Boris in Havering

The neighbourhood police team in Harold Wood are one of the most popular and successful teams in North East London, so it is no surprise that Conservative Mayoral Candidate, Boris Johnson, wanted to meet them and learn about their work.

Here he is pictured with PCSOs on bicycles which were purchased for them by local businesses. Boris heard how they had used their bikes to combat the 'mini moped' nuisance over the summer, chasing rogue drivers across country. Mini mopeds are now a thing of the past in Harold Hill.

Boris also visited the refurbished library and spoke to shoppers, who gave him a very enthuisiastic welcome.

He went on to be interviewed live by community radio station, Link FM and gave a well received speech at a packed dinner.

Special MQT Alert

The Mayor will be attending a special meeting of the Assembly on Thursday evening at City Hall to answer questions about some of the funding allegations that have been made in recent weeks. It promises to be a sparky meeting.

Mysteries of the LEZ

New LEZ signs have been proliferating around London recently. This sign is at the end of Stanley Road in North Chingford. But what is it telling us?

Stanley Road is a dead end - about 200 yards further on it is blocked by a railway line. Neighbouring roads are also dead ends, and they also have these new signs. Is the LEZ confined to these roads? - of course not. The sign isn't even on the boundary of the zone - you are in the LEZ whichever side of it you stand.

So why is it there?

I stand corrected - Station Road is the boundary of the zone, so the sign is correctly located. However I can understand the concerns of residents who cannot see why their short dead end roads are included in the zone. Perhaps in this case the railway line would have been a more suitable choice.

Leyton Campaign

Yesterday morning I joined campaigners in Leyton, where there is a by election caused by the well documented resignation of Labour councillor, Miranda Grell. There were a dozen of us and the reception we got was friendly, despite the traditionally low level of support we have enjoyed here. There were signs of activity from other parties - a couple of Labour people passed us in a car, there was one Liberal delivering newsletters (and quite a lot of Liberal posters) and Green party leaflets lying around.

The picture of local activists includes London Assembly candidate Alex Ellis, and Waltham Forest opposition leader Matt Davies.