River Thames each day.

0:25:000:25:07

The river was declared biologically dead

0:25:070:25:10

and the stench became overpowering.

0:25:100:25:12

In the summer of 1858, Parliament had to be suspended

0:25:130:25:17

because of the vile smell known as the Great Stink.

0:25:170:25:20

As a result, Parliament passed an enabling act

0:25:200:25:24

to raise £3 million to build a network of giant intersecting sewers,

0:25:240:25:28

pumping stations and treatment works designed by the engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette.

0:25:280:25:33

This network still forms the backbone of London's sewerage system

0:25:340:25:38

and the King's Scholar Pond Sewer they're visiting today is a key part of it.

0:25:380:25:42

When Bazalgette's network was built,

0:25:530:25:55

the capital's population was around 2.5 million.

0:25:550:25:58

He planned for population growth of up to 4 million,

0:25:580:26:02

not the 8 million plus that the system now serves.

0:26:020:26:05

It means maintenance visits like this are more crucial than ever

0:26:050:26:09

to make sure the system is still working.

0:26:090:26:11

This is a little bit of fat here.

0:26:110:26:13

Just a little bit, it's only congealed.

0:26:130:26:15

-Would you like to touch it?

-I'd love to touch it, yeah.

0:26:170:26:20

I mean, it smells sewagey, but it's not like a pure poop smell.

0:26:250:26:31

It smells really bad, really bad.

0:26:310:26:34

As they continue down the sewer,

0:26:370:26:40

things are looking good for Dan and Gary.

0:26:400:26:42

The previous clearance of the mini-fatberg seems to have worked

0:26:420:26:46

and for the moment, the sewer is flowing fine.

0:26:460:26:49

Sorry about the fat though.

0:26:490:26:51

I know you got a little bit of it,

0:26:510:26:53

but as you can see, at least we're doing our job.

0:26:530:26:55

-We do maintain it a lot.

-Yeah, yeah, exactly, no fatberg.

-Nah.

0:26:550:27:00

Time to head back to ground level.

0:27:030:27:06

The lack of a fatberg's a clear success for the Thames Water team,

0:27:060:27:10

even if it's a disappointment for the happy couple.

0:27:100:27:13

-But there's plenty more for them to celebrate.

-Yeah, that's great.

0:27:130:27:16

I tell you what, it's really nice to be in fresh air again.

0:27:160:27:19

-After being down there, yeah.

-Yeah, it's beautiful down there.

0:27:190:27:23

-It's like...

-The brickwork's lovely.

-Yeah, the brickwork's lovely.

0:27:230:27:26

Also the way it's lit, like, with everyone's torches, is really nice.

0:27:260:27:32

-It was incredibly romantic.

-Aw, that's amazing!

0:27:320:27:36

I thought the romance was up here with the shops,

0:27:360:27:38

where you take your girlfriend or your lovely one to spend a bit of money on them,

0:27:380:27:41

not to take her on an anniversary down a sewer,

0:27:410:27:43

but everyone is different, they enjoyed it, I'm happy they enjoyed it.

0:27:430:27:47

At least they know that what I do is doing a good cause to London.

0:27:470:27:51

It's keeping London flowing, no blockages.

0:27:510:27:54

You never think of Oxford Street

0:27:540:27:57

as being a place where you get good fresh air.

0:27:570:28:01

It feels mighty fresh after that.

0:28:010:28:03

-See you later. You enjoy that, yeah?

-Yeah, so much. It was great.

0:28:050:28:09

-Thank you.

-Good. See you later!

0:28:090:28:12

The only question now is what Dan and Dunya will do for their second anniversary.

0:28:140:28:18

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