:00:00. > :00:00.Now on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.
:00:00. > :00:14.Good evening, welcome to BBC London News.
:00:15. > :00:19.The London School of Economics is facing the prospect of legal
:00:20. > :00:23.A group of postgraduates are crowdfunding to raise money
:00:24. > :00:26.to pay for legal fees in what they allege is a breach
:00:27. > :00:32.They claim Sidney Webb House, a block of halls near
:00:33. > :00:35.Borough Market, became over-run by rats, contaminated
:00:36. > :00:37.with mould and have suffered issues with maintenance.
:00:38. > :00:53.Mice, damp and mould. Student at the London School of economics took
:00:54. > :01:00.these photos of their university rooms at Sidney Webb house in
:01:01. > :01:04.borough. They said that the students became ill. I had headaches and
:01:05. > :01:09.problems and I went to the doctor. The doctor said you have to change
:01:10. > :01:15.or room immediately. Base at least 15 students have gone to hospital
:01:16. > :01:20.because of the problems created from the conditions but more were
:01:21. > :01:25.affected. There have been skin infections which I never had. I
:01:26. > :01:31.could not walk basically. I had to go to the emergency section of Guy
:01:32. > :01:36.'s Hospital and I had surgery. Headaches, problems getting to
:01:37. > :01:40.sleep, waking up with a very dry throat. These are all symptoms
:01:41. > :01:45.related to mould exposure in the air. Students were initially offered
:01:46. > :01:50.?100 as a goodwill gesture but many rejected it. Now they are looking to
:01:51. > :01:55.take legal action against the university. Accommodation is
:01:56. > :02:00.difficult but universities have a responsibility to their students as
:02:01. > :02:08.anyone does. They must be able to live in reasonable conditions. This
:02:09. > :02:11.is Sidney Webb House. It is under refurbishment. LSE said they were
:02:12. > :02:13.aware of the complaints and they are investigating. They also say pest
:02:14. > :02:19.control was sent in. Students say this is not how they planned to
:02:20. > :02:22.spend their time in London. The LSE is academically and socially
:02:23. > :02:26.challenging and engaging. To spend our time talking about mice, rodents
:02:27. > :02:30.and mould in our house, is something we did not sacrifice so much to come
:02:31. > :02:36.here to do, but circumstances have forced us to take it upon ourselves.
:02:37. > :02:37.They are now fund-raising for their campaign and waiting to hear back
:02:38. > :02:39.from the university. A 16-year-old boy is in a critical
:02:40. > :02:42.condition after a collision between a police car and a moped
:02:43. > :02:45.being ridden by three teenagers. It crashed into the marked police
:02:46. > :02:48.car in South Park Road in Wimbledon. The moped was being monitored
:02:49. > :02:51.by a police helicopter at the time, as it was believed to have been
:02:52. > :02:53.involved in an earlier All three were arrested at the scene
:02:54. > :03:00.and two large knives were recovered. It's destroying native
:03:01. > :03:02.species on river banks, Introduced in the 1800s as a garden
:03:03. > :03:09.plant, the Himalayan Balsam smothers almost all other plant life
:03:10. > :03:11.growing around it. Now conservationists have found
:03:12. > :03:14.a novel way of dealing with it and raising funds at the same time
:03:15. > :03:18.as Yvonne Hall explains. The Himalayan Balsam brought
:03:19. > :03:25.to the UK by Victorian explorers. Now it is spreading across river
:03:26. > :03:28.banks, gardens and allotments, It really overshadows everything
:03:29. > :03:34.and that has a knock-on effect The only way to get rid
:03:35. > :03:42.of it is pulling it up by hand. Here, next to the River Stort
:03:43. > :03:44.in Hertfordshire, conservationists and volunteers are trying to destroy
:03:45. > :03:47.hundreds of plants And each plant can shoot 800
:03:48. > :03:56.seeds up to 22 feet away. Normally once the Himalayan Balsam
:03:57. > :03:59.is clear from the river banks A while ago, conservationists
:04:00. > :04:03.were talking to the owners Between them, they came up
:04:04. > :04:08.with a plan to do something much Then, add them to alcohol,
:04:09. > :04:16.juniper, orange and lime, a few more ingredients and turn
:04:17. > :04:23.the invasive species into gin. The whole idea for us
:04:24. > :04:26.was to develop a gin, that rather than be using botanicals
:04:27. > :04:29.which were farmed or forested, we would use something that
:04:30. > :04:34.would basically be thrown away. The trust indicated they have
:04:35. > :04:38.these clearing projects. The Himalayan Balsam was one
:04:39. > :04:43.of the effectively rogue plants and we were looking for a way to use
:04:44. > :04:47.it in a gin, and then have a gin we could use to raise
:04:48. > :04:49.money for the trust. And purely in the interests
:04:50. > :04:53.of investigative journalism, Definitely getting notes
:04:54. > :05:20.of invasive species there. It is a tough life. It has been a
:05:21. > :05:22.mixed bag this weekend, let's see how the rest of the weather is
:05:23. > :05:25.looking. There were bright skies first thing
:05:26. > :05:28.this morning as this Weather Watcher's picture proved
:05:29. > :05:30.before everyone arrived at Wimbledon, and there will be more
:05:31. > :05:33.of that during the week. Very warm and sunny
:05:34. > :05:34.starting tomorrow. It may be that the sunshine turns
:05:35. > :05:37.more hazy through the afternoon, but it will feel very warm
:05:38. > :05:40.in central London, up to 26 degrees. There might be lightning
:05:41. > :05:44.in the clouds Tuesday night into Wednesday and the risk
:05:45. > :05:46.of an isolated heavy shower but it will freshen up
:05:47. > :05:49.as we go through the week We'll be back just after
:05:50. > :06:14.the national News at 10 tonight. Good evening. Most of us got to see
:06:15. > :06:19.at least some Sunday sunshine and we will be taking some of that with us
:06:20. > :06:21.into the start of the new week. That was the scene across Northern
:06:22. > :06:22.Ireland