31/07/2017 London News

A union is calling for traffic wardens in central

London to be given more places to take their breaks,

after members have resorted to sleeping in museums and galleries.

Some staff have told BBC London, they're prepared to

"turn a blind eye" to the tired wardens,

A spokesperson for Westminster council said

they encourage their staff to "enjoy the city."

VOICEOVER: Fast asleep in the middle of an afternoon at work, warden

taking 40 weeks, we have covered part of his face to spare his

blushes, is bosses say that they encourage staff to take breaks out

and about in the city. -- taking 40 winks. Security workers tell us it

is not a one off. Nobody at the Wallace wanted to comment about this

but a number of traffic wardens are using benches and chairs inside to

sleep on, and at closing time, as many as three or four at a time are

having to be woken up and asked to move on. There are several other

tourist attractions in central London who say the same things about

sleeping wardens, Unite union say their members need more races to

take breaks as it can take too long to walk to the ones available now.

They are sleeping in museums because they have absolutely no other

choice, people need a rest, especially when you are doing a

physical job that involves a lot of walking. Rest breaks are a big

issue, people do not have anywhere to go to to sit down and have a

proper rest. Not within the time they are supposed to be working

anyway. If your shift was worked so that you can stop at lunchtime and

sit down somewhere and have a break, fine, but our members are

improvising and finding somewhere to sit down and take a rest and have a

break. It can be stressful work, this motorist successfully appealed

against her ticket, Westminster Council say most of their wardens

work a nine and a half hour day with a lunch and 20 minutes tea break,

and they are not confined to depots. STUDIO: EU countries

have until midnight and provide a new home for two

agencies, currently who say they're leaving

London after Brexit. and the European Medicines

Agency employ over 1,000

staff between them. Fierce competition is expected

to attract the agencies' highly skilled employees,

their families and the business

that comes with them. It's been suggested that pupils

should be taught how to avoid being targeted by

gangs and criminals The Children's Commissioner,

Anne Longfield made her comments as figures reveal that children

in London are being paid That's when they're offered

cash from criminals, to move money through their personal

accounts. A study by the University of London

says offering routine HIV tests to people when they register

with a new GP is both "cost Patients at 40 GP surgeries

in Hackney were given finger-prick and researchers found the rate

of diagnosis increased four-fold. VOICEOVER: A simple finger prick

test, that is all that is needed to find out if you have HIV, GP

surgeries in some parts of London are making the test more routine,

this study says those efforts should be much more widespread, researchers

looked at surgeries where new patients are offered a test when

they register, this led to a much higher rate of diagnosing the virus,

each test costs around ?25, the authors say the benefits mean more

screening is affordable. Many patients have undiagnosed, they

carried the virus without knowing it, having an HIV test at your

surgery, will allow you to have access to excellent treatment, but

also, prevent you from passing on the virus to someone else. Routine

testing has previously been recommended by Public Health England

for cities with high HIV rates, but investment in testing has fallen in

some areas, because of financial pressures on local authorities

public health budgets. The charity, Terence Eden 's trust, hauled on

health care commission is to act on these latest findings. -- Terrence

Higgins Trust. An 82-year-old woman has been

strangled with a dog lead in what police call

a "vicious and unprovoked" attack by another woman

on her own doorstep in Streatham. Some viewers may find

the following image distressing. Catherine Smith was found covered

in blood in Lydhurst Avenue, The attacker, described as a slim,

white woman, about 5ft 5ins tall, followed Ms Smith and was waiting

for her, when she arrived home. Catherine Smith was found covered

in blood in Lydhurst Avenue, The attacker, described as a slim,

white woman, about 5ft 5ins tall, followed Ms Smith and was waiting

for her, when she arrived home. Police are appealing for

information. The days when you used

to rush home from school, call for your friends,

and then spend hours playing on the street,

seem to have long gone. But you may be surprised to hear

parents in Palmers Green in north London are trying to revive those

days by blocking off a road to allow And the idea is gaining

support, as Graham Satchell VOICEOVER: North London, street

closed, bunting up, it is time to play.

For many of these children, it is the first time they have ever played

out on the street. Organise sessions like this started five years ago in

Bristol, now groups of residents from across the country are applying

to authorities to close roads and let children play. I have two kids,

they spent quite a bit of time inside the house, old school, it is

how I used to play back in the day, we would play on the streets, so we

are bringing it back. A series of studies published today shows the

streets play projects having increased physical activity,

increased social skills and mental health, but the advantages are even

more widespread. Not just about children playing out, it is about

Neighbours starting to know each other, there is a nice community

here, having the opportunity to get out and see each other and relax, it

is nice. There are now more than 500 streets in 45 locations doing play

stations like this but the study says there would be more if local

authority procedures were streamlined and cost barriers were

removed. Meanwhile, Moa has been trying to draw a snake man, half

snake, half man. Perfect, carry on, young man. -- Noah.

STUDIO: And lots of adults in Hackney couldn't

weekend, when a playground opened, just for them.

The creators were making the point that play is important,

They were also collecting money at London Fields,

for other play initiatives, but those ones are for children.

After a mixed weekend weather-wise, let's find out what the forecast has

in store for us today and for the start of the week, with Owain. Story

of sunny spells, taking it forward, just the odd

isolated shower, most of us avoiding these completely, largely dry story,

some gaps in the cloud, further further sunny spells, temperatures

around town getting to 22 or 23 Celsius. Overnight, largely dry,

other than perhaps just the odd scattered showers here or there,

clear spells overhead and temperatures outside the capital

getting down to ten or 11 Celsius, around clown, still 14, 15. --

around town. Isn't enough start tomorrow -- decent enough start

tomorrow yet again, sunshine turning hazy as we head to the afternoon,

and here comes some more showers, some could be heavier in nature than

what we have seen today, temperatures fairly similar, 22,

possibly 23 Celsius. Next few days, tomorrow, sunshine and showers,

Wednesday starts off OK, cloudy throughout the day, and we will see

some rain later on, brightening up again for Thursday. See you soon.

Check out the website for more on today's stories. We will be back at

6:30pm, with Riz. Until then, enjoy your afternoon.