03/04/2017 London News

After the brutal attack on a teenager at a bus stop in Croydon -

we hear from people who live and work there.

It could have happened anywhere in London or across the country.

It's a real tragedy that it should happen anywhere,

that this real tragedy should happen in Croydon.

A house worth more ?1 million collapses into rubble

Concerns it's not the first time this has happened in the capital.

Also ahead: Attention coffee drinkers - why these have

The scheme to get Londoners to recycle millions of disposable

And meet the man with a passion for dangerous pets -

whose unusual house mates have appeared in blockbuster films.

Welcome to BBC London News with me, Riz Lateef.

Two more people have been charged in connection with the attack on a

teenager in Croydon. That makes a total of 16 arrests and seven

charges. The 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian boy

was beaten at a bus stop and left with a fractured skull and a blood

clot on the brain. Gareth Furby has been

to Shrublands Avenue to speak The police tape has gone,

but for many in this Shannon Brown has lived

on the estate all her life. And is 17 years old,

the same age as the boy Because obviously he was a young

person, and now he's Everyone has to keep themselves

to themselves round here. Waiting today at the bus stop where

the victim was allegedly attacked, a mother of five. She says the

atmosphere on the estate can be threatening, and once it's late

afternoon, she rarely leaves her home. Around for their GP, five

o'clock. Because that's when they come out more and stuff. Also walk

past the scene today, Patrick, granted asylum after coming to the

UK from Sierra Leone. He says he is attacked by five people in Croydon

last September after an argument started on a bus. He says his

attackers were black. All of a sudden, punching, kicking and things

like that. What happened to you? And thinking maybe they are going to

stab me. Do you feel safe in Croydon? I feel safe, but...

Sometimes it's just scary, anyway. What we've got now on this estate is

some new graffiti with a message. But some people are saying this

incident had nothing to do with racism. A group of young men we

spoke to said the area was multicultural. And one of them said

he was Kurdish, and had never had any issues on the estate. Croydon is

the base for the HQ of the UK visas and immigration service. Today, the

Bishop of Croydon said it would be wrong to see this incident as a

reflection of the area. Could've happened anywhere in London or

across the country. A real tragedy it should happen anywhere, tragedy

it should happen in Croydon, but it's not Croydon is like. Tonight,

the condition of the 17-year-old is described as serious stable.

Why shops are being urged to close their doors

over ?1 million has collapsed into rubble.

I would say two thirds of it has collapsed. It happened in the early

hours of this morning, and I think we have some pictures, we will show

you what this house was like before work started on it. There was

actually basement development work, and now windows are hanging out,

bricks have fallen down. It looks more like a pile of rubble than a

house worth more than ?1 million. I've been speaking to the neighbours

around here, and many are shocked and extremely angry. The next-door

neighbour actually heard this house falling down in the night.

About 1.30, something like that, I hear a big boom.

And my dogs started barking, and then my children sort of run

from their bedrooms to say that their room was shaking.

So I thought, "Oh my gosh, I wonder what happened."

So we came out on the little balcony that, and there was dust everywhere.

And then my son ran down and we saw with a few other people

So it was sort of from then on, the police came

I thought it was a couple of cars crashing or something

So yeah, it was a bit distressing, but thank God every one's OK.

Everyone is OK here, but basement developments right across the

capital have been controversial for a number of years. We have seen

other houses in London for like this one behind me has. To tell us more

about that is Peter from Safer Basements Group based in Barnes.

This and the one in barns are extreme examples of what is wrong

with the planning process, especially in London where is of

accommodation shortages, people are developing and developing. Too

often, it happens that the construction method statement isn't

being followed. The planning authorities, they issued the

planning permission, but they don't follow up. If something happens to

the house or the house is next door, they blame building regulations.

Nothing to do with planning. Or party wall agreement, nothing to do

with planning. So they wipe their hands of it. What do you want to see

happen? Should basement developers go ahead? I want to be able to make

their house better, that is a right. But they should be safe. What must

happen is that construction statements should be followed to the

letter. They should be checked, followed up so that we can guarantee

that when a building work is going on, be it a basement or anything

else, it is safe. Thank you very much for joining us. I actually

spoke to Kingston Council early this evening, and have found out that the

owners only submitted a building application for this two days ago.

So Kingston Council are saying this work was not approved and obviously

no safety measures put in place. There will be an investigation.

Thank you. A woman has gone on trial over

the death of a cyclist Michael Mason was knocked

off his bike in February 2014 and died nearly three weeks later

from a brain injury. The jury at the Old Bailey was told

the case has been brought by a private organisation -

a cycling charity - 59-year-old Gail Purcell

from St Albans denies causing death Two men from north London who used

a high speed moped to steal mobile phones from pedestrians have been

sentenced at Isleworth Fast-moving traffic, back onto the

A406. The thieves reached speeds of over

90 miles an hour during a police chase through the streets of London

- in which they drove towards oncoming traffic

on the M11 motorway. 21-year-old Zuriel Hutson was given

a two and a half year jail term while his passenger Sharuk Sheraji

was sentenced to two years for stealing ten phones

across the capital last November. Next: the increase in London's

'hidden' homeless - vulnerable families who suddenly

find themselves in need of immediate Well, we can reveal that the number

of these Londoners being housed outside of the capital as far away

as Manchester and Glasgow But councils tell us

they have no choice because of the soaring

cost of housing. Three years ago, when she was eight

months pregnant with her first daughter, her private

landlord evicted her. He didn't want children

on his property. Desperate, she went to her counsel,

who put her in temporary accommodation outside London,

in Welwyn Garden City. I really struggled to get

used to everything. I was all by myself, pregnant,

almost about to give birth and basically been stripped away

from my support network She's still working in retail

in London to help pay the rent. More than 80% of my pay goes

towards travelling to work. It's been a nightmare,

because everything in my life In 2012-13, around 600 people

were put in temporary But by 2015-16, that number had

climbed to just over 2000, Some of those might be for a few

nights, others like Abigail Although most people are sent

to areas just outside of London like Thurrock and Welwyn Hatfield,

that's not always the case. Some have put in accommodation as

far as Newcastle and even Glasgow. Councils say they have to do

this because they've Councils find themselves

in an almost impossible position. With literally no accommodation

that they can use anywhere nearby, and families who have to be,

have a roof over their And the problem is getting

bigger, as more people People who are in work who,

you know, people would expect to be able to keep a roof

over their heads, are finding of their own, the landlord

has put the rent up, the market's risen around them,

and I just can't find anywhere Abigail does have a house,

but after three years away from her family and friends,

she's still waiting to know The new head of the Metropolitan

Police will officially Cressida Dick was appointed at

the end of February after a fairly She's the first female commissioner

in the force's 188-year history and will take the helm just weeks

after the Mayor published his Any vehicle that exceeds the weight

limit on Marlow Bridge in Buckinghamshire

will now be fined ?50. The bridge had to close

for two months last Autumn after a 37-tonne lorry got stuck -

the driver had ignored the ban on vehicles weighing

more than three tonnes. Hundreds of drivers have been turned

away from the crossing We've long heard the argument that

shops should close their doors in the Winter to save on energy

but what about all year Campaigners say it greatly improve

air quality in the store - but most retailers worry it

could affect trade, as our Environment Correspondent Tom

Edwards has been finding out. It's Europe's busiest

shopping street with half On some days, Oxford Street has some

of the highest levels of nitrogen It comes from diesel engines

from buses and from cabs, and it's not helped due to something

called canyoning, where the nitrogen dioxide gets stuck

between the buildings. And if you walk down the street

you'll notice most of the shops The real health risk is completely

invisible around us. Now campaigners think shops should

close their doors to reduce energy use and cut the levels

of pollution inside. It would make a huge difference

to the health risks to both They'd be saving a huge

amount of energy. Most of them are using air

conditioning or heating. Research from King's College has

shown that pollution in shops can be reduced by up to 30%

if the doors are closed. It's very obvious that the shop

is open, it's a very inviting, Marks Spencer says it's

already doing it and it Of course, there is other benefits

that we are getting from this, Since 2007 we've reduced our energy

usage across our state by 39%. And doors, and making

sure that our buildings, the fabric of our buildings,

particularly entrances and exits, are sealed well

is an important aspect of that. Retail group say they do take

pollution seriously and want more We have 200 million customers a year

coming to the West End. They have choices where they shop

and the environment So of course it's

important commercially. Equally, we have 100,000

staff who work here, we have a right to help London

in terms of better air quality, so I think it's really high

on the political agenda. It's equally very high

in the boardrooms of a lot Campaigners say closing shop doors

is a no-brainer, a simple solution How buying a special edition

of the Big Issue could win Its high pressure again this week,

but not as we've known it over the last few days. Alex played a few

changes to the weather in the forecast later.

Is the coffee cup the new plastic bag?

When the government put a 5-pence charge on carrier bags,

Now a campaign's begun in the square mile to make us recycle

Let's join Emma North who's at a recycling plant near Heathrow.

If this time yesterday you've just finished a cup of tea or coffee from

a copy shop and your name was Natasha, Jerry, John, Henry, well

your cup ended up here at this recycling plant near Heathrow. In a

minute I will tell you what's going to happen to it in the next few

days. First, let's find out why come this time tomorrow that gentleman

over there is going to have a much bigger job on his hands as this

place fills with coffee cups. To some, copy's not just a pick me up,

it's become an art form. The more of it we Londoners drink, the more mess

we make -- coffee's. We throw away 7 million hot drinks cups a day. The

capital is responsible for more than its fair share. But the plastic

coating that makes them watertight also means you can't put them in the

normal recycling bin. So now they have their own special place. These

yellow bins are popping up all over the square mile, with this man

confident we will take to recycling our cups as easy as mixing beans

with water. We have to give consumers a chance to do the right

thing. Offer them the facilities, make it easy them to recycle their

cups before we start stabbing levies on things. Have faith in people to

do the right thing. Do you have faith that people will do this?

Absolutely. We should give people a chance. It's not the first effort

made to solve a comparatively recent problem. This cafe cut the price of

their drinks for anyone who use their own clock. Did it work? Is not

as successful as I would hope, but we do sell our own cups, but they

honestly weren't buying as much as we hoped they would. This chemical

engineer uses his skills as a recycling entre Pena. Auto-makers

ditch the cup? Does carrot or stick work better? Definitely a stick,

this is what people respond to. If they try to incentivise people, and

we have tried this many times before, we gets more behaviour

shifts. If we introduce a slight penalty to people's purchasing

habits, then they respond almost immediately, even for a small

amount. Nothing is going to make a stitch are flat whites and Bilates,

but with fewer than one in 100 drinks cups being resided cult,

there is ample opportunity for us and the cups to make a fresh start

-- being recycled. And this is what a fresh start could look like. It is

a trade, but made with old coffee cups and old kettles and the insides

of washing machines. James is from the company that has helped

establish scheme. James, you have to ask, why hasn't this been done

before? Because it's difficult to collect separately all these

different items of recycling, and people generally want to mix

everything together. What challenges do you find when trying to deal with

this kind of thing? As we see, we have to hand sought the cups at the

moment. One of the largest problems is contamination, getting our

customers to keep everything separated and clean and free of

contaminants so we can effectively recycle it. How far do you hope to

take this scheme? We hope that this scheme is the blueprint for

something much bigger and broadening into further

into London and every major city in the UK, and possibly even worldwide.

James, thank you very much. The scheme lasts in the Square mile for

the next month. If you have a drink in a disposable cup and see one of

those yellow bins, put your cup in it. The plan is that if this works,

it's just a pilot scheme, it could roll out to the rest of the capital.

The Big Issue - London's homeless magazine -

which is now sold in 75 different countries.

Well this month there is a special edition -

filled with work from some of our leading contemporary artists.

And for ten readers, the opportunity to win

For many in W1, he's a fixture, selling The Big Issue

I was a relative stranger in London at the time.

As well as making a couple of pounds which was much

needed in order to get by, it provides a social

network and it encourages you to engage with people.

For something that seemed very negative to begin with,

you know, it really has been a positive experience.

And this issue of The Big Issue is bigger than most.

That's because it's been a guest edited by a big name

in the contemporary art world, Charming Baker.

Today, he's signing copies to launch this edition filled

with special contributions from other well-known artists.

I was quite overwhelmed by just how generous the artists were.

I know from being in artist, and some of the artists I know,

we get asked to do stuff all the time, and some

And I was really worried asking people, and that's why I tried

Not asking people to give money or give art.

And actually when I flicked through the pages,

You go, "Oh, we've got that person, oh, of course, they did it."

Celebrated artists like Jake and Dinos Chapman

And for the founder of The Big Issue himself,

a fan of Tai Chi as well as art, painting meant he was able to go

from a life on the streets to a life in the House of Lords.

We're living in a world where semi-people are asking

questions about the price of housing, the price of

And I think a lot of people are feeling the crunch.

And they are saying, "Well, maybe The Big Issue has

As well as discussing these themes, this special edition

to own an actual work of art, featured in the magazine.

There are ten golden tickets to be found.

He's the man who's turned his passion for

Mark Aimey trains venomous snakes, alligators and lizards -

so they can be used in films alongside the likes

Sarah Harris has been to meet him and his unusual house mates.

They are not the most conventional of housemates,

but that's exactly how Mark Amy likes it.

He shares his semi in the village of Bovingdon in Hertfordshire

with dozens of exotic animals and he wouldn't have

He says visitors take it in their stride.

Most of my friends and acquaintances are animal people.

So it's unusual to get non-animal people round.

Usually they get quite excited and think, what's in here?

You know, they are like me, they are like-minded people.

Hello, Dave, let's see if you're OK today.

Now Mark is preparing to go on a tour with his animals.

Big Dave is another one of his reptilian friends.

He was rescued after his owner died, bonding with unusual pets happened

I think I was about the only one, the only kid who got excited

Which is a thing which is about that sort of size.

I said, dad, dad, guess what I found?

Training animals has put Mark in demand in the film world.

Bond, Harry Potter, and Nanny McPhee movies have

all featured his proteges, a sequence in Casino Royale

The lighting is so bright that the actual snake couldn't see.

So sometimes it was striking and biting its own shadow

on the floor, which is a behaviour I don't want it to do.

So I ended up having to put my face very close to the cobra so it had

There are, he says, some relaxing moments at home,

but he claims adventure is never far when your housemates look like this.

Sarah Harris, BBC London News, Hertfordshire.

On that note - this sounds like the start of a joke: why

Clover is one of two donkeys at Hackney City Farm supposed to be

starring in an Easter procession for the local church.

Sadly though, she can't because she seems to have a phobis

of puddles, drain covers and anything in the road.

Let's get a check on the weather now with Wendy.

You aren't afraid of puddles. Can you imagine a weather presenter

afraid of puddles? Poor little thing. Never mind. No puddles today

though, so a good day, just drain covers to worry about. In fact,

there are so many beautiful spring sunny shots today from the weather

watchers. It was quite hard to choose one, but I did. I was sold by

the beautiful blooms at Knightsbridge with the fluffy

cumulus clouds over top. We are going to have yet more high pressure

as we go through this week. However, it will come with a few changes as

well. That is best explained on the satellite picture. We started quite

murky today, a lot of mellow cloud around. You can see that on the

picture. It melted away, and then we had beautiful sunshine. -- a lot of

low cloud. Next we have this cloud. That will work in overnight. It's a

cold front, and it will bring us a little bit of rain into the early

hours of the morning. Then pressure builds behind it once again, but by

this point and for the rest of the week there will be a bit more cloud

trapped in that high pressure, so we might not have as much sunshine as

over the last few days. At the moment, we have clear skies. They

will continue through the night as well. Up to about midnight. The

temperature will fall away as a result after midnight, but level out

as the cloud comes in and the cold front arrives. Along that there will

be one or two moderate bursts of rain into the early hours.

Temperatures are settling at a fairly mild 7-9. There will be rain

around first thing before the morning rush hour, particularly

south of London. Then it lingers and fizzles out as we go through the

day, leaving us quite grisly into the afternoon. Plenty of cloud

around, quite grey skies. Temperatures lower than today, we

got to 17 or 18. 12 or 14 tomorrow. If you're very lucky north-west of

London, we might see some late sparkles of sunshine. We'll be

clutching at those buckles of sunshine through

the west of the week. Here is Wednesday. Moreover breeze, I think

the computer being pessimistic on the cloud amount. We could get some

bright spells, particularly in the mornings before we start to see it

clouding over a bit. Generally speaking, dry and settled conditions

through the end of the week and into the weekend. There will be light

wind. Temperatures not too bad, feeling quite mild. I don't think

we'll have as much sunshine as we have enjoyed throughout today

especially. Wasn't it lovely? Absolutely gorgeous. But as you say,

not too bad. Ten people have been killed

and around 20 others injured in an explosion on the metro system

in St Petersburg. Russian security forces also

disabled a homemade device found at another underground station

in the city. Theresa May has laughed off

causes are being considered. Theresa May has laughed off

suggestions of a military conflict between and Spain over Gibraltar.

Yesterday it was suggested the Prime Minister would defend Gibraltar

during the Brexit negotiations. 16 people have been arrested and seven

charged in connection with an attack on a 17-year-old in south London on

Friday. The team suffered a fractured skull and a blood clot on

the brain. He is said to be recovering. Members of the Aslef

union have projected the latest proposal put forward -- rejected.

The rail union said it was a hugely disappointing outcome.

That's it for now, so thanks for joining us.

I'll be back later though during the ten o'clock news.

From me and all the team here - do enjoy your evening.