15/03/2018 London News

That's all from the BBC News at One

so it's goodbye from me -

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Charlotte Franks.

Parents at a west London primary

school have said they're

devastated after being

told it plans to close.

Minerva Academy in Paddington,

is only half full,

and is still on a temporary site,

with no playground.

Westminster Council says it

will ensure every child can

move to a good school.

Here's our Education

Reporter, Marc Ashdown.

Schools open, another

day of learning ahead,

something most parents

simply take for granted,

but school days at Minerva Academy

in Paddington could be numbered.

Only half full, and based on this

woefully inadequate temporary site,

the head has told parents she plans

to shut in the summer.

It's so stressful, especially

for the children, my son has been

two days he's not eating properly,

he is not sleeping good,

he's telling me, I hate learning.

How are you feeling?

Mad, sad.

I will never forget this school,

it's because I've got friends that

I've known for seven

years, six years.

Minerva only opened in 2012,

in a letter to parents,

the head says falling pupil numbers

across Westminster has hit funding,

she says the current

site has not helped,

there is no playground,

promises of a brand-new building

seem to have evaporated.

It was supposed to be

here in Paddington basin,

apparently, but apparently

now there is nothing,

we were supposed to move how

many years ago.

Two, three years ago.

And everything was behind, behind,

behind, and promises.

And now, no school.

I wonder where is the new building,

what have they done with it.

Critics will argue this is another

example of what they have long

argued is a fundamental flaw

in the government's academies

programme, new schools

are only supposed to open

where there is a clear basic

need for more places

and in suitable buildings.

Here, it appears, there is neither.

It follows news that

Floreat Brentford is set to close,

another free school which could not

find a permanent home,

or make the money add up.

Minerva is run by a multi-Academy

trust, the Board of Trustees says

staff are providing a good level

of education but for a range

of factors, the school is no

longer financially viable.

If it does close, the local

authority Westminster says

it's ready to step in to make sure

all 89 pupils can go

to a good school elsewhere.

A 20-year-old man has been shot

to death in East London.

Police were called to

Forest Road in Waltham Forest

at around 9.30 last night

where the man was pronounced

dead at the scene.

There have been no arrests.

A woman's been found guilty of fraud

after she posed as a grief-stricken

survivor of the Grenfell fire

in order to obtain cash,

donations and hotel accommodation

intended for real victims.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court

heard that 47-year-old

Joyce Msokeri was living miles away

in Sutton at the time.

She's due to be

sentenced next month.

Motorcycle deaths on the capital's

roads are still too high according

to the London Assembly's Transport

Committee.

Over a quarter of people

killed or seriously

injured on our roads

ride a motorbike.

There are calls for

motorcyclists to be able

to ride in all bus lanes

and for TfL to develop advanced

motorcycle safety training.

Transport for London

says its carried out a series

of measure to reduce the number

of serious collisions but recognises

more needs to be done.

Well, today is News Day

for the BBC's annual School Report.

BBC London has been

working with a 6th Form

student from Romford.

She wanted to explore if better

education in schools around knife

crime, could help to reduce

the number of young

people getting involved.

Eighteen-year-old Abbianca

has this report.

Hello, I want to explore the reason

which the education system can help

reduce life crime -- knife crime in

2016, I lost a dear friend of mine,

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland Yard

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland Yard to

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland Yard to speak

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland Yard to speak to

was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland Yard to speak to

a senior police detective, who deals

with knife crime on a daily basis. I

asked him if he thought school

should have compulsory lessons on

this issue.

What do you think about

this, do you think this can make a

difference?

I think it would make a

difference, we need to change the

messaging, we have been saying for

some time that police on their own

are not going to rest and we need to

ask the right questions and get

answers. We need to get into

communities and young people.

Here I

am, back at my school, where I will

be interviewing the head of sick

form and some students on the issue

of tackling knife crime.

Some people

may carry knives for protection,

especially because there is other

teenagers carrying knives anyway.

When community centres are shut down

and the youth clubs held in them get

people getting bored, and therefore,

joining gangs, because they don't

have the group where they could have

gone to.

If I'm being honest,

schools don't really teach about

knife crime is that much, my first

talk was in year 12, I was 16 when I

had my first talk about knife crime.

Do you think these lessons will make

a difference and have an impact on

the younger generation? I am not

convinced. I think people who are

attracted to gangs, and attracted to

carrying knives, they have kind of

fallen out of the education system.

There isn't one solution to tackling

knife crime, but from my interviews,

it seems changes in the education

system could possibly contribute to

reduce knife crime. Abbianca, BBC

School report.

It's being hailed as

AirBnB for your car.

Car and Away is a new parking scheme

that's the first of it's

kind in the country.

Found at Gatwick Airport, customers

don't pay to leave their car there,

instead it's cleaned and rented out

to a stranger.

Helen Drew reports.

How does this sound for a business

idea, park at Gatwick, fly away on

holiday and your car is rented out

while you are gone, the money earned

covers the cost of the parking and

maybe even earns you a profit.

I

don't like it.

Why not?

I don't want

anyone else in my car.

Not too keen,

you own property is your own

property.

I wouldn't want my car

rented out while I was not there.

The scheme is called Car and Away

and Nikki is one of the first people

to try it, she has flown in from Los

Angeles to collect her Fiat, which

has been rented out for the last

week.

I think, if I've got earning

potential, rather than leaving it

there sitting for a week, for the

sake of a few extra miles on the

clock, it makes sense.

This

businessman is one of the first to

rent a car. Were you apprehensive

about trying a new idea?

I was, I

was suspicious. At my age, you get

suspicious about lots of things. Car

and Away insures the cars and

provides roadside assistance, they

ask owners to carry out a future ex

in terms of safety.

We ask them to

sign they have done the checks, not

mechanical, they are simple motoring

checks.

A word of caution: a car is

an expensive thing. -- 80 few

checks.

The potential for it to get

damaged, you are putting this into

the hands of strangers.

If this

takes off, Car and Away hopes to

expand to other airports later this

year.

Lets get a check on the weather

forecast.

Rather soggy start of the

day, band of rain pushing

north-east, and behind that band of

rain, for the rest of the day, sunny

spells, and showers.

Rumble of thunder, some

could be heavy in nature but a lot

of dry weather around, as you can

see, plenty of sunshine as well, and

sunshine will not feel too

unpleasant. Highs between 11 and 13

Celsius. Heading through the

evening, and the overnight period,

clear skies, showers rumbling on for

a time through the evening

rush-hour. Cloud thickening, maybe

showery outbreaks pushing in. As we

head into the start of the day

tomorrow. Not too chilly overnight,

lows between six and 8 degrees.

Tomorrow, any early rain will clear

away quickly and looking at another

day of sunny spells and showers,

wasabi the odd heavy shower at

times. Most will be quite light, a

lot of dry weather, sunshine too. 11

to 14 degrees. Big drop in to bridge

over the course of the weekend, all

that cold air coming in. Chilly is

Saili wind, and we are likely to see

some snow as well. -- chilly

easterly wind. Met Office warnings

for snow and ice and snow on Sunday,

likely to see a few centimetres,

just about anywhere. Keep an eye on

the warnings, all the details on the

website. Short lived called snap,

temperatures back up on Monday.

That's about it from me.

Asad Ahmad will be here

with our 6:30 evening programme.

But for now, from us all,

a very good afternoon.