Cabinet post puts Fahnbulleh’s climate credentials on the line

Posted on July 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

PETER UNDERWOOD on a less-heralded Croydon connection to the new Prime Minister’s Cabinet

Labour Together: Miatta Fahnbulleh chaired the Croydon Climate Crisis Commission before becoming an MP

There is a lot of talk in the press about “Manchesterism”, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham bringing the ideas he developed while Mayor of Manchester to his new role.

But there is also a question about whether ideas developed here in Croydon – Croydonism – are going to be pursued by one of Burnham’s new Cabinet.

Burnham’s arrival in No10 was followed by his Cabinet reshuffle. Croydon’s Labour MPs had mixed fortunes. Steve Reed was unceremoniously thrown out, while Sarah Jones remained in her junior minister’s role at the Home Office. Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Crisis Commission, Croydon Council, Environment, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Police dispersal notice in clampdown on crime-ridden… Purley

Posted on July 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

Tory councillor ‘delighted’ by Met’s work, where just four arrests were made following nearly 30 stop and searches conducted over the weekend, as special powers have been introduced to allow exclusion on suspicion that someone might be ‘likely’ to commit anti-social behaviour

On patrol: the Met has authorised extra hours for officers in Purley town centre

Pearls have been dropped in Purley, where the Met Police has issued a dispersal order to deal with what they claim to have been a surge in drug dealing and related crime.

“Over the last few weeks, Purley has been experiencing an increase in antisocial behaviour, drug dealing and robberies,” the Met’s safer neighbourhood team for Purley and Woodcote said in a post on Monday.

“This has stemmed from groups of youths congregating in the area which in turn has drawn offenders into the area.”

We are, remember, barely one week into the schools’ long summer break. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Policing, Purley, Purley Pool, Samir Dwesar | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Selsdon Wood’s drought-hit nature reserve placed on fire alert

Posted on July 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

Nature reserve: Selsdon Wood is home to a rich variety of wildlife. But there are fears that some people are putting that all at risk

‘It breaks my heart’ says volunteer conservationist over fears people might be starting fires in an ancient woodland in the heatwave

With the heatwave set to see temperatures soar above 30 degrees again, and a hosepipe ban in force after a drought that has lasted more than two months, there have still been reports of people suspected of starting fires in a local nature reserve.

An “angry” appeal has been published on social media, placed by David Debenham, the chair of the Friends of Selsdon Woods group.

“Selfish people” was among the more polite comments on the fire-starters, who risk being the cause of a wildfire in the woodland which is tinder-dry after weeks without rain. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Friends of Selsdon Woods, London Fire Brigade, Selsdon and Addington Village | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Philp all at sea as he claims French shot at him in the Channel

Posted on July 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

The French navy appears to have come up with a novel way of dealing with small boats in the English Channel: shoot at them.

Sunk: Croydon South MP Chris Philp looked visibly rattled by the sound of gun shots almost a quarter a mile away

Or, at least, get a matelot to fire a gun somewhere in the general vicinity of them if one of their passengers happens to be the Conservative MP for Croydon South.

Footage of the incident this morning shows Chris Philp appear visibly distressed as shots were heard, fired from a distant French patrol vessel, as the Tories’ shadow Home Secretary was once again spouting off about an immigration issue which he and his Conservative colleagues had done so much to create. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Sprinter Glave heads up large contingent for European Champs

Posted on July 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

National champion: Croydon Harrier Romell Glave heads the British team for Birmingham

Croydon Harrier Romell Glave heads a large contingent of south London athletes named in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the European Championships being staged next month in Birmingham.

Glave goes to the Europeans as the newly crowned British champion, and having since improved his lifetime best to 9.97sec, he will have strong hopes of improving on the European bronze medal he won four years ago.

Glave is one of three Croydon Harriers in the 98-athlete squad, who are also joined by three members of Tooting-based Herne Hill Harriers, plus Bromley’s defending European champion, Dina Asher-Smith.

Extraordinarily, given British athletics’ dominance at previous European Championships going back almost 50 years, this will be the first time that the senior Europeans have been staged in this country, a reflection on the absence of suitable track and field venues, and the national governing body’s lack of ambition or vision. Continue reading →

Posted in Athletics, Croydon Harriers, Herne Hill Harriers, Lawrence Okoye, Romell Glave, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Create firebreaks around your homes’ warning from Brigade

Posted on July 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

Out of control: a French firefighter near Landiras, as wildfires continue to spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France. Spain has also been badly affected by wildfires, which in some cases are suspected of having been set deliberately

After one of its busiest weekends on record, with blazes in Mitcham and in Wandle Park among more than 1,300 call-outs, the LFB is issuing further appeals for the public to behave responsibly

As massive wildfires continue into a second week in southern France, in Spain and other parts of Europe, here in London, the Fire Brigade is urging the public to exercise caution in and around the capital’s parks and open spaces, and has even advised residents to consider creating firebreaks around their gardens to protect their homes.

Smoke stack: thick black, acrid smoke from the flat fire in Mitcham on Saturday

Firefighters had to deal with a grass fire across nearly three acres of Wandle Park in Croydon on Sunday, one of 1,345 incidents the London Fire Brigade attended in the capital between Friday (July 24) and Sunday (July 26).

These fires included the large blaze across several flats at Belgrave Walk, Mitcham, where more than 30 residents had to be evacuated on Saturday. The cause of that fire is under investigation.

The Wandle Park fire needed attention from 10 firefighters from Croydon and Wallington fire stations. “One tree and around 20 metres of scrubland was destroyed by fire,” the LFB told Inside Croydon.

Assistant Commissioner Pam Oparaocha said: “While we are fully prepared to respond, we need everyone to play their part in helping to prevent incidents. Wildfires in particular can spread rapidly, require significant resources and have devastating consequences for people, properties, wildlife and the environment.

“Wildfires can also have a lasting impact on the health of Londoners because of the smoke plumes that they produce. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon parks, Environment, London Fire Brigade, London-wide issues, Mitcham, Wandle Park | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The best way for you to sell your house fast in Croydon

Posted on July 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

SPONSORED CONTENT

Croydon is one of the busiest property markets in south London.

East Croydon’s fast trains put you in central London in around 15 minutes, the trams link the whole of south London, and years of town-centre regeneration have drawn in commuters, first-time buyers and investors alike.

From Victorian terraces in Addiscombe and South Norwood to new-build flats near the town centre and the leafier streets of Sanderstead, Purley and Coulsdon, there is genuine demand here. Continue reading →

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Crapita! Thousands of ex-Civil Servants left to wait for pensions

Posted on July 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

Left waiting: the Civil Service is among Croydon’s biggest employers, including in the HMRC building at Ruskin Square that overlooks East Croydon Station. But recent retirees are not getting paid their pensions

There are more than 6,000 civil servants who work in Croydon today, many of them in the Home Office or Revenue and Customs buildings in Ruskin Square. The borough is also home to thousands more retired civil servants – some of whom have not been receiving their pensions.
SANDRA STEAD reports

A botched handover between private-sector contractors has left thousands of former civil servants waiting months for pension payments.

The saga has raised again serious questions about the government’s reliance on outsourced services.

Thanks to pressure from civil service unions, campaigners and parliamentary committees, the Cabinet Office now appears to be taking a tougher line with Crapita, the outsourcing giant at the centre of this latest crisis. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, HM Land Registry, HM Revenue and Customs, Home Office, Ruskin Square | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Friends on a mission in Selhurst’s neglected Whitehorse Rec

Posted on July 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

Faded beauty: Whitehorse Rec is a haven of green space in Selhurst that’s in need of some tender loving care

THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: In the first of an occasional series, our intrepid correspondent KEN TOWL sets off to discover more about the various groups of volunteers who strive to maintain and improve the borough’s green spaces

This week, a man I met in a park offered to show me his nipplewort.

It all started innocently enough. I had a brief exchange of text messages with a woman called Catherine who told me that she knew a friend, Charles Barber, who wanted to recruit more friends to help out with his project to turn a past-its-best strip of greenery in Selhurst. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Friends of White Horse Park, Gardening, Ken Towl, Selhurst, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Summer special offer: listen to our latest Croydon Insider FREE

Posted on July 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

Summer scenes: Mayfield Lavender Farm, near Oaks Park in Banstead, is open to the public for a few more weeks

Our special summer edition of the Croydon Insider podcast is available now – and completely free of charge.

With a special line-up of guests – all Inside Croydon readers or contributors – in this episode we discuss a vast range of subjects, going behind the headlines on the news stories that matter to you.

The Croydon Insider is usually free exclusively to Inside Croydon’s loyal paying subscribers, who have signed up on our Patreon page to help support our journalism.

But this episode is so packed with content, we decided to let all our readers find out what they are missing! Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Insider, Gabriel MacArthur, Gardening, Inside Croydon, Nadia Azizuddin | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why old mattresses are a bigger problem than people realise

Posted on July 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Piling up: fly-tipped mattresses, around 30 of them, were dumped in Upper Norwood last August

Most of us don’t think twice about replacing a mattress.

After years of use, it reaches the point where it’s no longer comfortable or supportive, so a new one is ordered and the old one is left standing in a spare room, garage or, in some cases, outside the front of the house.

But arranging mattress removal is often the part people overlook and it’s creating a growing problem for neighbourhoods across Croydon.

Every year, thousands of mattresses are discarded across London.

While many are disposed of responsibly, others are abandoned in alleyways, left beside communal bins or illegally dumped in quiet streets, creating unnecessary costs for local authorities and frustration for residents. Continue reading →

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Perry’s plan: More borrowing. More debt. And £58m more cuts

Posted on July 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

More to come: in the four years since Jason Perry has been Mayor of Croydon, the borough’s total debt has soared to a record £1.7bn. But his latest plan is to borrow even more

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Reports sneaked out ahead of next Wednesday’s council cabinet meeting talk of ‘difficult decisions’, after residents have already suffered six years of the consequences of ‘difficult decisions’.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Less than six months since he pushed through his latest unbalanced council budget, Croydon’s failed Mayor Jason Perry will this week look to re-set the Town Hall finances in what amounts to an admission of abject failure after four years in charge.

Perry’s got a plan. It’s a new, three-year plan. And it’s much like his previous plan: it includes the cash-strapped council taking on even more borrowing, and therefore more debt, and making even more cuts to public services – around £58million more service cuts between now and the end of the decade.

“It is deeply disappointing that residents are once again being asked to face the prospect of cuts to local services because of the borough’s long-running financial problems,” Councillor Claire Bonham, of the Liberal Democrats, said of the plan. Continue reading →

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Claire Bonham, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Ainscough, SEND, Stabilisation Plan, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

35 people evacuated as fire ripped through Belgrave Walk flats

Posted on July 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

‘Challenging conditions’: more than 100 firefighters attended the emergency scene in Mitcham yesterday

The cause of a fire on Belgrave Walk, Mitcham, yesterday which has forced 35 people out of their homes, is “under investigation”, according to the London Fire Brigade.

Around 125 firefighters and 25 fire engines were called out to the fire in a flat, under what the Brigade described as “challenging conditions”. Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, London Fire Brigade, London-wide issues | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Talks with the movies in August at the David Lean Cinema

Posted on July 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Continue reading →

Posted in Advertisement, Advertisement features, Art, Cinema, Community associations, David Lean Cinema Campaign | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Oh! What A Lovely War, Coulsdon Manor Hotel, Jul 29-Aug 7

Posted on July 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Continue reading →

Posted in Advertisement, Advertisement features, Art, Coulsdon, Music, Theatre, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry’s cycle lane sabotage looks to cost Croydon another £7m

Posted on July 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Transport correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, on how the council kept secret another devastating ruling over the Tory Mayor’s bungling over the borough’s roads 

Riding the risks: cycling in Croydon has got more dangerous under Tory Mayor Perry

Not content with making Croydon’s streets less healthy and more dangerous, Croydon’s failed Mayor Jason Perry has been costing Council Tax-payers millions of pounds due to his bungling over transport grants.

This all comes on top of the £10million fiasco over unlawful LTNs – low traffic neighbourhoods – which Perry was ordered to remove by a High Court judge who ruled that the Mayor had abused his powers by using the traffic calming measures as a money-making scheme for his cash-strapped council.

And now Transport for London wants its money back, after they funded a protected cycle lane along London Road where Perry ordered the “wands” to be removed. Perry never bothered to inform City Hall over his decision. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Council, Cycling, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Stuart King, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Charities team up with a festival of football for primary pupils

Posted on July 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

Sport for all: children from around 40 Croydon primaries s are invited to the Whitgift community summer school for a week of sport, academic and creative activities

Palace for Life, Crystal Palace FC’s charity arm, is taking part in a community summer school being staged in South Croydon next week, with club coaches staging a football festival as the grand finale for more than 150 children from local primary schools.

The community summer school is staged in the expansive grounds of Haling Park, the home of Whitgift School.

Now in its seventh year, the community summer school invites nine- and 10-year-olds from around 40 primary schools across the borough to spend a week at Whitgift, taking part in academic, creative and sporting activities, and getting a feel for what school life must be like at a large independent school.

The community summer school will see 168 children follow a timetable that includes computing to crafting, economics to Japanese and science to dance. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Charity, Crystal Palace FC, Education, Palace for Life Foundation, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carshalton Jazz Summer Festival, CryerArts Centre, Sat Aug 29

Posted on July 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Continue reading →

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Fun and free workshops, Clocktower and Wilderness, Aug 4-13

Posted on July 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Advertisement, Advertisement features, Art, CALAT, Education | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry’s latest bright idea: a begging letter to new PM Burnham

Posted on July 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After four years of record Council Tax rises and record borrowing from central government, the borough’s bungling Mayor appears to think that the new occupier of No10 Downing Street might solve his problems.
By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE

Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Mayor. clearly has too much time on his hands.

On £86,000 per year, piss-poor Perry has been reduced to turning up for photo-shoots with a pair of pantomime scissors to open public lavs, or to pinch a ride on a kiddies’ roundabout – jobs for which we are also paying a ceremonial mayor and deputy.

One year since the government parachuted in Commissioners because Perry and his dysfunctional council could not be trusted with the borough’s finances, and now the Mayor has so little to do, he’s taken up letter-writing.

On hearing that another local authority mayor, Andy Burnham, had managed to become Prime Minister, Perry thought it a good idea to write a begging letter to No10 Downing Street asking for yet more money. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

£130m Crystal Palace sports centre scheme is given go-ahead

Posted on July 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

Fresh start: with £130m of GLA funding behind it, work can now begin to refurbish the Crystal Palace sports centre

Bromley Council last night granted planning permission for a £130million refurbishment of the long-neglected sports centre at Crystal Palace, with plans backed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan that are to be funded by the Greater London Authority.

Councillors on Bromley’s planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the scheme.

The former National Sports Centre’s 50-metre swimming pool and diving pool have been dry for six years, since structural cracks were discovered in the Grade II*-listed building.

The athletics stadium, which was supposed to serve as a legacy centre for track and field after the 2012 Olympics, had been allowed to become overgrown and decayed since the London Games. The all-weather track was worn out, the indoor training hall regularly flooded, concrete in the stands was crumbling and even the floodlight pylons needed to be removed because they were in danger of collapsing. Continue reading →

Posted in Athletics, Basketball, Bromley Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Sport, Swimming, Tennis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

£1 kids’ tickets among summer offers from Great British Rail

Posted on July 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

Brighton beach memories: discounted rail tickets can help families have an awayday at the seaside or other attractions during the summer holidays

Britain’s publicly owned railways are offering big fare discounts this summer, “so everyone can enjoy a day out for less”.

Train journeys for as little as £1, cut-price family tickets, and on-board activities to keep everyone entertained are featured among the offers, ahead of Great British Railways being established next year, in what the government describes as “the greatest rail reform in a generation”. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, East Croydon, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three jailed over sawn-off shotgun shooting in New Addington

Posted on July 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

Three men from Croydon have been convicted in relation to an attempted murder, following a point-blank shooting in broad daylight using a sawn-off shotgun in New Addington in May 2025. Tevin Nzita and brothers Christopher and Anthony Da Sousa were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court yesterday to a combined total of 44 years in jail.

Arresting footage: armed police make the arrest of Tevin Nzita at his home in June 2025

Scotland Yard described the shooting as “a coordinated firearms attack on a man sitting in his car in a residential street”.

The victim, in his 30s, was ambushed while he was standing beside his parked car on Walsh Crescent around 7.30pm on May 21, 2025.

A car pulled up alongside him and one of the passengers got out. The victim moved into his car.

Two shots were fired, at close range. The first missed.

The gunman then ran around the victim’s car before firing a second shot through the driver’s side window, striking him in the chest. The victim, who has never been named by the police, was treated in hospital for injuries that were neither life-threatening nor life-changing. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, New Addington South, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inspectors rate Whitgift care home as ‘Requires improvement’

Posted on July 23, 2026 by insidecroydon

Whitgift House, the care home on Brighton Road in South Croydon run by the Whitgift Foundation, has been rated as “Requires improvement” following its most recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

Staff shortage: the CQC report has rated Whitgift House as ‘Requires improvement’

The CQC found “breaches of legal regulations” and heard from people at the home who “felt isolated in their rooms”.

The just-published inspection report says that Whitgift House requires improvement under the “Safe” category, as well as for the home’s leadership.

The CQC report comes four years after Inside Croydon published an account from one of our readers explaining how staying at Whitgift House left them feeling “scared” on several occasions.

That report said that the home’s management blamed a shortage of staff for the shortcomings identified by our reader. Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Care Homes, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

MP Jones survives the ins-and-outs of the Burnham reshuffle

Posted on July 23, 2026 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports on the varied fortunes of local MPs and some with notorious connections to Croydon Town Hall in the appointments by the new Prime Minister

In step: Croydon West MP Sarah Jones (here with Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley) has kept her minister’s job

There was no need for any vainglorious resignation letter from one of Croydon’s other Labour MPs as, unlike her erstwhile government colleague Steve Reed, Sarah Jones was confirmed to continue in her job as junior minister for police and crime at the Home Office.

But there was not such good news for other MPs with past connections to Croydon, and close connections to Lambeth and Morgan McSweeney.

Jones, an MP since 2017 who today represents Croydon West, says that she was given the news of her re-appointment to her government role in a phone call from Prime Minister Andy Burnham himself. The one-to-one calls to his entire ministerial team, and to some who declined jobs, was one of the reasons for this week’s reshuffle under the new MP for Makerfield taking so long.

“Delighted to be able to get on with the job as policing minister,” Jones posted on the Elon Musk hate platform late on Tuesday night. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon West, Hamida Ali, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment