04/09/2017 London News

Welcome to BBC London News - I'm Claudia-Lisa Amagh.

We start this lunchtime with news of postal workers being offered huge

sums of money to steal bank cards.

A BBC investigation found online adverts offering as much as a ?1000

pounds a week to tempt staff to intercept letters containing

cards and PIN numbers.

Well The Royal Mail says mail theft is rare

and is investigating our findings

As Jonathan Gibson reports.

It's the recruitment ad with a sinister twist.

From a gang offering to pay London postmen to intercept

letters and pass them on.

That's why I'm pretending to be one.

We're going to tell you, for example, Miss, you're

going to have a letter from NatWest.

Any letters from NatWest, you just intercept.

Right, I see.

Simple as that.

My contact's in Lewisham.

He says the gang needs to know my delivery route

and then I'm to wait for further instructions.

So it can order bank cards using the names and addresses

of people I deliver to.

My job is simple, to stop the cards arriving.

If you open up a new account you're going to get your card,

and you're going to get your PIN, right?

Yes.

Two letters.

Right.

That's all it is.

If you do that, you intercept the letters,

and bring them back to us.

You'll get paid.

My contact claimed he'd already recruited a postman in Romford.

UK Finance, which represents the banking industry,

recognises the problem.

It says more than 11,000 cards were stolen in transit last year alone.

We do have our own police unit.

They try and get to the people who are actually organising

criminality behind the scenes, because once you've taken that

part of the gang out, the thing falls apart,

rather than tackling these.

Again, it all comes down to partnership, we've got a very

good relationship with Royal Mail to help target these types of gangs.

The Royal Mail told us that while the BBC investigation does not

include any evidence of its employees being involved

in the alleged fraud...

But what will the gang say for itself?

Thing is, I work for the BBC, and I want to know why you're trying

to recruit postmen to commit crime and commit fraud on your behalf.

Why are you doing that?

You say that you've already recruited two postmen,

leave the camera alone, mate.

You say you've already recruited two postmen

to commit fraud...

So, clearly, no answers, but do you know what?

To do what he does, he relies on staying under the radar.

And do you know what?

He's now firmly on it.

And it might just be enough to stop him from doing what he's doing.

Jonathan Gibson, BBC London News.

Now imagine living in a home in London with a postcode

no one can find?

Well that's what's happening with some properties in the capital

and they're not just new builds.

Well, as you'd expect it causes a number of problems.

Yes, food doesn't get delivered to the right address

But it also means emergency services are unable to find them

As Ben Hunte found out.

Since a young age, Jason has suffered from epilepsy.

The fact that I could need an ambulance, pretty much at any

point, it's something I've got used to.

He is now worried that if he needs help from the emergency services

they might not be able to get to him on time because his post leads

-- his postcode leads to the wrong location.

I know if that happened to me, then that could affect

whether I live or die.

Jason has informed his housing company, and the local council,

about his address issues.

It's been a slow moving thing, where I have fought for every little

step, but it's really gotten nowhere after a year's worth of pushing.

We put Jason's address to the test using a Sat Nav app

and Jason's current postcode.

You have arrived.

As he warned, Jason's postcode not only led us to the wrong location,

but a place with no access to his property, and no signage

showing how to find it.

We've spoken to several Londoners whose postcodes do not lead

you to the right locations.

Of course, for takeaway deliveries or couriers you can give extra

details to help them find you.

But in the event of an emergency where every second counts,

where does that leave you?

What three word is a London-based start-up, and they say postcodes

should be a thing of the past.

It can often take several months for a new build property to even get

onto the postcode address file.

There is actually around 300 million properties in the UK

which aren't recognised on that postcode address file.

The Royal Mail have told us local authorities are responsible

for requesting new postcodes and making any changes.

Jason's local authority, Newham council, say they are working

with residents to fix their address concerns.

London's got a huge number of people who need all these kinds of services

everyday to get things delivered to them, to get people to arrive

at their house, we still, in 2017, don't have a good way of explaining

where we live.

Ben Hunte, BBC London News.

The Mayor of London's calling on the Government to give boroughs

the power to increase council tax on expensive properties.

In a bid to tackle the number of homes bought by foreign

investors and left empty, Sadiq Khan is targeting high-value

properties in prime areas.

In a letter to the Government, the mayor didn't say how much

he would want council tax to go up by.

Just enough to incentivise occupation.

Or support investment in new affordable homes.

Now tackling road safety around schools can be a big problem

but people living near a school in Buckighamshire have said

new bollards shaped as children are just hideous and creepy

and need to go.

But the councillor behind them has hit back saying the complaints

are mostly from angry parents annoyed they can't mount the kerb

dropping off children.

Nicky Ford reports.

This isn't the newest recruit at the local primary school,

rather it is a traffic bollard.

They've been put here by the local council to make drivers slow down

and think about their speed.

But it's not gone down well with everyone.

People who live opposite say it is an eyesore

and they look pretty scary.

So, why have the council decided to choose this

as a traffic calming measure?

Paul, you're from Buckinghamshire Council, aren't you?

Tell us, why have we got bollards dressed as children

by the side of the road?

What's going on?

Well, we know that we're outside a school, and some drivers

are still driving too fast, and not stopping when they should.

We've tried lots of things to slow down drivers.

We've got flashing signs, pictures of schoolchildren,

we've got a zebra crossing, yet there are still some

drivers who drive too fast.

So, we thought we'd try something different.

Residents and councillors have been complaining to us that

something needs to be done, so we thought we would try something

a little bit different, get a bit of attention,

get people talking.

We've certainly got a lot of people talking today about the issue,

thinking about speeding, thinking about what you might do.

This is one example.

The good thing about bollards of children, is it makes drivers

think there are children in the area, makes those drivers

think just that little bit.

And if that slows down a few drivers it is worth a go.

Isn't there a danger a few drivers could see that

and get distracted by them?

Well, drivers see schoolchildren all the time, so hopefully if it

distracts them and slows them down that the benefit.

-- that's a benefit.

And what about people who live opposite who say

it is a bit of an eyesore, and people that don't particularly

like them, what about them, are they stuck with them forever?

As I said, we've got lots of feedback coming

from different residents with lots of views, not

in support, as well.

The main aim is to protect children from harm and if we stopped one

accident or make if you drivers slow down, then that's worth it.

In the long term, there is their plans to take them away,

so they are here for now.

If anybody has any other ideas it would be great

to hear those, as well.

They cost about ?5,000, don't they, for all of them, is that value

They cost about ?5,000, don't they, for all of them, is that value

for money for residents?

Again, if it's protecting children and stopping accidents,

then it's definite value for money.

Thank you.

You've heard it.

No plans at the moment to move Belinda and her friends.

For now, they are here to stay.

We're certainly getting the feeling that autumn is around the corner.

Let's find out how the weather's looking today with Sara Thornton.

Good afternoon.

I think we can all agree it's not been the most inspiring start

to a new working week.

Grey and gloomy early on, captured by our weather watchers.

But I'm actually hopeful of something a bit more

optimistic for this afternoon.

We're going to brighten up and when we get the sunshine through

we'll feel particularly warm.

It's quite muggy air we have over us at the moment.

But it has been a shroud of cloud, as you can see, right across the UK.

Some breaks out towards the west of London now.

Just need them to slowly inch their way towards us as we go

through the next few hours.

Brightening up.

Some sunny spells by the end of the afternoon.

Easily 21 degrees.

It could be a smidge warmer than that, though, in the sunshine.

But that could also spark up a few late afternoon showers.

They die away in the first half of the night.

We are dry for a time.

But then cloud thickens up once more from the West.

Bits and pieces of drizzle first thing tomorrow morning,

and another very mild start, even milder tomorrow,

16 or 17 degrees.

Then we've got a weak weather front making its way

towards us from the West.

Bits and pieces of rain, or some showers to run across us

in the middle part of the day.

Again, for a time, quite gloomy.

But, like today, brightening up later in the day with a top

temperature of 21 Celsius.

Now, behind tomorrow's rain there is some cooler, fresh air.

And over here it does not look like there is much

difference in the temperatures, but with this westerly wind,

just a fresher feel to things for Wednesday and Thursday.

But staying dry.

That's about it from me.

Riz Lateef will be here with our 6:30 evening programme.

But for now, from us all, a very good afternoon.

There's only ever going to be room in his heart for one person.

You think about everything that's wrong, it's just Jane.

You need to shut her up for good.

You hate this place.

Well, this is revenge.

STACEY!

See how simple it is?

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