18/03/2018 London News

The money works out

to more than £700,000.

time for the news where you are.

to more than £700,000.

Goodbye.

to more than £700,000.

Good evening, I'm Asad Ahmad.

13 people have been injured

after a man drove a 4x4 into a busy

nightclub in Gravesend.

There were immediate fears of it

being a terrorist attack -

with one witness describing it

as "a complete mess

of panic and chaos".

The vehicle ploughed into Blake's

nightclub on Queen Street -

from where Caroline Davis reports.

Panic, shouting and screaming,

this was Blake's nightclub in

Gravesend moments after

a 4x4 car drove into it.

My God, I nearly died.

So, I'm in this club and this

car comes through the

front, look.

BBC radio presenter

Reece Parkinson was in the club.

He couldn't believe

what he was seeing.

What is going on?

My first thought was people

are going to jump out the

car, I'm thinking the worst,

and this is like a terror

attack essentially.

We heard like a massive bang,

everyone was screaming and then

shouting and pushing.

Chloe Germaney was also

inside, scared that

something else would happen.

I sent my family like

a text and everything

saying where I was and that I love

them and stuff like that because

automatically I just didn't know

what was going to happen.

This is the car after the crash.

Police have said that the incident

isn't terror related.

Instead, they think that the driver

had been asked to leave

the club earlier in the night

after an altercation.

They've arrested a 21-year-old

man on suspicion of

attempted murder.

This is the tented smoking

area the car drove into.

You might even be

able to make out the

roof of the car,

which is still in there.

Police are continuing

with their investigations, but it's

believed the car drove down this

alleyway into that tent and a crowd.

So far, 13 people are known to be

injured but there may be more who

left the club during the panic.

None of the injuries

are thought to be

life-threatening.

The owners of the club have

released a statement

online calling the action

unpredictable and selfish.

They praised their door

team for helping

to apprehend the driver,

calling them heroic.

Police are continuing to investigate

exactly what happened

here, bringing fear and confusion

to a Saturday night out.

Caroline Davis, BBC London News.

Nine months on from

the Grenfell Tower -

Nine months on from

the Grenfell Tower fire -

there are warnings that dozens

of local businesses face

closure after the sudden

drop in customers -

and difficulties

in recruiting staff.

It's why money's been

pledged to help the economy

of North Kensington,

but there is concern that it

might not be enough.

A short walk from Grenfell Tower and

shutters on shops and for sale signs

on businesses are

clearly noticeable.

While most of the focus over

the past nine months has been

on finding homes for those

affected by the fire,

the Portobello Business Centre says

many businesses are now

on the brink of closure with some

reporting sales down by 70% and

difficulties in recruiting staff.

We lost in the takings

£57,000 in the

fire in 12 weeks to 15 weeks.

You've got to look

at it at a different

angle, you've got to look at it

in how you're going to go forward.

So, to help businesses,

City Hall has earmarked

£100,000, and it is separate to

the grants and rate relief already

offered by the council.

We've put together

a package of over £500,000

in order to give them support

and to get them back on their feet.

But importantly,

we are trying to give

them support in their local area,

because clearly the local area has

been affected by a large

decant of people.

It's been slow and

it's been grudging.

Yes, they did give rate relief

for businesses but in the

immediate area, and I'm talking

about the impact on a wider area.

I see vacancies and empty offices,

empty shops, empty

business premises.

For Shaun Bailey from the London

Assembly who grew up around

here, local businesses provide vital

opportunities to young people.

I've worked up and down

the Portobello Road.

I used to work in the Fantastic

Store comic shop there for years.

It was great fun.

But the real thing about local

business is how much work it brings

here, how much vibrancy

it brings to the area.

So, the area faces

economic as well as

social challenges.

But as many have observed

since the fire last June,

the resilience of local people

is likely to win through.

Thousands of Londoners -

and not just Irish ones -

have been celebrating

St Patrick's Day -

by taking part in a parade

which started at Hyde Park Corner

and went to Trafalgar Square -

where the celebrations continued.

A mini-Irish Film Festival

took place too.

If you thought we

took place too.

If you thought we would

took place too.

If you thought we would have

took place too.

If you thought we would have plenty

took place too.

If you thought we would have plenty

of snow today, so did I.

If you thought we would have plenty

of snow today, so did I.

Hello, good evening.

Still possibly a few late

snow showers around.

We've still got a Met Office

weather warning valid

until midnight for snow and ice,

and that warning is just

for ice into tomorrow morning.

Some slippery surfaces

around the start

of the day, difficult driving

conditions maybe, and of course,

their widespread frost, so it's

cloudy and cold tomorrow morning.

a widespread frost, so it's cloudy

and cold tomorrow morning.

But tomorrow it's going to feel

a bit more cheerful and a bit less

cold.

The wind is lighter coming

in from the north, the cloud will

thin and break particularly

into the afternoon.

And we'll get some decent sunshine

around and temperatures

will be higher, four or five

Celsius, those temperatures will

continue to improve

through the week.

That's it.

We are back at the slightly later

time of 10:40pm denied because of

the football overrunning

Enjoy your evening.

Bye for now.