London

    Commuters were plunged into a state of panic as a busy Tube station was evacuated after a loud bang and smoke filling a carriage was reported. The station was cleared at the height of the morning rush hour, sparking confusion among passengers. Transport for London confirmed it is investigating a fire alert triggered at about 9am. Two fire engines and 10 firefighters were sent to the station. British Transport Police has said it is working to reopen the station, and that the evacuation was caused by a defective train. Witnesses reported on social media hearing a loud bang before being told to leave the station as smoke began filling the carriage of a Central Line train. TfL has warned of delays on the line. Loud bang at Holborn, smoke and then an evacuation pic. A video has...

    It is entirely bonkers and ridiculous that Big Ben’s famous bongs will be silenced for four years next week as major conservation work is carried out, a Tory MP has said. A shadow minister added that the bells had not stopped during the Blitz but were now being silenced by health and safety. The deafening chimes are being stopped to protect workers who are renovating the Elizabeth Tower that houses the Great Clock and its bell. Big Ben to fall silent from Monday 21 August, allowing essential conservation work to take place. James Gray, who sat on the administration committee which first approved the work, told the Daily Telegraph he regretted the committee’s decision to give its backing and there was never any indication it would mean Big Ben being out of action for so lon...

    Two members of a Brick Lane bakery owning family have been found stabbed to death in their home. Leah Cohen, 66, and Hannah Cohen, 33, own Beigel Bake, a popular 24-hour bakery known for its salt beef bagels. They were found stabbed at their house in Golders Green on Friday night. Joshua Cohen, 27, was arrested in Golders Hill Park on Saturday and has since been charged with murdering his mother and sister. He was remanded in custody and due to appear at Hendon Magistrates Court today. Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Rose of Barnet Police said: High visibility foot patrols have been stepped up in the area and police will be on hand to listen and respond to community concerns. We will continue to work with the CST and keep them fully updated with significant developmen...

    The chimes of the world’s most iconic clock are to be silenced for the next four years while major conservation works are carried out. Big Ben’s famous bongs will sound for the last time at noon on Monday, August 21, before they are paused until 2021 - ending more than 150 years of almost continuous timekeeping. The Elizabeth Tower, home to the Great Clock and Big Ben, is undergoing a complex programme of renovation aimed at preserving the landmark for future generations. A man with arguably one of the best job titles in the world, Keeper of the Great Clock Steve Jaggs said: “Big Ben falling silent is a significant milestone in this crucial conservation project. As Keeper of the Great Clock I have the great honour of ensuring this beautiful piece of Victorian engineering i...

    A double-decker bus burst into flames in the middle of a busy north London street in Finchley Road Camden. Witnesses described hearing screams and a bang as the route 113 bus caught fire outside Finchley Road and Frognal station, in Camden, on Sunday evening. The driver and all passengers escaped injury in the blaze. Smoke was seen billowing from the double-decker bus while footage also showed a man using what appeared to be a fire extinguishers to put out the flames. One woman, tweeting as Anna, posted a video from the scene and said she heard a bang and screams as terrified onlookers fled the street. She said: Idk (I don't know) what happened but we only heard a loud bang and then screams and saw people running and then we looked outside and saw the bus on fire. London F...

    Cancer Research UK creates school uniform shop in 2016 highlighting how XL uniforms could become the norm if the Government doesn't take action to tackle child obesity. Local authorities are calling for urgent government action after a shock rise in child obesity with 600 youngsters being treated for Type 2 diabetes normally only seen in adults over 40. National Obesity awareness campaign launch in 2015 at east London's Copperbox arena. The 14 per cent increase in just 12 months is against a background of Tower Hamlets council’s long-running campaign to reduce obesity with health programmes in schools. The Local Government Association representing all town halls fears the devastating consequences of rising diabetes, on of the first anniversary of the government’s childhood...

    Art GCSE students from Bishop Challoner and St Paul's Way schools have their work on show at Half Moon galelry. An exhibition giving 45 GCSE Art students a chance to have their work on public show in a professional gallery has opened at east London’s famous Half Moon theatre. Works by sixthform pupils from Stepney’s Bishop Challoner and Bow’s St Paul’s Way Trust schools runs until September 1 at the theatre’s Gallery at Half Moon in Limehouse. There are 52 works on show, in collaboration with Tower Hamlets Artist Teachers network, as part of the students coursework and exams completed in the summer. The exhibition gives them a chance to have their work seen by a larger audience, Half Moon’s director Chris Elwell said. But it also gives them the opportunity to inspire a new...

    A tube carriage caught fire at Oxford Circus, causing a mass evacuation which witnesses described as terrifying. There were casualties after the fire, with four patients treated by the London Ambulance Service and two taken to hospital. The station was fully operational by 11am after the scene was attended by the London Fire Brigate. The Bakerloo Line was suspended after smoke was seen billowing out of one of its trains and witnesses reported the smell of burned plastic. Commuters were pictured shielding their faces from thick smoke which billowed through their carriage. Commuters were told at rush hour to take other routes as one of London's busiest tube stations was evacuated. A witness said the smoke was spreading, tweeting: There has been some of fire at Oxford Circus....

    More social homes built by Tower Hamlets despite government spending cuts. In crisis-hit Tower Hamlets even without government help than any other London borough last year, according to latest City Hall figures. They reached 886 in 2015-16, including major schemes like rejuvenation of Stepney’s massive Ocean Estate, Bromley-by-Bow’s Watts Grove and Poplar’s controversial Blackwall Reach project at Robin Hood Gardens. Another 1,000 affordable homes were completed in the subsequent 12 months to April to tackle the East End’s rocketing population growth with 20,000 families on the waiting list. We face a housing crisis with no support from the government, Deputy Mayor Sirajul Islam claimed. “Councils have been left to pick up the pieces and create the affordable housing that...

    An accountant who stole £350,000 from her employers to feed her gambling addiction walked free after a judge said she was not the general stuff of which the prison population is made. Natalie Saul, 37, pilfered the money from technology firm Idio’s accounts over a year and blew more than £250,000 playing online poker. The mother-of-one submitted more than 400 fake invoices to get the cash from the software company, based in Fitzrovia, central London, between March 2015 and December 2016. But Saul was given a two-year suspended sentence and 250 hours unpaid work by Judge Catherine Newman, QC, who admitted her sentence was wholly exceptional and fell outside sentencing guidelines. The judge told Southwark Crown Court yesterday: I’m taking a considerable risk that the Crown w...