Are you living next to a snake? Shocking figures on UK’s ‘pets’

Posted on February 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

There’s more chance of living next door to a snake in Croydon than in any other part of the country.

Poisonous neighbours: figures show 20 dangerous snakes, like this green mamba, registered at homes in Croydon

Yep: not just your common or garden poisonous neighbour, but a full-on, potentially deadly, venomous snake could be living on your street, as Croydon is one of the areas with most dangerous animals registered in this country.

According to research published today by the Born Free Foundation, the international wildlife charity, Croydon has at least 20 highly dangerous snakes registered at residential homes in the borough, being kept entirely legally as “pets”. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Business, Charity, Croydon Council, Environment, London-wide issues, Surrey, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Glasner the Glazier lays out his footballing philosophy

Posted on February 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

Glasner arrives at the Glaziers: Palace’s new manager has given his first interview since his appointment at Selhurst Park

The transition, from Selhurst Park old boy (in all senses) to continental modern game thinker, was smoother than anyone had expected under the circumstances.

But in his first interview since being appointed successor to Roy Hodgson as manager at Crystal Palace, Oliver Glasner has revealed that he had been in discussions about taking the job last autumn. He’d even gone along to watch one of Palace’s games earlier this season. It’s just that when the moment came, it was all about three months sooner than was planned.

The 49-year-old from Salzburg – the Sound of Music city – who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, has been out of work since summer 2023. By last month, talks with Palace chairman Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman, the director of football, were well advanced, and Glasner says he liked what he’d heard. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Oliver Glasner, Sport, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Constable is charged with sexual assault on Sutton cadet

Posted on February 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

Andy Brittain, the Met Police’s Borough Commander, was forced to send a letter of apology yesterday to parents in Sutton who had entrusted their children to the police cadets.

Charged: PC Grant Fulker denied abuse charges

PC Grant Fulker was arrested on Monday and appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with sexual assault on a male aged over 13; abuse of position of trust (incite sexual activity with the complainant and also with a second cadet) and misconduct in a public office.

Fulker denied all charges, except the misconduct charge.

He will appear at Southwark Crown Court on March 20. Until then, he remains remanded in custody, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct has been called in. Continue reading →

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, London-wide issues, Policing, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Woodcote High parents and pupils shocked by head’s exit

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: A dispute with a former headteacher is being linked to the abrupt exit of their successor at a Coulsdon secondary school.
By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent

Staff, pupils and parents at Woodcote High were left shocked yesterday after the school’s head quit her job just two days after the return from the spring half-term break.

Interim arrangements made by the governing academy trust, The Collegiate Trust, will have a knock-on effect at two of its other schools in South Croydon.

Kirstie Woodcock had been principal at Woodcote since 2021, and worked on the teaching staff there for 16 years. In a letter to parents and carers sent yesterday, Woodcock wrote of her “mixed emotions” that she was announcing her decision and how it is “bittersweet” that she was leaving. With immediate effect.

Not unreasonably, some interpreted this as meaning that Woodcock was not leaving of her own volition. Late February is not usually the time in a school year when senior teaching staff make abrupt departures. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Education, Quest Academy, Riddlesdown, Schools, Woodcote High | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

How TfL’s changes to 10 Croydon bus routes will affect you

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

There’s major changes coming to 10 bus routes serving the south of Croydon, including Purley, Coulsdon, Kenley and South Croydon, as well as Sutton and Wallington, coming into effect on Saturday March 2.

Here’s TfL’s blow-by-blow breakdown of their bus route changes:

Routes 455, 166, 312 and S4

Route 455

Route 455 will be withdrawn. Use alternative bus routes. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Council, Environment, KENDRA, Kenley, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Neil Garratt, Purley, Purley Way, Schools, South Croydon, Sutton Council, TfL, Transport, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Goodbye Route 455… it’s been a long, long journey. Too long

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: There’s more than a touch of an old Morecambe and Wise gag about the extensive changes to 10 bus routes in Croydon and Sutton: ‘TfL has chosen all the right routes, just not the right roads’.
By JEREMY CLACKSON, transport correspondent

End of the line: the 455 between Wallington and Old Coulsdon, via Purley, will operate for a final time on Mar 1

Significant changes are coming to 10 bus routes through Croydon and Sutton from March 2, including the complete withdrawal of the somewhat rambling 455 route.

The changes have been under consideration by Transport for London for at least three years, and despite lengthy consultation and a couple of re-thinks, concerns have been raised that maybe, just maybe, the finalised plans might not work, at least not for the passengers who rely on the public transport to get around.

Although the proposed changes are just 10 days away, TfL’s comms department only managed to issue a formal listing of the various changes yesterday. A briefing on the details of the changes has been promised, but not until some time next week. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Council, Environment, KENDRA, Kenley, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Neil Garratt, Purley, Purley Way, Schools, South Croydon, Sutton Council, TfL, Transport, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Help police with their enquiries: do the stop and search survey

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

The Metropolitan Police is seeking the views of Londoners on stop and search through a new survey.

What do you think?: Young black men are four times as likely to be subject to stop and search as white Londoners

The survey asks Londoners what they think about stop and search practises to help inform a charter between local communities and the Met.

It represents an unusual, and long overdue, opportunity for the vast majority of Croydon’s residents to have some direct input to the way the borough is policed. Croydon’s Safer Neighbourhood Board, which is supposed to be a kind of liaison committee between the council and local police, and also a forum for the public, according to the council’s own figures, has not held a single meeting since November… 2019.

The stop and search survey is part of the “New Met for London plan”, under which the Metropolitan Police says that it “is resetting its relationship with London’s communities”. Continue reading →

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Supermarket Aldi is recruiting 240 for jobs across London

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

Aldi is looking to hire 230 people from across Greater London as the company opens new stores and update others.

Recruitment drive: Aldi is looking to fill hundreds of job vacancies

Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket is on the lookout for people of all levels of experience to fill roles across the region, with salaries of up to £65,995.

The roles include full and part-time positions such as store assistant and stock assistant, all the way up to store manager.

Aldi expects to create more than 5,500 jobs up and down the country in 2024.

Store and warehouse assistants at Aldi receive a starting salary of £12.00 rising to £12.95 nationally, while those working within the M25 receive £13.55, rising to £13.85.

“Our colleagues work incredibly hard and they are without a doubt a huge part of our success at Aldi,” said Aldi UK’s CEO, Giles Hurley. Continue reading →

Posted in Business | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Enter Brands Hatch race day and help children’s cancer trust

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

The late spring bank holiday in May sees Brands Hatch, one of the world’s premier race circuits, play host to an extra special sporting event, as the Chartwell Children’s Cancer Trust will be bringing hundreds of people together to raise funds in the fight against cancer.

The Chartwell Children’s Cancer Trust is a small, dynamic charity working to support oncology patients and families living with cancer and leukaemia, in collaboration with hospitals across London. It was the Chartwell Trust’s fund-raising through its Lily Pad Appeal that provided a vital £750,000 towards the building and equipping of the new children’s wing at Croydon’s Mayday Hospital.

The charity is calling on people from across London and the south-east to join them on May 27 in the biggest ever fundraiser in their history – with a chance to cycle, run or amble around Brands Hatch in Fawkham, Kent, raising sponsorship money for charity. Continue reading →

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South Croydon care company given ‘inadequate’ CQC rating

Posted on February 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

GGW Care Ltd, a care service provider that operates out of a small industrial estate in South Croydon, has been placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection conducted last October.

The Home Office has also removed GGW Care’s visa sponsorship licence for “not following their rules”, as a result of the CQC’s findings.

The dozens of elderly clients who were receiving GGW Care’s services “weren’t always safe”, according to the CQC, due to recruitment issues “which could lead to having unqualified or inappropriate staff working with people”.

The CQC inspectors found, “Some people weren’t always being given their medicines safely, or sometimes at all.” Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Health, South Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BINMAGEDDON: Mayor’s secret plan to charge £5 per new bin

Posted on February 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

Rubbish service: Croydon Council wants to charge a £15 ‘admin fee’ when residents have to replace their wheelie bins – whether the council contractors have broken the bins or not

CROYDON IN CRISIS: New impacts of living in a bankrupt borough are emerging with every passing day. The latest is the ‘rationing’ of new wheelie bins for residents. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

£82k-£30k=…: Jason Perry, Croydon’s expensive but rubbish Mayor

Jason Perry, Croydon’s rubbish Mayor, plans to compound his 21% Council Tax increase over two years by a new “rationing” scheme for the borough’s wheelies, which from April will see residents charged £5 a time for new bins in an effort that will save the council… less than half the cost of his own annual Mayoral salary.

Perry is paid £82,000 per year for his role as the borough’s executive Mayor.

Among his latest wizard wheezes for dealing with Croydon’s £1.4billion toxic debt is an “admin fee” for handling residents’ requests for new bins, which he reckons will save the council a relatively piddling £30,000 per year. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Murderers given life sentences for killing of Farhad Khalili

Posted on February 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

A man and a teenager who ambushed a man in Kingston and stabbed him to death have been given life sentences.

Murderer: Sean Deery encouraged a ‘little cousin’ to join him in the ambush

The attack was planned by Sean Deery, who was joined by Sebastian Niven, who was aged just 15 at the time of the murder in December 2021.

Farhad Khalili, 32, was murdered as he walked home from a kebab shop – the motive of the killers still uncertain even following an Old Bailey murder trial which saw Deery and Niven sentenced yesterday.

The attack happened at around 7pm on December 15 2021 as Khalili walked along Surbiton Crescent. As he approached the junction of Anglesea Road, he was ambushed.

Farhad was stabbed several times and managed to stagger to Surbiton Road where he collapsed. Police, London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance attended but despite their best efforts, Farhad died at the scene.

What the Metropolitan Police called “a quick-time review of CCTV” identified both Deery and Niven attacking Farhad. Deery had been detained after being wrongly identified as a suspect in a separate robbery that took place in nearby Portsmouth Road, Kingston shortly before the attack on Farhad. Continue reading →

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

New Addington and Beckenham trams to close for a month

Posted on February 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

There is to be another “significant closure” of a large part of the tram network for “vital” works which will see all services east of East Croydon Station suspended for almost four weeks. A senior figure at Transport for London has stressed that “these works must take place at the earliest opportunity”.

Off track: the latest two-week network closure is about to be followed by one lasting a month

From Friday, March 29 (Good Friday) to April 24, no trams will run from East Croydon to New Addington, Elmers End and Beckenham Junction.

This latest closure for “essential” engineering works follows close on the latest, two-week closure of the central Croydon tram loop, which has been closed for 10 days and where works are expected to continue all this week.

The next set of maintenance works on the track “will take place at two key locations, East Croydon and Sandilands Junction”, according to a TfL spokesperson. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, East Croydon, TfL, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Candlelit vigil for Palestine, Vicar’s Oak, Crystal Palace, Feb 25

Posted on February 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Activities, Community associations | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hodgson ‘steps aside’ in a Palace farewell tinged with regrets

Posted on February 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

Crystal Palace go into tonight’s “relegation six-pointer” at Everton with Roy Hodgson no longer the manager of his boyhood club.

Farewell: Roy Hodgson this afternoon announced he was ‘stepping aside’ as Palace boss

The Eagles issued a statement this afternoon to confirm that 76-year-old Hodgson, now out of hospital following his collapse at the Beckenham training ground last Thursday, would be “stepping aside”.

It was, perhaps, along the lines of what Hodgson had intended to announce himself last week before he was rushed to hospital, the second time this season that he had endured a “health scare”.

The decision for the manager to leave, made by the club as much as Hodgson himself, follows a dire run of results that had soured his relationship with some fans, as characterised by The Athletic website as “a romance that ended in regrets”.

Ray Lewington, Hodgson’s long-standing loyal lieutenant, and Paddy McCarthy will be in the dug-out at Goodison tonight, while up in the directors’ box, alongside chairman Steve Parish, is expected to be Oliver Glasner, Hodgson’s chosen successor. To all intents and purposes, the Austrian has already started work as Palace manager, having been spotted at the weekend scouting Tottenham, one of the club’s next league opponents. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Oliver Glasner, Roy Hodgson, Sport, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disruption for six months as Sydenham Road bridge is closed

Posted on February 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

From the nice people in charge of Britain’s national rail network who once gave us “the wrong kind of snow”, Sydenham Road in central Croydon has become an unannounced and unexpected Low Traffic Neighbourhood, with the abrupt closure of the 100-year-old-plus railway bridge midway along the road.

No through road: the signs and blockages went up on Sydenham Road just before the weekend

Sydenham Road is the connecting route between the heart of Selhurst and central Croydon.

It has previously been noted for being a gentle cut-through between Selhurst and East Croydon that once boasted three pubs (including the former Bird in Hand and Duke of Gloucester) and two schools, a range of shops at one end and a solitary shop at the other.

But the road bridge that crosses the West Croydon to Norwood Junction line carrying Southern Railway and TfL’s “Windrush line” Overground trains is crumbling.

Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Cycling, East Croydon, Norwood Junction, Selhurst, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

‘Crumbling concrete’ keeps Redhill’s Harlequin Theatre closed

Posted on February 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

A council-owned theatre in Redhill is to remain closed for an indefinite period because of “the extensive presence” of “crumbling concrete”, or RAAC – reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Curtain down: the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill is to remain closed for an indefinite period

The Harlequin Theatre and cinema closed four months ago because of concerns raised about the construction materials used when it was built in 1986.

The 500-seater venue, the only cinema in Redhill, underwent a year-long refurbishment in 2018.

Reigate and Banstead Council says it is now exploring its options for the rest of the spring and into the summer. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cinema, Redhill, Reigate and Banstead Council, Surrey, Theatre | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Johnson takes football director role at non-league club Athletic

Posted on February 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

Andrew Johnson, the former England and Palace striker, has been appointed as director of football at the non-league club bought by Stormzy and Wilf Zaha last summer.

Proven goal-scorer: Andrew Johnson in his Palace playing days

Croydon Athletic made the announcement on Sunday evening, saying that Johnson has “a deep connection to the area and a passion for seeing local football thrive. Now, he’s bringing that same energy to AFC Croydon Athletic”.

The announcement also hinted that the club might opt to buy (“future-proof”) their Mayfield Road Stadium in Thornton Heath from Croydon’s cash-strapped council. Continue reading →

Posted in AFC Croydon Athletic, Andrew Johnson, Crystal Palace FC, Football, Sport, Thornton Heath, Wilfried Zaha | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Dickensian tale which adds extra Phiz to its Croydon twist

Posted on February 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A careful search of the registers at Croydon Minster by DAVID MORGAN has uncovered a new and exciting link between the church and Charles Dickens

Looks familiar?: Phiz’s illustration for Dickens’s novel David Copperfield may have been based on the interior of Croydon Parish Church

It has been known for almost 200 years that Charles Dickens, the great Victorian author, initially used the pen name “Boz” when beginning his writing career, with his Sketches by “Boz”, short stories that were originally published in various periodicals between 1833 and 1836 before being gathered together for publication in book form.

And with these stories, and his later novels, there were usually illustrations to help the reader better picture some of the scenes Dickens laid out in his writing.

The accuracy of the illustrations was of the utmost importance to Dickens, as the drawings portrayed the characters just as he envisioned them and gave readers valuable insights about the characters’ personalities and motives, as well as the plot.

Dickens worked closely with several illustrators and engravers during his career, including George Cruikshank and John Leech, and another who adopted a nom de plume of his own: Phiz. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Broad Green, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Even Torygraph has turned on Croydon’s U-turning Tory Mayor

Posted on February 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

Our transport correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, reports on how national publications are wising up to part-time Perry’s hypocrisy and lies

It’s a sign: Piss-poor Perry’s been outed as a liar by the Tories’ in-house newspaper

Tory Jason Perry, Croydon’s £82,000 per year part-time Mayor, has today come under attack from the unlikeliest of sources: the Sunday Torygraph, regarded as the Conservative Party’s in-house newspaper.

The far-right national newspaper has picked up on Perry’s decision, passed by his council cabinet this week, to make six of the borough’s LTNs permanent installations, to the fury of hundreds of motorists who struggle to read or comply with road signs.

As Inside Croydon has already reported, “Having boasted to voters when seeking election that he would roll back some of the poorly implemented LTNs – low-traffic neighbourhoods – that were introduced during the 2020 covid lockdown, at this week’s council cabinet meeting, Croydon’s Mayor approved plans to make permanent six LTNs (now called “healthy neighbourhood” schemes) at Albert Road, Dalmally Road, Elmers Road, Holmesdale Road, Sutherland Road and Parsons Mead.

“For poor old, pro-car Perry… it’s beginning to look a lot like blatant hypocrisy.” Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Croydon Bach Choir sings Mozart and Haydn, Park Hill, Mar 23

Posted on February 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

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(Pub)lic House, premiere and a pint, Whitgift Centre, Mar 2

Posted on February 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Activities, Pubs | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Cash-strapped council misses out on millions in travel grants

Posted on February 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

Our transport correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, on how Mayor Perry’s pro-pollution, pro-car agenda has left Croydon pot-less, again

Clueless: Croydon Mayor Jason Perry

Croydon, under pro-pollution Perry, its elected Mayor, is the only borough in the whole of London that has failed to apply for new funding for cycleways while also failing to seek extra money for bus priority schemes.

Jason Perry’s pro-car agenda for Croydon – his costly PCN Fiasco notwithstanding – has been roundly criticised as “being clueless on what is literally a matter of life and death”, after a report from a London Assembly Member exposed the complete absence of any funding applications for important pollution-reducing measures on his watch.

Research by Sian Berry AM has found that while hard-working council officials in many other boroughs put in successful bids for funding from Transport for London, the boroughs of Lewisham, Brent, Greenwich, Kingston upon Thames and Croydon proposed no new funding for cycleways.

And they also discovered that there were no new proposals for bus priority from the City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Havering, Merton and Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, Commuting, Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, Croydon Council, Croydon Cycling Campaign, Cycling, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Sian Berry, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Rewire: free youth mental health summit, Stanley Halls, Feb 24

Posted on February 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Health, South Norwood, Stanley Halls | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Croydon Whitgift Rotary Quiz Night, South Croydon, Feb 24

Posted on February 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

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