07/03/2018 London News

That's all from

the BBC News at One -

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Alpa Patel.

A busy high street in south London

is still closed this

afternoon after a burst water main

caused severe flooding this morning.

Police have warned

drivers and pedestrians

to avoid Tooting Broadway.

It's the latest burst water

main for Thames Water.

Marc Ashdown sent this

report from Tooting.

Well, the irony is not lost

on people round here -

after four days when great swathes

of Balham and Tooting

and Streatham in south London

have been without water,

a burst water pipe here

overnight in Tooting has

caused more disruption.

This pipe flooded the

streets behind me here.

Water was gushing out overnight

and has caused major

chaos for the rush hour.

This is a main route into London,

straight up through south

London into the city.

It is also Tooting Broadway Tube

station behind me, on the Northern

line, so this caused a lot

of problems for traffic,

buses and commuters this morning.

Of course, it comes after various

burst water pipes across south

London caused disruption

from residents, many

of whom have been without water

since about Sunday.

I have been speaking to the local

MP, who says people are exasperated

and frustrated and she says

it is time for real change.

How can we stop this happening?

They are ageing pipes, after all.

They are going to split.

How can we make sure we minimise

disruption when this happens?

We do that politically, we do it

locally by applying pressure,

but I think this should be a great

big wake up call for Thames Water

and they should act on it now.

Thames Water has

sent us a statement.

They say they arrived on site

here within 15 minutes

to reduce the flooding and,

as you can see, the water has now

receded away almost completely.

They say they have a team on site

here assisting people but,

of course, some customers,

businesses and residents will have

lost some of their water

or the pressure at least for a time.

Thames has apologised

for what happened here today which,

as people round here know,

is something they've got

used to doing recently.

Meanwhile, Thames Water say a large

number of their customers

in south-east London now have

running water again.

It's after thousands spent days

without water after pipes burst

due to the severe weather last week.

Some people are still

without running water five days on.

Investigations are

continuing after a Spanish

tourist died following a suspected

carbon monoxide leak

at a hotel in Earl's Court.

Another Spanish man remains

in hospital in a critical condition.

Katharine Carpenter

is following this -

what more do we know?

The emergency services were called

to the Mayflower Hotel

The emergency services were called

to the Mayflower Hotel on Monday in

broad daylight, just before 2pm.

Firefighters wearing breathing

apparatus did a sweep of the

building and their initial readings

showed very high levels of carbon

monoxide, so they evacuated the

building, about 29 people were moved

out, and it was then that these two

men, Spanish tourists we understand,

were discovered in their room on the

basement. The first of them was

34-year-old who died the hotel. His

friend, a 37-year-old, is in a

critical condition in hospital. We

also understand that two police

officers who attended to the

building were also taken to hospital

because they reported feeling sick

and dizzy.

What happens now?

This death is still being treated as

unexplained but we know that the

Chelsea and Kensington environmental

health department is going to

investigate what happened. Will

provide a report but we don't yet

know what conclusions it is going to

reach. Meanwhile, the Spanish

ministry of foreign affairs, its

London Consulate, says it will be

helping the victims' families.

Thank you very much.

A Parliamentary inquiry has started

today after a BBC London

investigation revealed how market

stalls and shops across London

were selling fake fur

that was actually real.

The inquiry is looking at how

labelling can be improved to prevent

customers being misled

in the future.

Residents in Windsor have

complained about a cluster

of cardboard bedsits

in the town centre.

It's where rough sleepers are living

in the shadow of the castle.

They blame the increase

in homelessness on the

coming royal wedding.

One charity worker says cash

donations are above £200 a day.

Sarah Harris reports.

Sometimes you have nowhere to stay,

this is what you have to do.

Homelessness - hard to explain,

especially in one of the wealthiest

towns in the country.

But after the recent cold

snap and the publicity

around the royal wedding,

some residents are concerned

cardboard bedsits are beginning

to take over Windsor high street.

If you give a man four walls

and a roof, he will survive.

Kenny Morris used to work

for the homeless charity Shelter

and believes they should be moved

on for their own good.

What they used to turn up with,

with a sleeping bag and maybe a dog,

and then they would move on,

they're sitting there now...

Now they've got, like...

Well, as you can see, little houses.

Whether they're taking advantage

of it or not is not for me to say

but there is definitely

a difference, certainly now

the bedding's come in.

Last month in Edinburgh, the royal

couple showed their support

for a charity getting rough sleepers

back to work.

Sonny's been living rough in Windsor

for months and doesn't understand

why he has to beg to survive.

They're going to spend millions

on this wedding and all that,

and I suppose it's tax payers'

money, isn't it?

So why can't they use some of that

money to house us all?

Because it is not just Windsor.

All around the country,

people are homeless.

It's only highlighted

here because of the wedding.

But it's just a normal

problem in this country.

It shouldn't be.

We're one of the richest

countries in the world.

Those working to support rough

sleepers say they can make more

than £200 a day begging but Murphy,

a former rough sleeper himself,

denies the publicity around

the wedding is attracting more

people to the town.

The only difference is where they've

bedded down and because people use

to bed down in parks,

now people are bedding

down on the high street,

the perception is that homelessness

is on the increase.

It is understood that

for security reasons,

the police will move on rough

sleepers on the day itself but that

won't solve the long-term issue -

the most basic of cardboard homes

next to a royal fortress.

In football, Tottenham

take on Juventus

at Wembley tonight -

in what is arguably the club's

biggest game in seven years.

The north London side are looking

to secure an unexpected place

in the quarterfinals

of the Champions League.

Of course in Europe, the people

start to respect more Tottenham.

But, of course, we respect our

football, our philosophy.

We try to develop

good football and the

football that we love and we feel.

And, of course, yes, we feel

that we have to respect them.

Sir Michael Caine will be

celebrating his 85th Birthday next

week, and to mark the occasion

the London actor will

release a new documentary.

The film, called My

Generation, is his take

on the swinging '60s.

There will also be a pop exhibition,

which opens tomorrow.

Now let's check on the weather

with Kate Kinsella.

Good afternoon.

It was a rather grey

and drab start this morning.

A little bit of mistiness,

quite a bit of cloud and also

some outbreaks of rain.

So it has remained rather grey

but we're just about,

as we head into the afternoon

and beyond, starting to see a little

bit more of some blue sky

as the cloud starts to break up.

Some sunny spells expected

as we head further through the day

and, yes, it continues to feel,

especially compared to last

week, really quite mild.

There is a slim chance of a shower

in parts of Surrey, Kent, perhaps,

but in most places north

of there staying dry

and in the sunshine, feeling quite

pleasant at 11 Celsius.

Some clear spells at first will mean

the temperature is a bit colder

for the start of the night but that

cloud will pile in from

the south-west through

the second part and,

with it, some outbreaks

of quite heavy rain.

Minimum temperature

between two and five Celsius.

So, a wet start tomorrow

morning but you will see,

it drifts away eastwards

through the course of the morning.

Very similar to today, really.

So, a drier, brighter

afternoon in prospect.

The wind starts to strengthen,

though, as we head through tomorrow.

Temperatures perhaps feeling just

a little bit cooler,

despite them getting up to a maximum

of around 10 Celsius.

Through Friday, it looks

like another wet day,

the rain pushing up as we head

through the morning, perhaps

clearing through the afternoon,

then Saturday we have this band

of rain heading towards us.

It looks quite wet to start

with, drying out towards

the end of the afternoon.

I think staying rather unsettled.

We've got low-pressure flinging

weather fronts towards us,

so some rain, some dry weather,

but the temperatures not too bad,

especially through Saturday, when we

reach an impressive 13 Celsius.

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.