20/02/2018 London News

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Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Sarah Campbell.

Mould, damp and water

running down walls.

Residents of a seven storey block

in North London say the landlord,

Enfield council, turned its back

on them leaving them to live

in conditions which have

affected their health.

The council has apologised for any

delays and the distress caused

and has rehoused some

of the worst affected residents.

Gareth Furby has this report.

We spoke with a mother of two who

has had to move out of her council

flat because of this. It is a water

leak boring onto the electric fuse

box.

It is going over the plug

sockets, the fuse box...

No one was

electrocuted but she says the

council only two complaints about

damp and mauled seriously when she

showed them this recording.

I think

it is absolutely awful. I was told

that it was sewage water.

-- mould.

I don't know where it is coming

from. Upstairs, there is mauled in

the bedrooms, and with conditions

like this, it is not surprisingly

has been few visitors. -- mould.

Yes, there has been rats in this

property.

-- it is not surprisingly

that there has been a few visitors.

This lady has also moved out.

Strong

and horrible smell.

This was her

tenure or daughter's bedroom.

One

year, exactly one year. The water,

the leaks. Horrible feeling.

Depression, sad. 45 flats in this

blog, we were shown for conditions

in free, some residents claim that

almost every flat is affected by

damp. They believe they mean out be

something wrong with the block's

structure, pointing to this crack.

-- they believe there may be

something wrong with the block.

I'm

concerned about subsidence, if the

property suffers subsidence, there

is an issue, they need to decant all

the residents and have a thorough

investigation carried out.

Enfield

Council says it is working hard to

find out where the water is coming

from and if it is a problem with the

whole block or just a few

properties. It is proving difficult

because the pipes all run

internally. The council says:

for now, the two mothers who have

been moved to separate rooms in the

same hotel, maybe drive with no

mould but with their children it is

cramped and they want a solution

soon.

Labour has criticised a senior

councillor in Westminster over

the extent of the gifts and

hospitality he has been receiving.

Robert Davis is the Conservative

deputy leader of the borough

and chaired its planning committee.

On his declaration of interests

there were more than 500 perks

listed over a period of three years,

substantially more than his

fellow cabinet members.

A Westminster City Council

spokesperson has said

all of Mr Davis' meetings

were declared and in line

with the councils standards.

Residents in the borough

of Redbridge have taken

to patrolling the streets

after a series of

violent burglaries.

Hundreds of locals have signed up

to take part in the patrols,

but police have warned them

against taking matters

into their own hands.

Anna O'Neill has the story.

And then as soon as they walked

in I had that sinking feeling.

The bedroom door was wide open.

Everything from my

cupboard, everything

was on the floor, on the bed.

She was at the hospital

with her sick toddler last month

when she was burgled.

Like eight of her friends.

They've all been robbed.

This is nonsense, we should

do something about it.

We said OK, and the next thing,

the very next day we were robbed.

And some residents are doing

something about it.

These men have organised

250 people into patrols

because they say there aren't enough

police in Redbridge.

All we have is a group

of 250 members.

Sorry to interrupt you there.

There's about four people in this

avenue walking very strange.

A few moment, the four

people walking strangely

are nowhere to be found.

They were seen on Wensleydale Road

looking into people's

houses and taking photos.

Walking suspiciously?

Yeah, but they are gone now though.

But this is a serious matter.

Last month a family with attack

with a machete and a burglary

nearby full no

arrests.

I can't personally see is taking

the law into our own hands

but we wouldn't have to do it

if there was enough police

officers on the road.

I wouldn't want to patrol.

I want to be at home with my family.

I think it is totally

justified because police

numbers have gone down.

for surviving the last statistics

are down to 1985 level

and certainly

Redbridge being the second

fastest-growing borough,

we are not per capita,

we haven't gotten a policeman

and I think the residents have every

right to be unhappy.

I've been sleeping with a phone

under my pillow and every so often

I get up and I'm really scared

and I check, OK,

someone is on patrol.

And I feel OK.

Police are launching a Streetwatch

scheme later this month where local

patrols could be trained to operate

under their guidance.

Police say they admire

the community spirit in the area

but they want to make sure that

patrols remain within the law.

They shouldn't have

to feel like this.

The first ever female senior

officer starts her role

in the House of Lords today.

Sarah Clarke is the first woman

to be appointed as Black Rod

in Parliament's 650-year history.

She's the former Championships

Director at the Wimbledon Tennis

Club and has replaced David Leakey

who has retired.

As Lady Usher, she's responsible

for controlling access

to and maintaining order

within the Lords.

A petition calling for

the East Coast Mainline to be

brought back into public ownership

will be handed in today

to the Department for Transport.

The London-to-Edinburgh line

was in public ownership for several

years until it was re-privatised

in 2015, and a decision on its

future is expected imminently.

The government has said Stagecoach,

which runs the mainline,

has paid 20% more to the taxpayer

than when the line was

in public ownership.

Dozens of cases of so-called

"upskirting" were reported

in the capital last year.

A Freedom of Information request has

revealed 21 cases were reported

to the Metropolitan Police.

It's done when someone takes

a photo up the skirt

of an unsuspecting person,

usually on a tube, train

or even on the street.

Campaigners are calling for urgent

changes to make it a criminal act

alongside other sexual offences.

I was on the Tube.

I'd just sat down.

A man across from me

started shouting at the man

sitting next to him saying,

"I've seen what you've done.

"It's disgusting.

"You've just been taking a picture

up that girl's skirt."

He then turned to me and said,

"He's just been taking

pictures up your skirt.

"Look."

Turned to my parents and said

the exact same thing.

And I think I was so humiliated

and I just froze and fortunately

at that moment we pulled up

at the next stop and I just got off

the Tube and burst into tears.

Time for a look at the weather

forecast.

Good afternoon.

It's been another rather grey

and dull day so far.

Started off with a bit of mist.

This blanket of grey cloud and it's

quite stubborn, not going anywhere

through the afternoon.

through the afternoon.

Further outbreaks of

rain and, yes, it's

going to remain mostly cloudy.

I say mostly cloudy.

We've had a little bit

of brightness out towards the

West, some glimmers of something bit

brighter, the cloud moving across

all parts are going

through the afternoon.

Northerly breeze.

A little bit stronger than yesterday

but just managing to get up to 10.

Overnight, starting

a predominantly cloudy but

we are likely to see the cloud

breaking up a little.

The wind falls light.

Temperatures is a bit colder

than last night, 2-4dC.

So, for tomorrow,

cooler start of the day

and looking like a dry day,

still a bit of guidance and

brighter spells expected

into the afternoon.

The temperature

a little bit fresher.

Nothing too significant just yet.

Looking at a maximum between 6-9.

The colder air however,

it is on its way.

It looks like it heading

into the weekend, the cold

air feeding in from the East.

Temperatures gradually dropping off

day by day

through much of this week.

As the weekend hits,

we start to see those

temperatures drop further.

As we head into the early part

of next week, temperatures are

going to start to struggle.

Yes, lots of dry

weather in the forecast

and sunshine as well, but those

temperatures dropping away,

especially as we head

into Monday and Tuesday.

Get out the winter will ease -- get

out the winter woolies once again!

That's about it