Political Editor WALTER CRONXITE on the latest instance where the MP for Croydon North has bent the rules
Hard hat: Steve Reed OBE did a round of broadcast interviews to get his fly-tipping announcement out just before elections
Steve Reed OBE, the environment secretary, has been accused of breaking strict purdah rules with his announcement of a crackdown on fly-tipping on the eve of today’s local elections across England.
Regulations already require waste operators to be licensed, and they are also subject to fines and other penalties if found to have broken existing laws.
But local authorities are under-resourced to enforce the law as its stands. Now Reed is calling for greater use of CCTV cameras, even remote-controlled drones, to track down cowboy operators who could face jail terms of up to five years.
Reed’s announcement, released late on Tuesday, has been challenged as a breach of pre-election purdah – when public resources are supposed to not be used in case they influence voters’ decisions at the ballot box. Continue reading
JEREMY CLACKSON, transport correspondent, on the troubling but entirely obvious findings of recently published scientific research
Deadly presence: researchers studied the impact of 680,000 road traffic collisions
“Chelsea tractors”, those super-sized vehicles that take up extra road space and gobble up more than their share of parking bays, are also deadlier to pedestrians and cyclists, especially children, when involved in collisions, research has confirmed.
In children under 10, researchers at the University of London found that the risk of death was 130% higher if they are hit by an SUV. Continue reading
A 24-year-old man has been arrested following a fatal stabbing in Mitcham on Monday night.
Around 7.30pm on Monday, police were called to an address in Maple Close, off Oakleigh Way, Eastfields. A 39-year-old man was treated at the scene for stab injuries and taken to hospital, but died of his wounds.
The police say that they have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. He was taken into custody after attending a south London police station on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading
Sanjana Idnani, who worked as a multimedia reporter at Inside Croydon in 2021, has won Apprentice of the Year at the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ Awards for Excellence.
Award-winner: Sanjana Idnani at the NCTJ ceremony with her proud mum, Henna Idnani
The NCTJ awards celebrate journalism apprentices’ all-round achievement, and Idnani’s prize included £200 cash. She received her prize at a prestigious ceremony staged at Hallé St Peters in Manchester earlier this month.
Idnani, from Purley, has been working at BBC Wales in Cardiff as a Level 7 journalism apprentice, a programme that, according to the NCTJ, is “designed to develop advanced journalistic skills, including leadership, management, and digital strategy”, and is the equivalent to a master’s degree. Continue reading
The unseasonably dry spring, and with warmer than usual weather predicted for the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend, the London Fire Brigade is urging extra caution from Londoners on the capital’s waterways.
Safety first: emergency services are appealling to the public to take greater care around the city’s waterways
So far this year, the Brigade’s fireboats, specially designed to rescue and tow distressed vessels and save people and animals from the water or riverside, have been deployed to more than 70 incidents. These incidents range from rescuing people trapped in mud and those who have fallen into canals and rivers, to animals stranded on lakes and ponds. Continue reading
CODA, the Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, is going all Sondheim for their next production, Company, which is to be performed at Selsdon Hall from May 8 to 11.
Company’s CODA company: some of the cast appearing at Selsdon Hall next month. LtoR: Jemma Moylan-Torke, Hannah Mooney, Richener Bissereth, Bee Edwards and Meredith Heinrich
In 1970s New York, bachelor Bobby contemplates his unmarried state. Over dinners, drinks and even a wedding, his friends explain the pros and cons of taking on a spouse, forcing Bobby to question his choices. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, this is an exploration of modern relationships.
When first staged on Broadway in 1970, Company was nominated for a record 14 Tony Awards, winning six of them. “The show features some of Stephen Sondheim’s greatest songs, including Being Alive, Marry Me A Little and Side By Side By Side,” say CODA’s producers. Continue reading
Praise from Mayor Perry for a 28-storey tower in the town centre that his own council’s planners tried to block for being too tall
Coming soon: the plans for the 28-storey tower have been around for three years – first blocked by Croydon planners, now the site’s been bought by Cheyne
Property speculators Cheyne Capital say they are going ahead with a scheme that will build hundreds of flats on the site of City Link House, after pulling of a major property deal in Croydon town centre.
The vacant office block site opposite East Croydon Station has been bought for £210million – according to sources in the housing sector, at the top-end of its price range.
The site has planning permission for 485 “co-living units” and 84 affordable homes in a 28-storey tower and 14-storey block.
Jason Perry, Croydon’s Tory Mayor, claims to see this as a good thing, describing it as “fantastic”.
What Perry failed to mention was that his own council’s planners had originally vetoed the proposed tower on the grounds that it would dwarf and overshadow the landmark No1 Croydon building on the other side of Addiscombe Road.
The original developers, Wittington Investments, won their case on appeal to the Planning Inspector. Continue reading
He gave lessons to Keith Richards, had Bruce Springsteen cover his songs and was copied by Eric Clapton. His Times obituary described him as a guitarist who ‘should have been superstar’
Major player: Wizz Jones was still performing music until earlier this year
Wizz Jones, described as one of the seminal musicians of his time, a part of Britain’s beatnik movement who was influenced by the words of Jack Kerouac and music of Woody Guthrie, has died, aged 86.
Raymond Ronald Jones was born in Thornton Heath in those dark, pre-war days of April 1939. “Wizz” was a nickname given to him by his mother because of his love for performing conjuring tricks, but it stuck with him throughout a music career that sbegan in the 1950s and continued until his final gig in February this year. Continue reading
EXCLUSIVE: Network Rail has made a U-turn over the Bridge to Nowhere, as people power – and commonsense – appear to have won the day.
By JEREMY CLACKSON, transport correspondent
An end in sight?: the blocked off eastern end of the Bridge to Nowhere. Network Rail say the bridge will finally open later this year
Network Rail appears to have made a significant U-turn over the Bridge to Nowhere, potentially meaning that hundreds of thousands of train passengers now won’t be forced to take a hike and make U-turns of their own when arriving at East Croydon Station.
In Croydon town centre’s latest shock non-development, Network Rail’s application to alter its planning permission for East Croydon’s Bridge to Nowhere, in which they wanted to drop plans for ticket barriers on the Cherry Orchard Road side, has been withdrawn.
More than 1,200 residents signed a petition last year calling for ticket gates to be provided on the eastern end of the bridge, which has been dangling in mid-air for more than a dozen years – dubbed “The Bridge to Nowhere” by Inside Croydon, a £22million piece of important public infrastructure left incomplete, mostly due to the failures of Croydon Council planners and legal department.
Final work on the bridge, after a very long pause waiting for Menta’s commercial development of flats on Cherry Orchard Road to be finished, was promised to be completed in 2024.
It was only then that Network Rail pleaded poverty, saying that they could not afford to install tickets barriers on the eastern end of the bridge when it opened. The Addiscombe public appeared to be left dangling once again. Continue reading
Transport for London wants passengers to offer their seat to others in greater need when travelling on public transport, and be mindful of less obvious health conditions, as it showcases its new priority seating design.
Take a seat: priority seats on TfL services will soon all come in a distinctive colour
This, in case you didn’t know, is TfL’s annual “Priority Seating Week”, the seventh time they’ve held it, when the transport authority encourages people to look up and be aware of their surroundings on public transport, in case someone is in greater need of a seat.
And to think that there was a time, not so very long ago, when parents and schools would teach children to do the right, polite thing.
Public announcements will play on buses, the Docklands Light Railway, Elizabeth line, London Overground and London Underground networks (a TfL press release made no mention of such announcements on Croydon trams) and a “Travel Kind – Please offer your seat” poster will be displayed across the network. Continue reading
Friends in low places: Croydon Conservatives’ election agent, and Coulsdon councillor, Ian Parker (second right) has recently obsessed over guilt by association. So he probably won’t want to be be reminded that he was friendly with the locally notorious Peter Morgan (third right)
It is just over a year until Croydon goes to the polls in its second Mayoral election, and the local Tories already seem up for the fight. But leading the way for them is a paid gofer who struggles to cope with everyday tech.
By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor
Just when Ben Taylor, Labour’s unsuccessful General Election candidate in Croydon South last year, thought that the dust had settled, further allegations have been raised by his would-be nemesis, Ian Parker.
As reported by iC last month, Parker, Croydon Conservatives’ veteran election agent and Coulsdon Town councillor, had been ferreting through Taylor’s expense declarations, focusing on how much his Labour counterpart, Michael Collins, had actually been paid. Continue reading
The dawn chorus: its the best time of year to listen in on one of the marvels of nature – soaring skylarks can be found on the special reserve area of Roundshaw Downs and on Riddlesdown
Right now, birdsong is at its brightest and best. Something called International Dawn Chorus Day falls on May 4 this year, marking a high point in birdsong, according to the RSPB, and making this week an ideal time to get out and about in our parks and open spaces to listen in on a marvel of the natural world on our doorstep. Continue reading
All change: Trinity School will start taking girl pupils in Year 6 and 7 from September 2027
EXCLUSIVE: Almost two years since the Whitgift Foundation shocked the Croydon community by deciding to close its fee-paying girls’ school, Old Palace, the charity has decided to re-balance its education provision by converting one of its other large independent schools to become co-educational. By STEVEN DOWNES
Trinity School, the (mostly) boys’ fee-paying school in Shirley Park, is to go co-educational in a multi-million-pound expansion that will see it open its gates to girls aged 10 and 11 from September 2027.
Net gain: Trinity’s sixth formers already play netball, which seems likely to become a key part of the sporting offer when the school becomes co-ed
The move was confirmed to the school at morning assembly today by Trinity’s headmaster, Alasdair Kennedy, although it has been among Croydon’s worst-kept secrets for 18 months.
There has been speculation of Trinity going co-ed since late 2023, following the announcement of the closure of Old Palace girls’ school by the Whitgift Foundation, the large charity which operates almshouses, care homes and, for now, three independent schools.
Old Palace’s senior school, based in listed Elizabethan era buildings in Croydon’s Old Town, will finally close at the end of the summer term this July. Its prep school and nursery, on Melville Avenue in South Croydon, closed last summer, and that site has since been sold for £7.5million.
The change at Trinity, sources at the Foundation confirm, is a direct response to the closure of Old Palace, but the decision was only made after the outcry from angry parents of daughters who felt badly let down by the removal of the girls’ school.
Making Trinity co-ed was agreed “unanimously” by senior staff at the school, governors and the Foundation, and has been in discussion for the past year, according to a letter sent today to parents. Continue reading
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Sir Philip Game Centre in Addiscombe is a ground-breaking experiment in crime prevention which has provided access to a range of activities for thousands of youngsters since it opened. DAVID MORGAN recounts its history and some of the famous names who have walked through its doors
“No country is greater than its personnel. Youth is our greatest asset.”
These were two of the conclusions from a committee which met in 1944, worried about the boys in Croydon and what sort of men they would grow into. The same sentiment is probably held by many today.
The committee back then was comprised of members of Z Division of the Metropolitan Police and the Rotary Club of Croydon. The outcome of the meeting was that they decided that Croydon needed a boys’ club. Continue reading
It says it all: the Wembley scoreboard proclaims Crystal Palace’s FA Cup semi-final success
Crystal Palace are heading to the third FA Cup final in the club’s history, after a magnificent Wembley victory which was a triumph for the Eagles fans as well as their players
Moments after referee Anthony Taylor blew the final whistle on Crystal Palace’s magnificent 3-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Aston Villa at Wembley yesterday evening, looking down from the posh seats on the scene before him was Steve Coppell.
Fans’ victory: the Palace tifosi impressed with their own high-energy Wembley performance
Coppell had a smile of proud contentment.
Coppell, of course, had been Palace manager in 1990, the year of that astonishing Cup semi-final comeback against mighty Liverpool, and when the Eagles had forced the then great Manchester United to a Wembley final replay. But what he had just witnessed, Coppell’s smile seemed to indicate, was a performance to match those, at least.
Yesterday was a great day for football in Croydon, with the non-league side, Croydon FC, the Trams, earlier in the afternoon sealing their place in their own end-of-season play-offs.
There have been few greater days in Palace’s history than what played out at Wembley, on and off the pitch yesterday, where the Holmesdale Fanatics were loud, proud and colourful for hours – before, during and after the match. Villa’s fans, in abject defeat, had largely vacated their end of the national stadium even before the final whistle. Continue reading
Car crash: the wreckage from the two-vehicle smash parked up outside Lidl this morning All photos © A Cooper/InsideCroydon 2025
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOSTORY by AUSTEN COOPER
The Purley Way is best avoided on most Saturday mornings, but that was especially the case today after a two-car crash saw a mile-long stretch of one of Croydon’s busiest urban motorways closed to traffic.
Both drivers needed hospital treatment, with one, a man in his 50s, in a critical condition. Continue reading
Hundreds of members of the London Renters Union took to the streets of the capital today to protest at soaring rents while landlords, and their agents, continue to record often obscene profits.
Time for action: London Renters Union members have been protesting for rent controls and an end to S21 evictions
The protest is part of a Global Day of Housing Action, joining tens of thousands of people across the world to demand homes for people, not for profit.
Outside the Shoreditch offices of estate agent giant Foxtons, Londoners rallied against ever-rising rents, corporate greed and a housing system that’s pushing families to the brink.
In Croydon, we have heard of a case of someone working as a porter at an NHS hospital forced to spend 90% of their modest wage on rent – leaving precious little for food, heating, transport or just… life. Continue reading
INSIDE SUTTON: With Nigel Farage’s limited company picking up council seats across the country, BERTIE WORCESTER-PARK reports on how they might impact the latest by-election in Carshalton South and Clockhouse
Limited company: might Farridge sway the outcome of a Sutton council by-election, where Reform’s candidate is a ‘top fan’ of a Tommy Robinson associate?
With the far-right Reform UK riding high in the opinion polls, and Nigel Farage’s mug a constant feature of news bulletins and spouting his anti-immigrant rhetoric in a televised party political broadcast this week, the party has opted to select a “top fan” of a Tommy Robinson associate as their candidate in the upcoming Carshalton South and Clockhouse council by-election.
The full list of nominations for the by-election, to be held on May 22, was released by Sutton Council yesterday and comprises six candidates. Continue reading
EXCLUSIVE: The new owners of The Dog and Bull on Surrey Street are installing new sound systems for DJ sessions in the beer garden of the Grade II-listed building, as £125,000 refurb works over-run
Tradition erased: the new owners claim that the pub’s customers are fine about the name change
Surrey Street Market shoppers and pub regulars are in for a bit of a shock, and some disappointment, when they next pop in to Croydon’s oldest pub for a swift one. For The Dog and Bull is to be no more, and there won’t be any trace of Young’s bitter or Special on offer at the bar of the historic boozer.
The local branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has criticised the pub’s owners’ decision to change its historic name, calling it an “unnecessary change”.
The pub changed hands at the end of March, bought by Punch Pubs and shifted into what they call their “Laine portfolio”. The first thing they did was to close the doors and start a £125,000 refurbishment, mostly of the beer garden area. Continue reading
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