Episode 6 Oxford Street Revealed

It's the most famous shopping street in the world

in the heart of Britain's capital city.

A mile and a half long,

with 30 million visitors each year.

With some of the world's most famous shops...

-CHEERING

-..biggest stars...

Kate Moss! CHEERING

-..and busiest stations.

-Sorry, guys! Stand back for me!

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

Busiest street in the world, so it needs constant attention.

-..seven days a week?

-Oi! Clear off!

Welcome to Oxford Street. Welcome to the pickpocket team.

Are you ready, London?!

A street that never sleeps.

This sort of thing wouldn't happen anywhere else.

Oxford Street.

Coming up...

There's a pop superstar coming to Oxford Street.

Can shop security cope?

CHEERING

This man has set up home on the pavement.

Don't. No, don't.

When police move in to arrest him, he's far from happy.

It's a good day for me making you lot look like idiots.

It's shut down time at Britain's busiest station.

Could we man the gates, please?

Staff and passengers are pushed to the limit.

Stand back for me! Oh!

SIRENS WAIL

Oxford Street has its own dedicated law enforcement team.

Can I have a PNC on a person, please? Oxford Street.

And it's paying off.

Crime on the street has fallen 15% in recent years.

OK, so these are our beats. We've got west Oxford Street here.

Police constable Karen Spencer

is part of the Oxford Street team, known as ORB.

They police one of the busiest shopping destinations in the world.

Oxford Circus, east Oxford Street...

While stores on Oxford Street target customers

looking for high fashion and glamour,

today the ORB team have their eyes

on a different type of frequent visitor -

beggars.

They're attracted by the millions of shoppers

looking to spend money on the street.

But begging is a criminal offence

and targeting them is a top priority for the ORB team.

Usually outside John Lewis

or Selfridge's.

Today, Karen's on the lookout for known persistent beggars,

in particular ones that live rough in the area.

VOICE OVER POLICE RADIO

And it doesn't take long for Karen to find one of her regulars.

Date of birth, 2-0-0-5

1-9-6-5.

A man playing the accordion outside John Lewis.

He's been warned previously for begging on the street.

Can you tell me when he was last known and whether it was for

begging, yes or no? Over.

He was arrested on the 24th of July.

Unfortunately for Karen, she's not seen him actually begging today,

so she can't arrest him.

But his track record means she can

move him and his accordion on with a warning.

No more on Oxford Street. OK?

You get found again today, you get arrested.

You're lucky, because you would be going back to the police station.

I gave him a cease and desist notice in Romanian.

We've got them in English and Romanian

just to explain that certain behaviours will not be tolerated.

If he's seen again today, he's in big trouble.

And further down the street, Karen spots another regular

who's hurriedly trying to get away.

Her colleague, Warren Shackleton

from the British Transport Police, moves in.

Come and have a chat to us, young lady.

No, no, no, no. Come and speak to us, OK?

We know what you were doing.

The woman is one of Karen's regulars

and has been warned repeatedly.

Enough's enough, OK? Begging is a no-no around here, OK?

Again, they haven't seen her begging so can't arrest her,

but they've seen where she's been sitting and it's enough for them

to give her a cease and desist letter and move her on.

Begging. No.

Had I seen her begging with her hand out

or something on the floor, she'd have come in today.

But further down the street is a much harder problem to solve.

Chester Lashley has become a permanent fixture

on the Oxford Street pavement,

having pitched up some months ago.

His presence and that of all of his belongings

is a constant nuisance for shops and shoppers alike,

and his behaviour has led to numerous complaints.

A lot of complaints have come in from local businesses

of him causing an obstruction,

blocking doorways,

there's detritus from the dog fouling,

and being a general nuisance.

Homelessness is a difficult problem for the authorities.

The reasons people are driven to it

are often complex and not easy to solve.

But on such a vital shopping street,

having people making a home for themselves outside landmark stores

is a no-no for business.

This ain't, this ain't policing.

You moving me ain't policing.

Chester's ignored previous warnings from the police

and refused a number of offers

of accommodation from support groups.

He has been offered accommodation.

Unfortunately, he's not willing to take it.

He wants a three-bedroom house of his own or something,

which is unrealistic.

Today, it's enough for Karen to move Chester on.

They don't want to arrest him, as that's a last resort.

They're hoping he'll get the message and not come back.

But a few weeks later,

and Chester has been spotted by plain-clothes officers,

living rough on Oxford Street again

with all his belongings.

A male with thick dreadlocks and a stick poking out of him

was kind of yelling at them and following them down the road.

From that description, I think it's probably Chester.

You need to go to the housing, man.

Now Karen and her team have been authorised to go and arrest him.

Chester is used to being asked to move on,

but getting arrested might come as a surprise.

-You are under arrest.

-It's easy. If you want me to move, I'll move.

We have asked you continuously,

all my team, to move. You haven't moved.

You've been offered accommodation,

there are numerous complaints

-about you being here, you don't listen to reason...

-I will move now.

..so therefore... No, no, no, no.

-You've been given too many opportunities.

-Listen...

This officer will be taking you to the station.

-No, you can't arrest me without my belongings.

-You've been arrested.

But Chester's belongings present a more complicated problem

for police to mull over.

There are lots of them and, having arrested him,

they'll need to take them all with them.

Later in the programme,

Karen's tussle with Chester takes a dramatic turn.

It's taking for ever. This is ridiculous.

Don't rush me! So you want me to hurry up, it ain't happening!

Some shops have been on Oxford Street for so long

that they've become part of the furniture.

HMV at number 363

is one such store.

The first ever HMV store was opened here

by the composer Elgar in 1921

and The Beatles cut one of their first demos here.

The Art Deco shop front has even been listed.

But music downloads have hit HMV hard over the last few years.

It's decided to fight back using this...

It's state-of-the-art 200-capacity performance space

is the only one of its kind on Oxford Street,

designed to showcase live music and stage celebrity signings.

And today, it's being used for one of the biggest events of the year.

International pop star and TV presenter Nicole Scherzinger

has a new album out

and the venue has been chosen for her to meet fans and sign copies

of her new record.

Simon Winter is its events manager

and has worked for the company for 25 years.

She'll be signing her new album

and saying hi to all her fans. It should be great.

It's Simon's job to make sure the album signing is a success.

Before that, we've got to get everything ready.

So we're going to just turn all the lights on in here,

get the sound system sort of warmed up and ready to go.

The event's been heavily promoted,

but it's still tough to predict fan numbers.

You don't know how it's going to go. We haven't sold tickets.

So, if I was a venue, I could sell 200 tickets in advance

and I'd know it would be a sell-out.

But here we're inviting people to come along,

but we don't actually know who will come along.

The signing's at 6pm,

but Nicole's due to arrive at 4:30.

And, with half an hour to go, Simon checks outside

to see if everything's in order.

He's immediately collared by an unauthorised paparazzi photographer.

-Hello.

-Do you know what time she's turning up?

-Uh...

-Are you on the list?

-No, no, no. We're covering the arrivals...

Well, I can't really tell you what time she's arriving.

She'll arrive when she arrives.

The presence of the paparazzi jostling for pictures

makes security more of a challenge.

The company is leaving nothing to chance

and they have a team of security guards on hand

to ensure Nicole's safety.

Downstairs, already there's a photographer hanging around,

so just keep an eye out for guys with their photo bags or whatever.

No worries. We'll have a team of four or five to bring her in

and then we'll start to deploy everyone through the building.

Once she's in the building, we know she's safe upstairs.

With 10 minutes to go, Simon heads back out to greet her.

But there's bad news.

So I just had a text from Nicole's product manager.

She's running a little bit late, so won't be here until five o'clock now.

Things often change, you know.

People get stuck in traffic, flights can get delayed, all sorts.

So we've just got to work with it really.

But as 5pm approaches,

there's still no sign of the elusive pop star.

Meanwhile, he's joined by Simon Forbes,

Nicole's UK promoter,

who's meeting her at the store.

One minute away, one minute away.

The long wait is over.

Now it's a matter of getting her past the photographers,

who are once again trying their luck.

OK, this is where it gets interesting.

And there she is.

CAMERAS CLICK

-Nicole!

-Are you OK? Are you OK?

Nicole! Nicole!

ANIMATED CHATTER

Nicole's safely inside.

Now Simon's got to get her comfortable

and brief her for the signing.

Later, her fans get the glimpse they've been waiting for

and it's an emotional moment.

Oxford Street is the busiest shopping street in Europe

and at its hub is Oxford Circus tube station,

the busiest station in the entire UK network,

with 130 million passenger movements per year.

Every weekday, over 125,000 people

enter the station, meaning overcrowding is a constant issue.

Keeping everything running comes down to a team of experienced staff.

It's a fabulous station,

there's always something different happening every day.

Customer Services Assistant Laura Shelton

has been working at Oxford Circus for two years.

BEEPING

I love working for London Underground,

it's the best thing I've ever done.

Let's have a look, my love. It needs some more money, sweetheart.

Story of my life.

I was a stay-at-home mum for 23 years

and decided to go back to work and ended up here.

It already thinks you're in, my love. Come on in.

I haven't regretted a day of it.

Every evening, tens of thousands of shoppers and workers

use Oxford Circus to get home,

putting the station under intense pressure.

-Are you just going to Waterloo and that's it?

-That's it, yeah.

The overcrowding often reaches the stage

where staff on the concourse, or - as they call it - bullring,

have to take the ultimate step.

They shut all four entry points.

This is known as "manning the gates."

When we man the gates, you do get an adrenaline rush,

cos you never quite know what's going to happen when you get up there.

Yeah, base to all radios, base to all radios.

It's one of the toughest decisions a station controller

will ever have to make, with major implications for the passengers

and other stations down the line.

-Your tea, my lord.

-Thank you.

The man in hot seat tonight is Michael Kemp.

It's not easy, no.

But it's us keeping a calm head as well, keeping in control

and, you know, um,

keeping everyone safe and getting everyone home safely.

Maybe a little bit late for dinner, but they will get there eventually.

In the control room, Michael has access to 300 cameras

dotted around the station.

So far this afternoon, things look relatively quiet,

although that's not a term Laura likes.

I won't use the Q word, because I'm not going to tempt fate.

As soon as you utter that word, that's when, um,

things go wrong.

But just as it hits 5pm, there's an influx of passengers

and the platforms rapidly fill up.

We need to act as quick as we can. Things can happen in a split second.

Michael makes the decision everyone's been dreading.

Yeah, base to the bullring. Base to the bullring.

Can we man the gates, please? Can we man the gates, please?

Laura and her colleagues race up the stairs to close the entry points

as quickly as possible.

Excuse me, please!

Guys, can you just hang back there for me?

Don't push through, I'm a human being.

Stand back, please! TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT

Oh, I hate this one. SHE GROANS

That's it.

I'm really sorry, guys. We'll be as quick as we can, all right?

TANNOY: 'Congestion. Do not enter.'

It's obviously really frustrating, having to wait here.

Above ground, crowds swamp the staircases.

But on the bullring, things are very different.

It does become very eerie when you close up

and everything becomes empty,

which, in some respects, it's quite nice, cos you get a break.

But the trouble is is the second you open those gates,

it's like an army.

They're just running at you. So...

you pay for having that little bit of quietness

when they all come back in.

But while the bullring's quiet,

down on the platforms and the interconnecting tunnels,

things are round to bursting.

It's easy to see why they've had to man the gates.

In the control room, Michael calculates

when he can reopen the station.

The system can tell him the current load

of each 1,000-person-capacity train

and how many new passengers it can take.

If we put the train details into the computer,

it tells us how busy that train is.

At the moment, we've got 940 people on that train.

There's enough space for another, what, 60 people.

Whereas we've got more than 60 people on our platform here.

Unfortunately, this train is already so busy that the 60 people

it still has room for won't do much to clear the overcrowded platform.

It's quite busy down there. It might remain closed for the time being.

After ten minutes, the crowds are still backing up on Oxford Street.

But it's a different story on the platforms and Michael is satisfied

that the numbers are back down to safe levels.

Base to the bullring, could you reopen, please? Reopen the bullring.

It's the news everyone's been waiting for

and they're eager to be on their way.

Sorry, guys.

Let me get the gates open before you...rush me, please.

There you go. In you come.

TANNOY: 'We'd like to apologise for...'

With the entrances open, Laura and Michael

will hope they don't have to man the gates again this evening.

The decision to close isn't taken lightly.

We're trying to prevent there being a serious incident.

If we didn't close the gates

and people just continued to come in,

once that platform's full, there's nowhere for people to go,

other than on the track.

Later in the programme, Laura's hopes for a quiet night are dashed.

Man the gates, please. Man the gates to the bullring, please.

Sorry, guys. Sorry.

And she's not the only person unhappy about it.

So I don't know if he's going to come down and give us any grief.

Chester Lashley is one of the Metropolitan Police's

main problems on Oxford Street.

More often than not, he's living rough on the street,

setting up home on the pavement and refusing offers of accommodation.

This officer will be taking you to the station.

Following his failure to act on their previous warnings,

PC Karen Spencer and colleagues

have today arrested him for not moving on.

All they've got to do now is take Chester down to the station.

-You can't arrest me without my belongings.

-You've been arrested.

Problem is that means taking all of his belongings with them.

Stop asking me stupid questions!

It's my belongings, so obviously it's coming with me!

My only thing is will we get accusations

of having stuff taken if we don't take it back to the station with us?

That's my USB key.

That is my USB key, man. It was in my speaker.

So I would take it back to the station,

especially bearing in mind we've got whatever that contraption is.

Most vans deliver to Oxford Street,

but this one will be making a removal.

There's these two boxes here and that one.

OK, that, this there and this.

Yeah.

Chester is less than happy about being arrested

and isn't being particularly cooperative.

You can't lift it up by the handle.

I'm not lifting it up by the handle, Chester.

I'm just letting you know, that's all I'm doing.

I said to you, you need a bag to go underneath it

to stop it from falling out.

Chester, stop arguing, more packing, please.

-I'm not arguing.

-You are.

After half an hour of back and forth,

the arrest is starting to fray Karen's nerves.

It's taking forever. This is ridiculous.

Right, guys, we really need to get him moving.

So don't rush me! Cos I've got a whole heap of stuff!

So you want me to hurry up, it ain't happening.

But arguments or not, the clearing continues.

Chester, we've got your suitcase, we've got these three bags.

These are all definites.

You don't know how good we are at packing.

Homelessness is a difficult problem

for the police to deal with anywhere,

but having people setting up home outside landmark stores

is not an option for a street which styles itself

as the most important shopping thoroughfare in the world.

Local retailers are only too happy to see Chester on his bike.

Is that it?

And even HE has found a silver lining on the day's events.

The good thing that's going to come out of it

is that I'm going to show you police how to do your job properly.

All of you are going to be so sorry that you're doing what you're doing.

You're arresting a good man and not a bad man.

So really and truly, it's a good day for me

-making you lot look like idiots.

-Chester, let's go.

-No, no, no, no, no.

-In the van now, please.

Let me finish my water.

It's going to take hours to even go through that stuff

and get it put down on the custody record.

Well, we've done the right thing, but it has taken an hour

to get all that stuff in the back of a van,

which was no mean feat.

And with that, Chester's stay on Oxford Street comes to an end.

And it seems the police's forceful action has had an effect.

Since we filmed, Chester hasn't returned

and is believed to have based himself elsewhere in London.

With him gone, shoppers can expect a slightly quieter

if less colourful shopping experience from now on.

At number 363 Oxford Street,

pop star Nicole Scherzinger has arrived for a signing

-to promote her new album.

-It's a bit surreal that it's out.

Social media has worked its magic

and there are lots of fans waiting in store.

That was fun getting her in there.

Meanwhile, Simon talks Melissa, Nicole's manager,

through his comprehensive plan for the signing session.

The signing's on the desk here,

so you can have guys either side of the table if we decide

if there's photographs, if there's no photographs -

that's the one thing that fans always ask.

It's hard if everybody asks for a photo. She feels like she has to...

talk to every... You know, take everyone a photo,

and I think we'll be here for the next ten hours.

Luckily, the experienced events staff have a strategy

-for keeping things moving.

-Yeah, get the music on.

I take the photo, I give them back the camera,

so they can't do selfies, they can't get in there.

-And they get one, that's it.

-Yeah.

-Is there any hand sanitiser around here?

-I have some, yeah. I do, yep.

-That we could just put, like, behind there.

-Uh-huh.

At last, the excited fans are ushered up to the second floor.

No selfies, you'll have a photo taken.

She'll be down for six o'clock.

Upstairs, Nicole is looking forward to meeting her fans.

I like being one-on-one with people and seeing people in person,

so I can't wait to get down there.

I couldn't imagine a better place to do a signing

and to release the album than here

at HMV on Oxford Street.

A lot of history here.

-We're ready when you are.

-Great.

It's showtime.

CHEERING AND WHISTLING

The event starts with a photo call

and then it's on with meeting the loyal fans.

-CROWD MEMBER:

-Whoo!

With the signing finally underway,

her management team is able to breathe a sigh of relief.

I'm feeling good now she's there and she's sat and she's signing

looking marvellous.

And Simon's not the only one who's feeling good.

Nicole's fans are absolutely thrilled.

I've met Nicole quite a few times now.

It's definitely made my bucket list a lot smaller.

I came all the way from Sardinia just today.

I'm a really crazy fan.

She's amazing. She's so perfect.

I can't believe how long she's speaking to everyone.

It's really cool.

The signing was only meant to last two hours,

but things are already running over.

It's about two and a half hours now and counting.

It's not the fastest signing I've ever had,

but that's great for the fans,

cos they're all going to have a good quality meet and greet.

We're not going anywhere, we're happy

-and I think she's doing a brilliant job.

-Bye, girls.

But just as the signing has hit its stride,

The powers that be threaten to intervene.

That was security just letting us know

they're going to shut the store at half nine, so, er...

which is in 25 minutes.

With the store about to close,

there's nothing for it but to bring the signing to an end.

You got the very last signing.

Nicole says goodbye to her last fan

and HMV says good night to a successful event.

Thank you. She was lovely. She was really, really great.

-Everybody was walking out happy.

-What we want, right?

You know, they say that I'm there for them a lot,

but they don't understand how much they are there for me

and how much their support and their belief just

really lifts my spirits and means to me.

Well, thank you, guys, again for everything. Much appreciated.

That's it now. All finished, all done. I think that went brilliantly.

It may have run over a bit longer, but that doesn't matter.

And ultimately everyone's gone away and they've had a great experience.

And with that, Oxford Street watches another star

disappearing into the night.

At Oxford Circus Tube station,

dangerous levels of overcrowding have meant London Underground staff

have already had to close the station once this evening.

There you go.

Customer Service Assistant Laura Shelton

is hoping that will be the only time tonight.

But just an hour later,

the rush hour has seen numbers swell at the UK's busiest station.

In the control room, Michael's once again forced to make the call.

Man the gates, please. Man the gates to the bullring, please.

-And Laura swings into action.

-Guys, can you stand back, please?!

I need to close the gates! Stand back, please!

GATE SLAMS SHUT I'm really sorry.

Laura then races to the other side of the bullring

to shut the final entry point.

Sorry, guys. Hang back for me, please.

Sorry, guys. Sorry.

We'll be as quick as we can, OK?

I would, sir, yes, cos I can't allow them in. I'm really sorry.

The man is a London Underground contractor

and he feels that an exception should have been made for him.

Laura immediately goes to see her supervisor.

So I don't know if he's going to come down and give us any grief.

But what am I supposed to do, open the gate and say,

-"Please, come in, but the rest of you stay out"?

-No, cos you can't...

Just makes me feel a little bit... VOICE OVER RADIO

I don't know, a little bit gutted in a way,

because they sort of take it out on you personally.

I got to open up now, my love. Wasn't too long, were we?

Let me get them open before you trample me, all right?

I want to get home tonight.

Oh! I hate this gate.

There we are. Thank you very much.

With the gates reopened,

Laura and the contractor sort out their issue from earlier.

This might have been a storm in a teacup,

but in a high-pressure situation,

passengers often take their frustrations out on staff

and sometimes things go a lot further.

I was assaulted on the top of exit two

by a gentleman who wouldn't allow me to close the gates.

He went absolutely...

berserk. He screamed in my face

and pushed me really hard.

It really hurt my shoulder, my elbow, my wrist and my thumb.

Lots of BTP officers arrived

and it actually took, I believe, about four or five

to be able to arrest him and take him from the station.

With things back to normal in the bullring,

up in the control room, Michael's feeling optimistic

they won't have to man the gates again today.

It's getting to 6:30 now, so a lot of people have started going home.

So hopefully we may be able to cope without having to close everything this time.

But Michael spoke too soon.

Despite rush hour being almost over,

passenger numbers have grown so fast

that this evening Michael is forced to put out the call

not once more...

Man the gates! Excuse me, please! SHE GROANS

..but twice.

And twice more, Laura has to race into action.

Sorry, guys! Stand back, please!

Oh. This running is not good for me.

It's unusual, but not unheard of,

for the station to have to shut its gates four times in one night.

-HE LAUGHS:

-They're lucky it's not raining today.

Sometimes it is raining and they end up getting wet while standing there.

Base to the bullring, base to the bullring.

Can we reopen, please? Can we reopen?

Eventually, Michael gives the final all clear.

Peak time has now passed

and passenger numbers are down to safe levels.

Come round, my love. Are you all right?

With no more calls to man the gates,

Laura can get back to the part of the job she loves best -

helping customers.

Yeah, once you've gone through, it won't let you in again, my darling.

All right?

There's the people that come through who take the time out to say,

"Hello", "Are you all right?" "Have a lovely day,"

and it really makes the difference. It really does.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Bless him.