Archive

  • Using force to tackle an intruder

    THE Government has published guidelines about how much force house owners can use to tackle burglars. Is it something you can define when you are in that situation? Reporter SAMANTHA PAYNE asked shoppers for their views ... Full-time mum Beverley Richardson

  • From grief comes a message of hope

    ON April 22 1993, Doreen Lawrence's world was shattered after her son, Stephen, was stabbed to death in a racially-motivated attack. Since then she has fought tirelessly, to bring his killers to justice and expose flaws in the judicial system. Now, through

  • Pupils moved to help

    CHILDREN from a Sidcup primary school are working with a charity to provide help for tsunami victims in south-east Asia. The Days Lane Primary School youngsters have been raiding cupboards at home and using their pocket money to fill a lorry load of

  • Club Report

    BROMLEY MUSIC MAKERS This concert was the fifth of our season and the first of our Diamond Jubilee Year and was well attended despite gloomy winter weather. Melanie Mehta was this month's announcer and also proved her performing worth by filling a

  • CHEMISTS OPEN ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6

    BIGGIN HILL Safeway, Main Road. 11am to 1pm. BROMLEY Boots, The Glades. 11am to 5pm. HAYES, KESTON & WEST WICKHAM Safeway, 143-165 High Street, West Wickham. 10am to 2pm. ORPINGTON Sainsbury's store, Locksbottom, Farnborough. 10am to 4pm. Farncray,

  • Ready for round two

    A CALL of soppy tart' led to a councillor being thrown out of a council meeting by security guards. However, Labour's Cray Valley West ward councillor Colin Willetts is unrepentant and says he is looking forward to round two' at the next full council

  • CHEMISTS OPEN ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6

    BLACKHEATH, CHARLTON & GREENWICH Sainsbury's, Horn Link Lane, Greenwich. 11am to 5pm. Karan Pharmacy, 182 Westcombe Hill, Blackheath. 6pm to 7pm. ELTHAM, KIDBROOKE, MOTTINGHAM & NEW ELTHAM Boots, 96-104 Eltham High Street. Eltham. 10am to 4pm. Dickinson's

  • Call for wharves to be protected

    A MOVE to secure the future of wharves on the River Thames has been welcomed by campaigners. The Greater London Authority (GLA) has identified 50 wharves on the river which need safeguarding, including Convoys Wharf in Deptford. News International plans

  • News in brief

    FIRST PHASE: Residents in Abbey Wood are invited to mark the end of the first phase of the £118,000 refurbishment of Bostall Gardens, Viola Avenue, Abbey Wood, on February 12 from 11am to 4pm. For details, call 020 8856 2232. NEW CROSS GATE: Interested

  • Father-of-two gets 11 years for raping woman

    A VALENTINE'S Day rapist who attacked a complete stranger just days after he was released from prison has been jailed for 11 years. Richard Mitchell, aged 33, of Canonbie Road, Forest Hill, raped a 21-year-old woman in Finsbury Park in February last

  • Making sure people remember Holocaust

    GREENWICH Council has hosted a Holocaust Memorial Day at the town hall. The event on January 27 marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Greenwich mayor Councillor Brian

  • Teenager found guilty of murder

    A DEAF burglar who carried out a "brutal and callous murder" on a mentally-ill man has been given a life sentence. Drug addict Derek Dale broke into the home of Paul Geddes in Dawson Close, Plumstead, and battered him to death. Now an Old Bailey judge

  • Can he really represent us?

    A COUNCILLOR who has turned up to just six meetings in two years has rejected calls to resign. Neil Semple moved to Glasgow to work in April 2003 and has the worst attendance record in the council. Now opposition members are calling for him to make

  • Operations cancelled

    A HOSPITAL has cancelled all non-urgent operations after failing to meet Government targets. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Stadium Road, Woolwich, has had to scrap all non-emergency operations because it is not succeeding on A&E admissions. As a result,

  • Big band farewell bash for Lotis

    A BIG band swing singer whose career has spanned half a century is to give one final concert before retiring to Australia. Dennis Lotis, 79, was making a living as a young singer with one of South Africa's big bands in 1950, when he decided to leave

  • CHEMISTS OPEN ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6

    GRAVESEND & NORTHFLEET Williams Chemist, 120 Vale Road, Northfleet. 11am to noon & 6pm to 7pm. SWANLEY National Co-operative Chemist, 25 Swanley Centre. 11am to noon. DARTFORD & GREENHITHE Asda, Station Road, Greenhithe. 10am to 4pm. Boots, South Mall

  • Specialist status for two schools

    TWO schools are celebrating after obtaining specialist status. Meopham School, Wrotham Road, Meopham, will become a specialist college in sport and Swanley School, St Mary's Road, Swanley, has secured its status in technology. The Department for Education

  • Fighting for their safety

    A MOTHER is still calling for action to ensure the safety of young bikers a year after her son was killed in a quad bike accident. Danny Skone died on February 9 last year eight days after falling off a quad bike in Swanscombe Woods, Watling Street,

  • Spanish artist's work on display

    THE WORK of a renowned Spanish painter based in Beckenham is on display in one of the area's galleries. Manuel Quintanilla's vibrantly-coloured Tulips and Picasso-esque Guitar are just two of the many paintings which can be viewed and bought at The Gallery

  • Fun at the docks this half-term

    A shipping museum is planning to combine fun with learning this half-term. The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, is offering a range of activities for youngsters, including story telling, colouring-in, dressing up and brass rubbing. Bugler Boy Timmins will

  • CHEMISTS OPEN ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6

    BELVEDERE, NORTH BEXLEYHEATH & THAMESMEAD Safeway, 2 Twin Tumps Way, Thamesmead. 10am to 4pm. Spadeground Chemist, 11 Picardy Street, Belvedere. 6pm to 7pm. BEXLEYHEATH, BLACKFEN, WELLING & SIDCUP 7 Day Chemist, 175a Bellegrove Road, Welling. 9am to

  • We’re all just messing about on the river

    YOUNGSTERS whose school is a walk away from a river have been chosen to design a logo for an environmental project. The Groundwork Trust has enlisted eight and nine-year-olds at Barnes Cray Primary School to help carry out a programme of improvements

  • Development of former school gets go-ahead

    IN the face of huge and angry local opposition, plans to redevelop a former school site have been approved. Bexley Council's planning committee split along political party lines to vote through the scheme for the former North Cray Primary School in Bedens

  • News in brief

    ALLOWED TO LEARN: The new Education Maintenance Allowance launched by the Government has netted £100 each for 380 Bexley students who are still in school or college this month. Students who continue in education after GCSEs and whose household income

  • Tribute to the victims of the Holocaust

    BEXLEY marked Holocaust Memorial Day with a ceremony in the shadow of an exhibition about one of its most famous victims. Students Jonathan Kenyon and Sophie Budgen, both 13, from Beths Grammar School and Blackfen School for Girls, joined Councillor

  • More new houses for borough

    A STRETCH of land known as the running field is to be developed as a new estate. People living in the Carlton Road area of Sidcup have been fighting for 12 years to save the 3-acre field. But Bexley Council's planning committee approved plans from George

  • Firm’s fine headache

    A PASSENGER whose summer cruise to Greenland turned out to be a real headache, has won a court case against the holiday company. Doug Walters, who is 6ft 3in tall, successfully took Page and Moy to Dartford County Court after his trip turned him into

  • Keen start to ABA Championships

    Local boxers took the first succesful steps towards a national ABA title at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre. Highlights were the bouts featuring Bexley ABC bantamweight Charles Brambhatt and Bromley & Downham ABC welterweight Sam Webb. Both boxed