16/03/2018 London News

Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Welcome to BBC London News

with me, Victoria Hollins.

We start tonight with more

on the attack on a rushhour tube

in London last September,

which could so easily have led

to a devastating loss of life.

As you've been hearing,

Iraqi teenager Ahmed Hassan

was convicted for planting a device

on a packed train,

which injured 50 people.

The partial explosion forced

passengers to run for cover

from a fireball that rolled

through the carriage.

Our reporter Marc Ashdown

has been to meet one

of the commuters who was there.

As the train stopped

at Parsons Green, suddenly

pandemonium broke out

on the platform.

I don't think it was a loud bang

or anything, just thst big

flash and the flame ball,

and a huge crowd of people

charged towards the exit.

I had really no idea

what was going on.

What was your feeling,

what did you think?

We had had a few terror

attacks, obviously.

Yeah.

The London Bridge attack had not

been far before this.

My first thought was,

is anyone running around

with a machete or a gun,

as there was at London Bridge?

Where should I go?

What should I do?

It became clear fairly quickly

that there was no threat

of anything like that.

Pretty scary, though?

Yes, for that few minutes before

we knew what was going on,

whilst everyone was running around

panicking.

You know, lots of

shouting and screaming.

People are getting

crushed on the stairway.

Lots of people were helping each

other, particularly those who got

injured on the stairs trying to get

out of the platform.

I saw people were helping each other

down and comforting people that had

been hurt and crushed.

A neighbour of mine was on the same

train, a scout leader,

and his first reaction

was to try to help the people who

had been burned and were panicking.

He got a little group of people

on the platform to look after them.

Fairly soon after the incident,

everyone was determined

to carry on as normal.

I have been watching

the trial going on.

When you get to Parsons Green

and the announcement comes up,

Parsons Green next stop,

you become very aware

of what happened.

What if it had gone off?

All those nuts, and bolts,

and nails and the amount

of explosive material

that was there, the thought that

went into packing all of that

metal stuff around it,

a lot of people could have

been very badly injured.

Has it changed you,

or are you determined to carry on?

If we let ourselves get terrified

by what might happen,

you'd never get on with normal life.

You have to carry on and hope that

good triumphs over evil.

Richard Aylmer-Hall ending that

report from Marc Ashdown.

Hundreds of nursing students have

been told not to expect any more

payments from the Students Loan

Company for the rest of the year,

after it claimed it overpaid them.

Some students say they might not be

able to continue their studies,

and will be left struggling to pay

bills and rent.

The Royal College of Nursing has

called on the company

to write off the loans.

Here's Charlotte Franks.

They're on the frontline

of our hospitals, caring

for the sick and injured.

It's a profession that can be both

rewarding and pressured,

and in London the low salary can be

a struggle, with the

high cost of living.

Despite this, students

like Emma have still chosen

to train as a nurse.

I knew from the get-go I would get

the NHS bursary and receive payments

from Student Finance England,

so that was what I have

been relying on.

But new Emma and as many as 800

other nursing students in London

will stop receiving their student

loan following an overpayment error

by the organisation.

There was a moment of panic

where I wasn't sure if I would be

able to continue the course.

I didn't know how...

If I can't afford my rent,

I can't stay in London.

It was really scary to even be

thinking that this far

into my degree I might have

to defer, or even quit.

Many students say they questioned

the overpayments at the time

but were given false assurances

the sums were correct.

The Royal College of Nursing

say they have spoken

to the Student Loans Company

who have confirmed they have known

about this mistake since January.

We are calling for these

overpayments to be written off

with immediate effect.

It is through no fault of their own.

They were told they had

nothing to worry about.

Some students have said

they will have to quit the course

if this is not resolved.

This is not the first time

the Student Loans Company has been

the focus of media scrutiny.

In the past, it has had to deal

with failed payments,

bailing students out and claims

the firm was near meltdown.

This body is responsible

for handing literally billions

of pounds of public money.

The fact that the people being hit

by this are a key part of our NHS.

The Student Loans Company told us

they are investigating how the error

occurred but they have refused

to write off the payments.

The concern is that,

at a time when London is facing

a severe nursing shortage,

there could be hundreds of students

who might never qualify

because they can't afford to.

Tonight the Department for Education

told us it is investigating

the situation and described it

as "completely unacceptable".

It said "none of the affected

student nurses should suffer

hardship as a result of this error."

The long-standing Mayor of Newham

has been defeated in a leadership

battle for the Labour Party

in the East London borough.

Sir Robin Wales had been in the role

for more than 20 years

but faced opposition

from within his own party.

He'll be replaced as Labour's

candidate for elected mayor

by councillor Rokhsana Fiaz.

She believes she's widely supported.

I am someone, candidate,

who has received full support

from across all sections

of the party, be that Momentum,

be that the right of the party.

I have clearly demonstrated

a vision and a plan that has

appealed to all spectrums

of the party, locally.

That's it for now from me -

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Now let's find out what the weathers

up to with Ben Rich.

It felt like spring in the sunshine

today. In fact, Northolt,

temperatures got up to 14.6 degrees.

I think tomorrow will be a big shock

to the system, because the weekend

brings some very, very cold weather

indeed. Windy as well. There will be

some snow showers. We could see some

snow through the early hours of

Saturday. A bit of rain initially,

but then, by the end of the night,

it is likely we will start to see

mostly light snow pushing its way in

from the north-east. As we go

through the day tomorrow, could well

see a spell of snow through the

morning, perhaps giving a few

centimetres here and there. That'll

tearaway and what we will be left

with through the rest of the day is

generally a lot of cloud and further

snow showers feeding in from the

east. Showers will be quite hit and

miss. Some places will get a

covering of snow. Other places

missing out completely and your

temperatures to the afternoon only

one or three degrees at best. As we

go to tomorrow evening, it looks

like the snow showers will become

more widespread and more frequent.

The Met Office has issued an amber

be prepared warning, for the

potential that snow and ice could

cause disruption into Sunday

morning. Sunday itself should be

drier. Into next