Frith Road murder victim is named while second man arrested

Posted on June 2, 2025 by insidecroydon

Scotland Yard this afternoon named the woman murdered on Frith Road on Saturday morning as 26-year-old Marjama Osman.

Murder victim: Marjama Osman

The police also revealed that they have now arrested two men, both on suspicion of murder, though both have been released on bail.

Neighbours and friends of Osman described her as “smiley and bubbly” and “lovely young woman”. They said she lived alone in a flat on Frith Road, but immediately before her death, they had heard her screaming for help before a neighbour called the police.

Another local resident told Metro that they had seen “a furious argument” taking place on the street between three people: “There was very loud arguing, it was very aggressive. There were three people: a woman and two men.” Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

£1,000 per day ‘Interim Adam’ lands Croydon planning job

Posted on June 2, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council has made no announcement about who has taken over the borough’s top planning job, but this website has discovered that Heather Cheesbrough’s stand-in replacement is an ‘interim specialist’ who has pocketed more than £500,000 in severance deals from other local authorities. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Yorkshire grit: Adam Wilkinson has done the rounds of local authorities – sometimes working for two at the same time

It has been two months since Heather Cheesbrough left her £130,000 per year job as Croydon Council’s “director of planning and sustainable regeneration”.

Yet there has been no official announcement, no press release nor any photo op with gurning Mayor Jason Perry welcoming her replacement.

There may be good reason for that.

Inside Croydon has conducted a preliminary check on the career record of Adam Wilkinson and discovered a litany of often short-stay, usually very lucrative posts in local government where Croydon’s recently appointed “interim director of planning and strategic planning” has pocketed more than £500,000 in golden handshakes and settlement payments, in addition to his very generous wages and pension pot.

As an “interim”, it could well be that Wilkinson is only working as the most senior official in Croydon’s planning department for a brief period, until a permanent successor for Cheesbrough can be found (though the council’s HR department will have had three month’s notice of the exec’s departure to identify the right candidate).

And as a stand-in, Wilkinson could be paid on terms at the cash-strapped council that include fees of close to £1,000 per day. It is, after all, the kind of deal that Wilkinson has secured for himself in previous positions. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Adam Wilkinson, Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Where Mayor Perry has failed, squatters have opened park café

Posted on June 2, 2025 by insidecroydon

Squatters have taken over the café in Wandle Park.

Open for business: squatters have served more teas and coffees in Wandle Park over the past fortnight than all of Croydon’s politicians have managed to achieve in five years

And they have been making a better job of serving the community than the council has managed in more than five years.

Mayor Jason Perry first promised to have the café re-opened by 2023. But that year came and went, and so too has 2024, without a can of fizzy pop or an ice cream being sold in the park.

Earlier this year, Perry said that he would re-open the purpose-built café, and importantly the park’s toilets, by May. May has come and gone, and the café has not re-opened – at least not in any form that Mayor Perry had intended.

This is after three years of the council trying, and failing, to find an operator willing to take on the onerous task of managing a café in Wandle Park, which has gained an unwelcome reputation for anti-social behaviour and drug-dealing.

Sources at Fisher’s Folly suggest that the principle reason that Mayor Perry has broken another of his promises is that the terms demanded by the council, as the café landlord, are unrealistic for any operator to make a profit. And any operator would also need to maintain and clean the park’s toilets, into the bargain. Continue reading →

Posted in Broad Green, Business, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Friends of Wandle Park, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Waddon, Wandle Park | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Croydon’s man of adventure who founded New Zealand town

Posted on June 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

Jumping trout: the New Zealand town of Gore, famed for its fishing, has subsumed the Victorian settlement called Croydon, named after its founder’s childhood home

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Of the various places called ‘Croydon’ around the world, the one on New Zealand’s south island has a particularly well-recorded history, as DAVID MORGAN found out

Frontiersman: Nathaniel Chalmers was a Victorian adventurer

Nathaniel Chalmers was a pioneer and a frontiersman, one of the people in the Victorian era who left their home in the relative safety of Croydon to pursue a new life, and fortune, overseas.

Born in Scotland in 1830, Chalmers grew up in Croydon after his father moved south to take up an appointment to the staff of the East India College in Addiscombe. Once he was of school age, Nathaniel was sent to Christ’s Hospital School, then in the City of London, where he became a “Blue Coat”.

After leaving school aged 15, he went to work in a shipbroker’s office in Liverpool. In 1847, he got a position in the London branch of the Royal Bank of Australia.

Two years later, in 1849, Nathaniel and Gerit, his brother, made their life-changing decision and boarded SS Ajax bound for Otago, New Zealand. Continue reading →

Posted in David Morgan, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Man arrested in Frith Road stabbing murder investigation

Posted on June 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

Cordoned off: passers-by and Saturday morning shoppers gathered at the Church Street end of Frith Road as the police began their murder investigation

A woman in her 20s was killed and a man in his 30s was taken to hospital for urgent treatment before being arrested on suspicion of murder after what the Metropolitan Police described as “an isolated incident” on Frith Road in central Croydon yesterday morning.

Neither victim nor the suspect have yet been named by the police.

The scene, close to Surrey Street market and near the junction with Church Street, remained cordoned off most of Saturday, as the police conducted their murder investigation. “Those in the area can expect to see a police presence throughout the weekend,” a Met statement said. Continue reading →

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Delve into the history of Crystal Palace Park in a day of talks

Posted on June 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

Formidable history: the Crystal Palace towered over south London for more than 70 years – here, it is pictured in around 1935, the year before it was engulfed in a terrible fire

There is to be a “Festival of Park Talks” and a volunteer fair in Crystal Palace Park on Saturday June 14.

Suitable for children and adults, the day includes talks about the park’s history from local experts.

There will be stalls from various community and charity organisations offering volunteer opportunities, and there’s free refreshments, snacks and delicious vegetarian and vegan small bites on offer. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Friends of Crystal Palace Park, History | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sanderstead Horticultural Society Summer Show, June 21

Posted on June 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

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Old Palace up for ‘wellbeing’ award just weeks before closure

Posted on May 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The fee-paying girls’ school in Old Town has been shortlisted for a prize at a national awards event to be staged at a 5-star hotel where tickets cost £245 per head. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent

With little more than a month before it is due to close its gates for the final time after 136 years, Old Palace School is up for an award.

Prize time: Old Palace is shortlisted for one of 23 prizes to be dished out on the night

The girls’ fee-paying independent school is to close at the end of the summer term, after the controversial decision taken by its owners, the Whitgift Foundation.

Yet at the Times Education Supplement Schools Awards, due to be presented at a glitzy ceremony in a plush 5-star hotel on London’s Park Lane on June 20, Old Palace has been short-listed in the category of “Staff Wellbeing School of the Year”. Trebles all-round!

Yes, that’s right. A school which is making all of what’s left of its teaching staff redundant is receiving plaudits for “wellbeing”, however that might be judged… Continue reading →

Posted in Jane Burton, Old Palace, Red Gates School, Schools, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Knife attack on Frith Road in broad daylight claims two victims

Posted on May 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

MURDER IN THE MARKET: The latest violent stabbing incident off Surrey Street, thought to have claimed the life of one victim, has raised further concerns about crime levels in central Croydon 

Crime scene: there was a large police presence and several ambulances called to the scene on Frith Road shortly after 9am

Inside Croydon has received eyewitness reports of a knife attack in central Croydon this morning. A man has been detained in custody, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The eyewitness reports suggest that there were two victims of the attack, one of them a fatality.

The attack appears to have taken place in an alleyway off Frith Road, close to a branch of Subway and opposite the Holiday Inn Express hotel. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Broadkasters at The Oval Tavern, Sun June 1, free entry

Posted on May 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Addiscombe West, Art, Music, Pubs | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Chilcott: Croydon Bach Choir, Jun 21

Posted on May 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

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Superdry closure is the latest nail in Whitgift Centre’s coffin

Posted on May 30, 2025 by insidecroydon

With every passing announcement of the latest closure, nails are being hammered into the coffin of Croydon’s sadly declining Whitgift Centre.

Next nail in the coffin: Superdry in the Whitgift Centre is running a 50% off closing down sale

The latest exit is that of Superdry, the shop selling the premium British fashion brand that occupies a large, prestige site overlooking the central square.

Once Unit 153-155 of the Croydon shopping centre empties of Superdry, loyal customers will face a trek to Oxford Street, or to Kingston or Bromley, to try on the casualwear and 100% organic cotton jeans for which the brand is famous.

The store is currently operating a 50% off closing down sale – not unlike much of Croydon’s town centre shopping area, it seems.

The closure of Superdry follows Monsoon, Sainsbury’s and Body Shop among some of the premium brands to have quit Croydon’s once-renowned shopping centre. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Housing, Mayor of London, Property, Secret Cinema, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

SuperLoop route to Heathrow will continue to serve Croydon

Posted on May 30, 2025 by insidecroydon

Heathrow-bound: the SL7 is one of three SuperLoop routes introduced in 2023 which link Croydon to outer and central London

The SL7 SuperLoop bus that runs the near-marathon length route from West Croydon to Heathrow Airport has been given a reprieve.

Draft proposals to reduce the route, and have it start only from Sutton, with the SL5 extended from Bromley through Croydon to Sutton, were leaked last year amid suggestions that the long journey times in built-up traffic were seeing the electric buses running low on fuel. Continue reading →

Posted in Bromley Council, Commuting, East Croydon, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Outside Croydon, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, TfL, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

NHS makes London-wide appeal for O Negative blood donors

Posted on May 30, 2025 by insidecroydon

The NHS is appealing to thousands of “missing” blood donors across London to come forward urgently, as it warns that supplies of O Negative blood are critically low.

NHS Blood and Transplant has revealed there are 4,303 donors in the capital with the vital O Negative blood type whose last donation was more than 12 months ago.

It is calling on these donors to come forward urgently to help rebuild supplies after a combination of factors have left this crucial blood type under particular pressure.

Gerry Gogarty, director of blood supply for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Our ‘missing’ O Negative donors in London have the power to relieve the pressure on supplies of this vital blood type. Continue reading →

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Police issue appeal after double exposure on Superloop bus

Posted on May 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

The Metropolitan Police are seeking witnesses to come forward over two reported incidences of a man exposing himself while on a Superloop bus heading for Sutton.

Police appeal: the Met wants to know if you can identify this man

Detectives have issued an image the man they would like to speak to in relation to “two exposure offences”.

The police say, “An investigation remains on-going into the circumstances.”

The man is alleged to have exposed himself to a group of young girls on Tuesday April 1 and Tuesday April 8 while on a SL7 bus travelling towards Sutton.

In a statement issued by the Met, they say that on April 1 between 2.30pm and 4.30pm “the man allegedly exposed his buttocks to a group of girls. It was reported that the man then started to smack himself while he was exposed”. Continue reading →

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Cup final captain Thomas gets back on his bike to fight cancer

Posted on May 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

Geoff Thomas, the former Crystal Palace captain, is setting off to ride the Tour de France route next month, 20 years since he first completed the arduous test of cycling endurance.

Summer mission: at 60, Geoff Thomas has overcome knee injury to get back on his bike

Former England midfielder Thomas will once again will be raising vital funds for Cure Leukaemia, as he continues to pay tribute to the medical staff and scientists who helped him to overcome chronic myeloid leukaemia 20 years ago.

Thomas, the Palace captain in the 1990 FA Cup final, having recovered from the excitement of the 2025 edition, was yesterday, Thomas was out for a training spin with his father. “Starting to get serious,” he said. “The Cure Leukaemia London to Paris next week then the biggy later in June – The Tour 21.” Continue reading →

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Labour’s task looks tough amid finance and membership woes

Posted on May 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

A different opposition: Jeremy Corbyn appeared before 30,000 music fans at Brockwell Park in south London last Friday

As Britain’s long-established political duopoly fractures, ANDREW FISHER looks at what that could mean for Croydon at its next local elections in 2026

For the past 100 years two parties have dominated British politics: the Conservatives and Labour.

55 quid for Wes Streeting?: Croydon Labour has gone all black tie to raise funds

Since the inception of the London Borough of Croydon in 1965, our council has also been dominated by the Tories and Labour. In those 60 years, the Conservatives dominated the Town Hall Chamber for the first 30, while Labour started to gain the upper hand in the last 30 years.

Currently, Labour has the most councillors in Croydon (34 out of 70), but crucially the Conservatives narrowly won the inaugural mayoral contest in 2022, giving them control of the council.

Those elections three years ago showed the first cracks emerging in the Croydon duopoly, with the Greens winning two council seats and the Liberal Democrats one – both at Labour’s expense.

But national politics has fractured even more since then, with Reform and the Liberal Democrats making serious inroads into the Conservative vote, while the Greens have made some gains, too. At the 2024 General Election last July, Labour’s vote actually declined, but the Conservative implosion masked the party’s own weakness. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Something doesn’t sniff right as security firm breaks the law

Posted on May 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Industry body says it is ‘appalled’ at the search of football fans outside Selhurst Park by staff from a private security company who failed to show their ID and licence, as is required by the law.
PETER GILLMAN investigates

On patrol: a sniffer dog at work at a recent Crystal Palace game. Staff from the private security firm hired by the football club have not always properly identified themselves

A two-month investigation on behalf of this website has found that InvictaK9, the private security company hired by Crystal Palace to operate sniffer-dog searches at Selhurst Park, has broken the law controlling the use of detection dogs.

But enforcement of the law over the use of sniffer dogs – commonly used to screen for drugs or weapons – is a seemingly under-controlled area, with Scotland Yard unable to provide any clear policy statement regarding how Metropolitan Police officers are expected to work alongside private security firms, or ensure that they are operating legally. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Crystal Palace FC, Football, Inside Croydon, London-wide issues, Peter Gillman, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mozart Players seek new CEO as Le Brocq leaves for Rutland

Posted on May 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

The London Mozart Players, the classical orchestra notionally based at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, is seeking a new chief executive.

Final movement: Flynn Le Brocq is leaving his job at the London Mozart Players in August

The orchestra has announced that Flynn Le Brocq, who has been CEO since 2021, is to leave in August, having accepted a new job as director of admissions at the large private boarding school, Uppingham in Rutland.

“It has been an absolute privilege to lead this wonderful orchestra,” Le Brocq said in a statement issued on his behalf this morning.

“LMP’s culture is truly special and that is down to the incredible versatility and creativity of both our players and management team. Continue reading →

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Trinity pupils Go For Gold in BAFTA’s computer games awards

Posted on May 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

Two boys at Trinity School have made it into the finals of BAFTA’s Young Game Designer of the Year Awards.

Dungeon task: a screen grab from the Trinity pupils’ ‘Go For Gold’ game

It is the second year running that Sam Kingston and Sebastian Heitz have made it to the finals of these prestigious national awards organised by BAFTA – the British Academy for Film and Television Arts.

Their 2025 entry, “For the Gold” follows the same art style of their previous shortlisted project “RoboRogue”, but has very different mechanics.

Developed during Coding Club at the independent school in Shirley Park, Kingston and Heitz say that they have taken a novel approach to their gameplay, “where the player takes charge of an army and their goal is to vanquish opposing armies”. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Education, Schools, Trinity School | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Transport Museum reaches a new stage with children’s theatre

Posted on May 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

All aboard: Hattie Manton and James Georgiou star in the new kids’ theatre production Transport Explorers at the Transport Museum in Covent Garden

A new theatre show is being premiered at the Transport Museum in Covent Garden this half-term week, aimed at children aged between five and 11. Transport Explorers: A Live Show runs in the Cubic Theatre through to June 1.

The show will then reopen to run during school holidays for the remainder for the year. Continue reading →

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June’s films at The David Lean Cinema, Croydon Clocktower

Posted on May 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Art, Cinema, David Lean Cinema Campaign | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Carers Centre users claim to be excluded from CQC inspection

Posted on May 27, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: An internal council memo warns staff to be on their best behaviour in Fisher’s Folly while inspectors from the Care Quality Commission are on the premises this week, looking into the borough’s adult social care provision. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Office space has been cleared and meeting rooms booked, as staff from the Care Quality Commission arrived at the council offices in Fisher’s Folly this morning for a three-day inspection of Croydon’s adult social care services, including support for the borough’s carers.

The inspection comes little more than a month since the cash-strapped council began working with new contractors, Carers First, and placed the future of the Croydon Carers’ Centre on George Street in jeopardy, against the wishes of dozens of hard-working carers who depend on its support and services.

According to an internal memo to staff from Annette McPartland, Croydon’s corporate director for adult social care and health, which has been seen by Inside Croydon, “It’s the first time adult social care and health services in the UK have been inspected for a number of years.” So the CQC inspectors might be in for a bit of a shock, then… Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Annette McPartland, Carers First, Charity, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

After 120-year wait, it was tears of joy at Palace’s parade party

Posted on May 27, 2025 by insidecroydon

On the buses: the parade route may have been short, but there was no shortage of affection from the Eagles fans along Whitehorse Lane

Inside Croydon’s PETER GILLMAN followed the team from Wembley to SE25 for yesterday’s outpouring of joy at the Palace victory parade

Even now, it seemed unreal. Here we were on a packed Whitehorse Lane yesterday, waiting for the Crystal Palace Cup Final victory parade. The morning radio news bulletin I heard was all about Liverpool and Arsenal staging their parades, but nothing about south London’s Palace  celebrating the greatest triumph in the club’s history.

The parade was due at 12.45 and the minutes passed  –  and then, at 1.15 on the Bank Holiday Monday, a commotion further up the road told us it was underway. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Eberechi Eze, Football, Holmesdale Fanatics, Inside Croydon, Oliver Glasner, Peter Gillman, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

TfL to increase central London Congestion Charge by 20%

Posted on May 27, 2025 by insidecroydon

Transport for London wants to increase the Congestion Charge for driving in central London to £18 from January 2026, it has been announced today.

The capital’s transport authority is running a public consultation through the summer which includes proposals for a new Cleaner Vehicle Discount to incentivise the uptake of what they call “the cleanest possible vehicles”.

The 20% increase in the Congestion Charge, from the current £15, is the first since 2020. TfL wants then to increase the charge annually, in line with inflation, in the same way that public transport fares increase. The increase would apply to the Congestion Charge, but not ULEZ, TfL says.

TfL says that research shows that London could see an extra 2,200 vehicles on an average weekday without these proposed changes. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Cycling, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Seb Dance, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments