Croydon’s rewards for failure laid bare in Town Hall Rich List

Posted on April 14, 2026 by insidecroydon

Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s chief executive who issued three Section 114 notices of effective bankruptcy during her time in charge at the council, was taking home salary and pensions totalling £223,838 in the year before she left Fisher’s Folly.

Yet Kerswell was far from being the highest-paid council staffer in south London.

That’s according to figures published in the latest Town Hall Rich List, which show that under Kerswell, in 2024-2025 Croydon Council had 21 employees being paid £100,000 or more. Continue reading →

Posted in Annette McPartland, Bromley Council, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Elaine Jackson, Helen Bailey, Jenny Rowlands, Katherine Kerswell, Lambeth Council, Outside Croydon, Richard Simpson, Southwark Council, Susmita Sen, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The day brave Pearl shone to save her mum’s life with 999 call

Posted on April 14, 2026 by insidecroydon

A six-year-old from Croydon saved her mother’s life by remembering she could phone 999 to call out an ambulance for a medical emergency.

Brave girls: Pearl (second left) and her sister Amelia, with their certificates from the London Ambulance Service

Mum Carole, 36, collapsed at home last summer after suffering a seizure and losing consciousness. She was alone with her daughters, Pearl, aged six, and Amelia, four.

According to the London Ambulance Service, “Despite being frightened, Pearl acted immediately.”

The six-year-old unlocked her mum’s phone, dialled 999 and told call handler Gen Hinds: “She’s lying on the sofa… she’s not awake. Her eyes keep on opening and closing.” Continue reading →

Posted in Health, London Ambulance Service | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Park lodge roof badly damaged by fire caused by hot coals

Posted on April 14, 2026 by insidecroydon

Tall orders: fire engines from four stations, including Woodside, attended the fire in Beckenham Place Park yesterday morning, where a special ladder was used to douse the flames from above

Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called to a fire at a lodge in Beckenham Place Park in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Most of a roof, an entire lean-to as well as a three-metre boundary fence, some fascia on a neighbouring property and two solar panels were destroyed by fire. No injuries are reported. Continue reading →

Posted in Bromley Council, London Fire Brigade | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Learn to putt like Rory McIlroy: Marlpit Lane bowls and putting

Posted on April 14, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Advertisement, Advertisement features, Bowls, Community associations, Coulsdon, Friends of Marlpit Lane Bowling Green, Golf, Old Coulsdon, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SNCK Community Forum, Wed April 15, at Socco Cheta

Posted on April 14, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Advertisement, Advertisement features, Charity, Community associations, Socco Cheta Community Hub, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Council rushes through £200,000 finance job ahead of elections

Posted on April 13, 2026 by insidecroydon

Government-appointed Commissioners are pushing through the appointment of a new finance director at the Town Hall – regardless of who might become Croydon’s new Mayor. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

The wasteland: Croydon Town Hall presides over massive debts and a decayed town centre, yet they can still find the money for £200,000 per year top jobs

Croydon Council, which has debts of £1.4billion, is about to hire its fifth employee on pay of around £200,000 per year or more.

And they are carrying out the recruitment in a bit of a rush, with the decisive, final interview to be conducted on April 30 – exactly one week before the local elections take place, when, as seems likely, the political outlook at Croydon Town Hall for the next four years could be completely changed.

The recruitment of the legally required Section 151 officer is being conducted during the period of “purdah” at the Town Hall, when much council business has been shut down ahead of the local elections, which means that it is virtually impossible for the matter to be raised, questioned or debated.

It is entirely possible that the interview for the key position of corporate director of resources will be conducted without the new Mayor or anyone from their political party on the panel. Continue reading →

Posted in 'Future Croydon', 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Annette McPartland, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Elaine Jackson, Jane West, Jenny Rowlands, Katherine Kerswell, Susmita Sen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The truth is simple: we need to solve Croydon’s financial crisis

Posted on April 13, 2026 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Even before her own party bosses censored her manifesto, there were spending commitments being made by Rowenna Davis, Labour’s candidate for Croydon Mayor, that just don’t add up. LibDem candidate RICHARD HOWARD, pictured left, explains

Rowenna Davis’s mayoral manifesto is, at first glance, full of energy, compassion and ambition.

It speaks to many of the real challenges facing Croydon: crime, housing, transport, opportunity for young people and the need to restore pride in our borough. On paper, it is everything a manifesto should be.

‘Uncosted pipedream’: the Labour mayoral candidate’s manifesto is where ‘good intentions meet financial illiteracy’ according to Richard Howard

But scratch beneath the surface, and a far more troubling picture emerges.

This is not a serious plan for running Croydon Council. It is an uncosted pipedream – a classic example of where good intentions meet financial illiteracy.

At no point does the manifesto set out what these proposals will cost, how they will be funded, or what trade-offs will be required to deliver them. That is not a minor omission. It is the central test of whether any political programme is credible – and it is a test this manifesto fails completely. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Richard Howard, Rowenna Davis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Rangers in public plea for care during skylarks’ nesting season

Posted on April 13, 2026 by insidecroydon

City Commons, who oversee four commons and the South London National Nature Reserve, are now having to deal with dumped garden waste in conservation areas. PLUS: dates for guided walks and volunteer sessions

Keep to the paths: the red-list endangered bird needs to be given a bit of space at this time of year

The rangers who oversee Coulsdon Common, Farthing Downs, Riddlesdown and Kenley Common have issued an appeal for the public to take extra care when walking over the commons to avoid disturbing nesting skylarks.

The small, brown birds may be easy to overlook, but their song is unmistakable – a continuous, joyful stream of notes delivered as they rise high into the sky before gently drifting back down. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, City Commons, Coulsdon, Croydon parks, Environment, Fly tipping, South London Downs NNR, Walks, Wildlife | 1 Comment

Firefighters’ tribute to West Wickham men killed in The Blitz

Posted on April 13, 2026 by insidecroydon

Paying tribute: firefighters from Beckenham at the special service held at West Wickham

A remembrance service to commemorate the 85th anniversary of five firefighters who were killed in The Blitz has been held at St John’s Church in West Wickham.

Firefighters from Blue Watch, based at Beckenham Fire Station, renovated the graveyard and gravestones in the churchyard ahead of the service.

Former Bromley firefighter, Thomas Webb, told his nephew Geoff Cowling about The Blitz and the devastating call out – where the fire engine Webb was following into London was hit by a bomb on Plaistow Road. All five of his colleagues were killed. Continue reading →

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Police make murder case appeal: Where is Jordan Vincent?

Posted on April 12, 2026 by insidecroydon

‘We just want justice for Rijkaard’ says mother of the victim of brutal gang attack on Surrey Street Market two years ago

Wanted: Jordan Vincent

It was on this day two years ago that Rijkaard Siafa was the target of a vicious knife and machete attack on Fellmongers Yard, off Surrey Street Market, where he was left to die by his attackers.

After the stabbing, David Walcott and Rammon Mali, together with a third man, strolled down Surrey Street, which was still busy at the end of the market day, crossed Croydon High Street and popped into the Spread Eagle pub, where they went to the bar and ordered three pints of Guinness. They paid with a £20 note.

As they started their stouts, they phoned for a taxi, but when bar staff asked them to remove their hats, as it was against house rules, they walked out of the pub on to Katharine Street, leaving their drinks unfinished.

Siafa was just 22 when he was killed.

Walcott and Mali have since been convicted of the murder of Rijkaard Siafa, while the third man wanted in connection with the brutal attack, Jordan Vincent, remains at large. A year ago, the Met offered a £10,000 reward for information that leads to Vincent’s arrest.

But there has been no further arrest, with some suggestion that Vincent fled abroad. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Policing, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

TfL makes cuts to Caterham to Addington Village 466 bus route

Posted on April 12, 2026 by insidecroydon

The 466 bus route, which runs between Caterham on the Hill and Addington Village, has had its frequency almost halved.

Timetable check: the 466 will now only run once every 12 minutes

With effect from yesterday, April 11, the 466 now runs once every 12 minutes, instead of every eight minutes. Bus frequency on Sundays and in the evenings is now once every 15 minutes.

In an advisory notice issued by Transport for London, they said: “We continuously review services to ensure they reflect customer demand and offer value for money. As part of this work, we have identified that a change in frequency is required on route 466 at certain times to meet current and expected demand.

“This means buses will operate every 12 minutes instead of every eight minutes between 06:30 and 21:00 on weekdays and between 07:30 and 20:15 on Saturdays.” Continue reading →

Posted in Addington, Commuting, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

SNCK Community Forum, Wed April 15, at Socco Cheta

Posted on April 12, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Election countdown: splintered voting could see Davis win

Posted on April 11, 2026 by insidecroydon


Less than one month until election day, our Political Editor, WALTER CRONXITE, looks at the latest polls and by-elections to assess – or guess – how the Croydon electorate will vote for executive Mayor on May 7

While the government Commissioners worry about Croydon’s voters not voting Labour or Conservative, the Greens are emerging as the leading third-party challenger in the Mayoral election.

The Commissioners, appointed last summer by the Labour government because Tory Mayor Jason Perry had lost control of the council’s finances, used their first report to Whitehall to express a view over the outcome of the local elections, which are being held on May 7.

Voting shares across the country, for decades conventionally split between the two biggest parties, have been splintering between three, four and even five parties in recent by-elections, council elections held last year and in national polling since. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Ben Flook, Council Tax, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, London-wide issues, Merton, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Rick Howard, Shirley North, Sutton Council, Tony Newman, Zack Polanski | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

A Vue to a killing: Grants landlords to blame for cinema closure

Posted on April 11, 2026 by insidecroydon

The closure this week of the Vue Cinema in Grants in the town centre was down to the building’s new owners’ greed, in ratcheting up the rents for businesses already struggling for survival in Croydon’s run-down high street.

Blank screens: the Vue multiplex has operated 10 screens in the town centre since 2000

That’s according to the David Lean Cinema campaigners, who posted a hard-hitting assessment of the “extremely sad” situation as the 10-screen multiplex showed its last movie on Thursday.

The David Lean Cinema is the arthouse, 60-seat venue in the Croydon Clocktower, named after Croydon’s Oscar-winning film director.

Jason Perry and Croydon’s Conservatives tried to close the cinema in 2011, until Ronnie Corbett inspired a people-powered campaign, backed by Inside Croydon, which forced the local council to reopen the venue in 2014. It has been run by dedicated and committed volunteers ever since. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Cinema, Grants, Tokia Square, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Housing and benefits advice sessions, free, South Norwood

Posted on April 11, 2026 by insidecroydon

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River Revive at Norbury Brook, Thornton Heath Rec, Apr 25

Posted on April 11, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Activities, Advertisement, Advertisement features, Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Friends of Thornton Heath Rec, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Labour bosses axe front-bencher on eve of elections deadline

Posted on April 10, 2026 by insidecroydon

ELECTION EXCLUSIVE: Two women who were deemed good enough to stand to become MPs for their parties at the 2024 General Election have been withdrawn as candidates for the council elections just ahead of yesterday’s declarations deadline. By STEVEN DOWNES 

There were tears at a meeting of Croydon’s Labour group just before Easter when it was announced that Chrisni Reshakaron, a councillor for West Thornton ward and tipped by some to be a future leader of the party locally, would no longer be standing as a candidate for the party at the local elections on May 7.

The official reason given has been that Reshekaron has stood down due to family commitments, to care for her father.

Late withdrawal: Chrisni Reshakaron is not on the ballot paper

But Inside Croydon can reveal that, according to senior sources within the local party, Reshakaron was in fact forced to stand down by officials at Labour’s London region, after a formal complaint about the councillor’s conduct was upheld against her.

Reshakaron is not the only local election candidate to be dropped at late notice, Inside Croydon can reveal. Marley “Maz” King, a Green Party parliamentary candidate in 2024, has been pulled from their roster for the Town Hall elections just this week.

In Reshkaron’s case, no further information about the complaint against her, or the circumstances of her withdrawal, have been forthcoming. Reshakaron, who is (for now at least), Labour’s shadow cabinet member for homes, has not responded to Inside Croydon’s calls.

“Chrisni was told to go quietly, or the Labour Party would go public with the complaint and their findings,” a Croydon Labour source said.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Chrishni Reshekaron, Croydon Greens, Marley King, Rowenna Davis, Rym Daoud, South Norwood, Stuart King, West Thornton | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Memorial to victims of Lanfranc air disaster to re-open this July

Posted on April 10, 2026 by insidecroydon

NEIL BENNETT reports on the fund-raising success and hard-work – even by some doing community service – to make a garden in Croydon Cemetery a fitting memorial to the 39 people killed when their aeroplane crashed into a Norwegian mountain 65 years ago

Fitting memorial: the Lanfranc garden at Croydon Cemetery has been repaied and replanted

Work is well underway towards restoring the memorial to 34 Croydon schoolboys who died in a plane crash in Norway in 1961.

Two teachers from Lanfranc School and three aircrew also lost their lives when the aircraft taking them on a summer camping holiday crashed into a mountain near Stavanger.

Thanks to crowdfunding by the current Archbishop Lanfranc Academy and a tireless campaign by the niece of one of the victims of the crash, money has been raised to replant the Memorial Garden in Croydon Cemetery and restore the stonework. It had been showing signs of wear, to the distress of the families whose lives were changed forever by the tragedy.

They will join friends, current Lanfranc pupils and staff, the Norwegian Ambassador and others invited to the Memorial’s unveiling, which is planned for July 6. Continue reading →

Posted in Archbishop Lanfranc, History, Neil Bennett, Sanderstead, Schools, Thornton Heath, West Thornton | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CQC inspectors rate maternity unit as ‘requires improvement’

Posted on April 10, 2026 by insidecroydon

The maternity department at Mayday, Croydon’s largest hospital, where close to 4,000 babies are born each year, has been rated as “requires improvement” by the Care Quality Commission.

Under a warning: the CQC gave ‘requires improvement’ ratings to Croydon’s maternity unit in four of six categories

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, which runs what is sometimes referred to as Croydon University Hospital, has been served a warning notice due to concerns about triage, staff training and appraisal, risk assessments and record-keeping, equipment and environment checks, and leadership and governance.

The hospital provides maternity care for people from across south-west London.

The CQC conducted a “focused inspection” that finished in October last year.

The inspection followed up “on concerns received about long waiting times in maternity triage, poor communication from staff and staff shortages, particularly in medical cover”. This at a NHS Trust which in 2025 failed to offer jobs to the latest cadre of student nurses who had been training there for the previous three years.

Mayday was rated as “Good” in only two of six inspection categories. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon NHS Trust, Health, Mayday Hospital | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Farthing Downs and Happy Valley Quiz Night, The Fox, Apr 13

Posted on April 10, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Activities, Advertisement, Advertisement features, Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Friends of Farthing Downs, Pubs, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Individuals and single candidates seek votes in splintered field

Posted on April 9, 2026 by insidecroydon

Nominations for candidates for the May 7 local elections close later today, and the final forms will include independents and single candidates from new parties looking to win a seat at the Town Hall.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, looks at the case for two of them 

It is not only Your Party that, in an increasingly splintered electoral field, is fielding just a single candidate across all 70 Croydon council seats in the borough’s 28 wards.

The Equality Party has named Ellie Harrison as its sole council election candidate in Croydon, standing in Shirley North, while local community activist Graham Mitchell has decided to put himself forward on his home patch of Bensham Manor.

Community grafter: Graham Mitchell was interviewed recently by BBC London News

Mitchell may already be familiar to locals, for his unstinting work clearing up Norbury Brook and organising litter picks in Thornton Heath Rec (because if he and his team of volunteers didn’t do it, no one at the council or their rubbish contractors, Veolia, is going to do it).

Mitchell has even made a recent appearance on BBC London News, talking about the borough’s, and Bensham Manor’s, fly-tipping problem.

Bensham Manor is the ward next door to Thornton Heath. Mitchell says that his election pitch is not made up of promises, but is backed up by the hard work he has been doing for years.

“I am not coming forward at election time saying I am ‘ready to work hard’,” Mitchell told Inside Croydon. “I have already been working within the community and understand both the issues and the opportunities.” Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, Alison Butler, Bensham Manor, Enid Mollyneaux, Eunice O'Dame, Graham Mitchell, Humayun Kabir, Shirley North | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Green wins at local elections not a ‘shock’, says Underwood

Posted on April 9, 2026 by insidecroydon

Columnist ANDREW FISHER, in his monthly podcast, sits down with the Green Party’s mayoral candidate for the latest in our series of in-depth interviews with the candidates at next month’s Town Hall elections

One of the candidates for Croydon Mayor has already told Inside Croydon that, if elected, he will abolish the £210,000 role of council chief executive.

And now, in our latest podcast with the leading candidates for Mayor in Town Hall elections on May 7, the Green Party’s Peter Underwood tells Andrew Fisher that, if he is elected, he’d work to abolish the role of directly elected Mayor itself.

This month’s Andrew Fisher Interview talks at length with Peter Underwood, the veteran environmentalist and Green Party activist, who believes that the momentum behind his party from new leader Zack Polanski, following the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, will help to propel him and his party closer to elected office in Croydon than ever before.

“I’d say it wouldn’t be a shock,” Underwood says. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Croydon sites among best places in London for bluebell walks

Posted on April 9, 2026 by insidecroydon

Springtime blues: now is the time to enjoy some of Croydon’s green spaces

The London Wildlife Trust has recommended two of its nature reserves in Croydon as among the best places in the capital to find springtime displays of bluebells.

But you need to hurry if you are to enjoy this springtime spectacular. This year’s bluebells are already starting to bloom – around a month earlier than usual, meaning that there’s just a couple of weekends to catch them at their best.

Bluebells spend most of the year hidden beneath the soil of ancient woodlands, bursting into bloom when sunlight still reaches the woodland floor before the trees reach full leaf capacity.

LWT recommends: Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Croydon parks, Environment, Hutchinson's Bank | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

History of Kenley Airfield, free talk, East Surrey Museum, Apr 22

Posted on April 9, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Corbyn’s party has 1 candidate across Croydon’s 70 seats

Posted on April 8, 2026 by insidecroydon

With candidate declarations to close tomorrow, even some of the biggest political parties are scrambling around for last-minute volunteers to appear on ballot papers on May 7. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE

Your Party, the leftist grouping backed by several MPs and led in Parliament by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has announced its candidate for the local elections in Croydon next month.

Your Party will have a single candidate for the council elections, contesting one seat in Thornton Heath, when there are a total of 70 Town Hall councillor seats up for grabs.

Union official Mel Mullings is to be Your Party’s first election candidate in Croydon.

Tomorrow is the deadline for candidate nominations to be submitted to the council’s electoral services department, ahead of election day on May 7. It will be when the candidates’ lists are published by the council that a full picture of how robust local parties’ memberships really are. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, Sutton Council, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments