Muggings in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe are out of control
I am writing you as this is my last resort.
There is a massive amount of people being mugged around Canada Water, Jamaica Road and Rotherhite New Road.
The boys doing this are young and are on bikes, preying on anyone they can get a mobile phone from. The boys either wear balaclavas or put their hoods up.
They put a knife to the person asking for their phone.
This has been happening for weeks!
I myself was followed by two boys on bikes last week, I was very lucky to be right next to my estate.
I did call the police and was informed they will send someone. They called me an hour and half later to inform me they were sending someone. These boys pulled a knife on someone literally five minutes after they left me. If the police did arrive when they were told, they would have caught these boys.
This is getting really out of hand and people are getting very close to taking matters into their own hands because the police say they don’t have enough staff due to cuts. I totally get that, but why were there six police officers last night inside Bermondsey station? That station is small and does not require six officers, especially when the crime rate is really high! These officers should be patrolling the streets because the minute someone gets seriously hurt that’s when you see loads of officers present.
Name and address supplied.
How small businesses can be helped with the ULEZ scheme
We welcome the Mayor’s support for micro businesses with a diesel scrappage scheme.
The scheme will support many businesses and we hope the Mayor can work with government to call for extra matched-funding, and, for an all-encompassing retrofit scheme to help those with essential business vehicles that will not be eligible for this scheme.
TfL and the Mayor must use the final six weeks to significantly increase spending on external communications on the ULEZ scheme as many small businesses inside London are unaware. A relentless focus by TfL on communicating the message over the next few months is critical – we want to start seeing those ULEZ messages at the pumps where businesses fill up their vehicles!
We need a soft start to the scheme (which occurred with the start of the LEZ scheme in 2008) with the writing of letters to businesses that have entered the zone with a vehicle that does not meet the emissions standard on April 8th – and state that they have three months to change vehicles or they will receive the backdated charges.
And finally, TfL should provide a period of grace of twelve months to businesses who have entered the zone who can prove they have a lease that runs up to April 2020 – when the original ULEZ date was set by the previous Mayor.
Sue Terpilowski OBE, London Policy Chair for the Federation of Small Business.