0:00:00 > 0:00:13do.That's all from the BBC News
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Welcome to BBC London News. I'm Sara Orchard.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20London is facing a "rat epidemic", according to a report
0:00:20 > 0:00:23produced by the Tories on the London Assembly.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25They say councils in the capital have received 180,000 complaints
0:00:25 > 0:00:28in the last five years.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Tim Donovan joined pest control on a visit
0:00:30 > 0:00:36in North London this morning.
0:00:36 > 0:00:43Nice to meet you. Pest control, not exactly a welcome visitor to a
0:00:43 > 0:00:47house-warming. But when Jess bought this place last month she found it
0:00:47 > 0:00:51wasn't quite vacant possession.They were coming in through a hole in
0:00:51 > 0:00:58here. We blocked it off.They got in through the sewer, so Jess stalk the
0:00:58 > 0:01:04pipe with wire.We are not living here at the moment.That shift of
0:01:04 > 0:01:09the problem upstairs to the bathroom.This is what tends to
0:01:09 > 0:01:14happen. They come up and chew through it and before you know if
0:01:14 > 0:01:23you have rats. There is a fresh dropping here.Sorry! Hoping to
0:01:23 > 0:01:26highlight the problem was this street in Harrow over the summer.
0:01:26 > 0:01:33Since when the woman who filmed it says things have improved. The
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Tories on the London assembly say there have been 180,000 complaints
0:01:36 > 0:01:42made about rodents over the last five years, up 10% last year alone.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Rats bother a lot of people in London. They want the streets to be
0:01:45 > 0:01:50cleaner. We should look at the end again. More rubbish on the streets.
0:01:50 > 0:01:57None of us like that. Sadiq Khan is in charge of London. He needs to do
0:01:57 > 0:02:00an awareness campaign and he needs may be to have a word with some of
0:02:00 > 0:02:07the borrowers where rats are worst. The poison is being laid.I'll just
0:02:07 > 0:02:13put down some tracking dust.That is the dust that reveals important
0:02:13 > 0:02:16stuff under ultraviolet lights. It shines up nice and bright. You will
0:02:16 > 0:02:21see footprints.You don't think you will be coming into a house and
0:02:21 > 0:02:27dealing with a rat problem. It's not very nice to deal with.How would
0:02:27 > 0:02:34you describe London's rat problem? Chaotic. It is, yes. For me it is
0:02:34 > 0:02:39fantastic. From my clients, Billy do feel for them.Jess is hoping to
0:02:39 > 0:02:40move in before Christmas.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45The Metropolitan Police want to speak to a man as part
0:02:45 > 0:02:47of an investigation into 25 sexual assaults on young women
0:02:47 > 0:02:48and girls in South London.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51The assaults took place over the last year, and the youngest
0:02:51 > 0:02:52victim was eight-years-old.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57Ayshea Buksh has more.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00These attacks have mainly happened in Lewisham and Greenwich. There
0:03:00 > 0:03:04have also been incidents in Brockley, Bromley and Southwark.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09This man appears to be targeting young schoolchildren. There have
0:03:09 > 0:03:14also been incidents on women in their 30s.The suspect tech tax
0:03:14 > 0:03:20victims by grabbing their intimate parts. -- attacks victims. We are
0:03:20 > 0:03:23treating this with the utmost seriousness. A number of victims
0:03:23 > 0:03:28have been traumatised. It is very important for the -- for us for the
0:03:28 > 0:03:33public to help us by looking at the CCTV and perhaps providing us with
0:03:33 > 0:03:38some names of those they think are on that CCTV. The CCTV today is an
0:03:38 > 0:03:47offence that took place on Wednesday in Brockley. We need to speak to
0:03:47 > 0:03:52that person, so do you know who he is? Get in touch. Around a third of
0:03:52 > 0:03:56our victims are adults. Our oldest victim is 35 years old. Youngest
0:03:56 > 0:04:02victim is aid. We do see a number of offences committed against teenage
0:04:02 > 0:04:05schoolchildren. We have an incident room open here. Specialist support
0:04:05 > 0:04:11services on hand. All information will be treated with the strictest
0:04:11 > 0:04:21confidence and sensitivity. Please call us.The police are working with
0:04:21 > 0:04:24local schools and teachers to catch this man.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has added his voice,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29condemning the President of the United States,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Donald Trump's decision to share far right videos
0:04:31 > 0:04:32of his Twitter account.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34The Mayor repeated his call to Prime Minister Teresa May
0:04:34 > 0:04:37to cancel the President's state visit in 2018.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39More than 1.8 million people previously signed a petition to stop
0:04:39 > 0:04:41the President's visit.
0:04:43 > 0:04:51Today is the deadline for Grenfell survivors whose immigration status
0:04:51 > 0:04:53was uncertain, to register for a 12-month amnesty.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The Home Office announced that it would allow undocumented residents
0:04:56 > 0:04:58who have been directly affected by the fire, to be granted
0:04:58 > 0:05:00a temporary period of lawful residence.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03A mother and son from Barnet have graduated from the same university,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05in the same subject, on the same day.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Samiya Lerew and her son Edwin studied politics at Birkbeck,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10University of London.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13They credit each other with providing invaluable support,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15even if there were a few odd moments on campus.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16They've been talking to Marc Ashdown.
0:05:16 > 0:05:26Mother and son - but also fellow graduates.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31We have had siblings, we have our brothers and sisters here before. We
0:05:31 > 0:05:38have not had mother and son. This is quite rare.They have never seen a
0:05:38 > 0:05:40mother and son being friends and students at the same time.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Born in Somalia, Samiya moved to London in her twenties,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45but had to abandon plans to study to look after her mother.
0:05:45 > 0:05:4940 years later, when Edwin got into university, she had an idea.
0:05:49 > 0:05:57I thought maybe if I went it wouldn't be too bad.I think the
0:05:57 > 0:06:02word was around that we were studying with each other.I could
0:06:02 > 0:06:10keep half an eye on him and he could look after me.Absolutely.Did you
0:06:10 > 0:06:18tell into took his shirt in?Was I ever that kind of parent?No.Mum is
0:06:18 > 0:06:19there. Basically.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21So are there certain advantages - like not having
0:06:21 > 0:06:26to send bags of washing home.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31It certainly made things, I don't know...Does not do your washing? I
0:06:31 > 0:06:35don't think she does. There were times I wondered who is the parent?
0:06:35 > 0:06:37He was the parent, I was the child!
0:06:37 > 0:06:38And how about sharing classes?
0:06:38 > 0:06:41What advice then for other parents thinking of a life on campus?
0:06:41 > 0:06:46She would be at the front, I would be at the back. That wouldn't be by
0:06:46 > 0:06:51accident!Did I embarrass you, Edwin?No. I strategically dodged
0:06:51 > 0:06:57the rest of the classes she might have been.Always shooting of my
0:06:57 > 0:07:01mouth in class. Tutors got to know me eventually.That doesn't mean we
0:07:01 > 0:07:07don't study with each other. If there were ever gaps in my knowledge
0:07:07 > 0:07:10she could fill them because she lived through history as it was
0:07:10 > 0:07:15unfolding.What advice for other parents thinking of a life on
0:07:15 > 0:07:21campus?Don't be so condescending or bossy to your child, daughter. Be
0:07:21 > 0:07:23their friend. Be there for them. Yes.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25One final question. It might be awkward.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Who did better?
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Academically he did better than I did. Yes.It was hard. I couldn't
0:07:32 > 0:07:35have done it without her.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36Now, parts of London saw snow flakes earlier.
0:07:36 > 0:07:37Will it settle?
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Here's weather with Elizabeth Ritzzini.
0:07:41 > 0:07:48Hello. I don't think it will settle. Great excitement outside just now in
0:07:48 > 0:07:58central London. Southern areas as well. We had a little shower
0:07:58 > 0:08:01tracking down from the north. You can see it on the Braegger. You can
0:08:01 > 0:08:09hardly see it. Most of the snow is further north. You will see some
0:08:09 > 0:08:13flurries later on this evening. For the rest of the afternoon is looking
0:08:13 > 0:08:17mostly dry. Brightness towards the West. A bitterly cold north-westerly
0:08:17 > 0:08:20wind. Temperatures between three and five Celsius. It will be colder than
0:08:20 > 0:08:26that with the wind-chill. That wind will turn north-easterly. That will
0:08:26 > 0:08:31feed the showers into Essex in Hertfordshire, even part of Kent,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35maybe even into central London. But only for a short while as we had
0:08:35 > 0:08:39through the first part of the night. Then it will turn increasingly back
0:08:39 > 0:08:41to rain. Showers still as we head through the second part of the
0:08:41 > 0:08:50night. Most of that will fall as rain. Whatever ice. Temperatures in
0:08:50 > 0:08:54towns three degrees in the morning. The error will be milder but it will
0:08:54 > 0:08:59still feel cold tomorrow. That is because of the northerly wind.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Showers in the morning clearing into the afternoon. Some brightness and
0:09:02 > 0:09:08sunshine. Still cold when exposed to that went. Temperatures between five
0:09:08 > 0:09:13and seven. A westerly wind through the weekend. It is looking milder,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15mostly dry and rather cloudy.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17That's about it from me Riz Lateef will be here
0:09:17 > 0:09:18with our 6:30 evening programme.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21There's more on all of our stories on the BBC London website.
0:09:21 > 0:09:27But for now, from us all, a very good afternoon.