06/03/2018 London News

That's all from the BBC News at One,

so it's goodbye from me.

Welcome to BBC London News.

so it's goodbye from me.

I'm Alpa Patel.

so it's goodbye from me.

Thames Water says it has

every available person -

trying to restore running water,

to thousands of homes

in south London.

Some have been without water

for three whole days

and frustrations are running high.

The company have apologised and have

been blaming trapped air

in the piping system,

for delays to repairs.

Ayshea Buksh is in Streatham

and sent this report.

I am in a car park in Streatham,

which has become a water collection

point and it has been set by Thames

water. There are several others in

London, and Hampstead, Cricklewood,

and Banham, people have come all

morning to collect some water for

themselves, their families and their

neighbours. Any are frustrated. They

still do not have water. How many

days have you been without water?

It

went on Saturday night, so they

haven't had any water since then. We

came down on Sunday morning. Sunday

afternoon, and waited an hour for

water to be delivered. And there

wasn't any.

There is no water, no

water at all. Not a drop. Nothing

coming out, nothing for them to

shower with, to put the kettle on.

There are no toilets that can be

used.

Who we collection for?

Myself,

my family and neighbour, she is an

elderly woman, 90 years old so she

cannot come herself.

Thames Water

staff are advising people to look at

social media or the website to get

an update on the situation.

Officially, Thames Water say that

they apologise for the situation,

and they've made every available

person work to restore the supply.

Some news just in now.

A murder investigation has been

launched after a woman was found

dead with stab wounds in south west

London.

Her body was found at

a home in Twickenham.

Sussex Police discovered the body of

a man and two young boys at Birling

Gap.

Now it was a system

that was introduced to several

London boroughs six months ago.

But now nearly 75 percent

of council tenants who claim

'Universal Credit' -

are behind with their rent.

The scheme was supposed to simplify

the benefits system.

But critics say delayed

payments have pushed some

of London's poorest into debt.

Here's our political

editor Tim Donovan.

You start to feel a little

embarrassed...

Shirley was put on Universal Credit

when she moved into her

new council flat in Peckham.

12 weeks, it took,

to sort out her money.

By that time, she was well over

£1000 behind with her rent.

So that's 12 weeks

without the money, 12 weeks

without paying my rent every week,

12 weeks without paying

my television licence,

because all I could borrow money

for was food and gas.

These six boroughs are the first

in London to roll-out

Universal Credit -

Croydon, Hammersmith,

Hounslow, Southwark,

Sutton and Tower Hamlets.

9,379 of their council

tenants are in arrears.

That 73% - nearly three quarters

of those on Universal Credit.

Desmond sought help here from his

local advice centre in Peckham.

Problems with his claim mean he owes

£1,600 in back rent.

What is it like when you get

a letter like that?

It's very...

How can I put it?

Stressful.

A roof over your head,

that's the most important thing.

One safety net is the

borough's foodbank.

They say here the vast majority

of people coming for food

are on Universal Credit.

People are going on to

Universal Credit and suddenly

they go into this different place

of fear where they cannot work out

what has happened with their money,

what's coming in with their money,

and trying to help them into work

becomes a much harder

situation at the moment.

There are more than 110,000

people in London currently

claiming Universal Credit.

These figures we have for council

tenants who have fallen behind

with their rent are only part

of the picture because they don't

take into account tenants

in the private rented sector

who are in arrears.

We are seeing more and more

in Southwark that people

are struggling with their rent.

What we want to be able to do

is work with people earlier,

help them to get through that

process, help them to avoid

being evicted by their landlords.

The Government's recently taken

seven days off the wait time

and offered a fortnight's

extra housing benefit.

The aim is to ease the situation

for new claimants, though

it is pressing ahead

with Universal Credit,

saying it will help people

like Shirley back into work,

help them pay their rent

and improve their lives.

Tim Donovan, BBC London News.

Now yesterday we brought

you the story of the man,

who uses his inflatable bike,

to pick out plastic

from the river Thames.

Today we're meeting

another plastic warrior.

Bettina Maidment is on a drive

to completely rid her home

of plastic, here's how

she's going about it.

Bettina is a mother of two and this

is her son, two years old uncle

Dexter.

Since last summer, the family have

tried to kick their plastic habit,

replacing bottles for more friendly

products.

I would hate to think that my boys

grow up in a world where they know

nothing but a polluted planet.

Bettina even makes her own hand

soap, storing it in an old bottle.

I

am quite strict.

An interruption...

It is a home delivery of vegetables,

almost entirely plastic free.

It is

brilliant. They are really committed

to cutting down on plastic waste, so

it doesn't all have to be hard work.

I get vegetables delivered to me,

would you like a grape?

Yes please!

But does this come at a higher cost?

Some things are more expensive, but

other things are cheaper. It

balances out. I've worked out that

over the course of the year, my

spending food wise hasn't actually

increased.

The family have made real

progress. Take the fridge, for

example. Now almost 90% plastic

free.

As you can see, there's a lot of

glass. Plastic milk bottles went out

for glass bottles, delivered by the

milkmen. This is filled up at the

deli.

Products like rice are put in

a reusable bag after being filled up

the shop. Plastic packaging is at a

bare minimum here. This is the

family's total plastic waste since

Christmas. In the next room, we have

a look at Dexter's toys. Almost all

wooden, although today, and despite

his mother's appeals can he would

rather play on his plastic

tractor... What about your children?

What if they want that chocolate

bar, wrapped in plastic? What do you

say to them?

It's really simple, no!

I am their parent, and they are my

kids. Kids need boundaries. I'm not

a total grinch, I don't say no all

the time. My kids are healthy and

happy and well adjusted, normal

children.

They can have an

alternative. Personally I could

never go back to living how I did

before. It doesn't sit right any

more.

It's onwards and upwards from

here.

Bettina Maidment ending that report.

Now let's check on the Weather

with Kate Kinsella.

Now let's check on the Weather

with Kate Kinsella.

Good afternoon. The pleasant start

this morning.

Temperatures above

zero. Feeling quite pleasant. Some

sunshine here. Quite a bit of cloud

around. It has been thinning and we

have decent spells of sunshine. In

the light winds, it feels quite

pleasant. Mild as we had through the

afternoon. Some sunny spells, we

have a risk of a couple of showers

feeding up from the south. Most

places are avoiding them. You may

catch some further west but

temperatures today are a modern 11

degrees, mild compared to last week.

Overnight, starting clear,

temperatures fall. Colder compared

to last night, missed and for

developing as well. Minimum

temperatures between zero and three

degrees. Quite a misty and murky

start first thing on Wednesday. That

will be slow to clear. Staying

rather grave. It looks like showers

will stay further south.

Temperatures up to 10 degrees.

Through the week, as we had through

Thursday, things are unsettled.

Further south, some rain bullocking

drier further north. On Friday,

things turned progressively more

unsettled. Further rain as we had

through Friday afternoon. On

Saturday it ends up better. Drier

towards the end of the day. Despite

the rain, we are looking at 12-13d

by the time we get through to

Sunday. Gradually things are feeling

a little more like spring.

That's it from me.

Louisa Preston will be here

with our 6:30 evening programme.

But for now, from all of us

here have a good afternoon.