Telecom news

• Huawei lobbyists detained in EU corruption scandal

  26-03-2025 06:00
  
  Representatives for Chinese tech giant accused of offering cash, football tickets and smartphones to parliament staff
  
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• Europe’s battle to break Musk’s stranglehold on the skies

  26-03-2025 06:00
  
  Brussels wants to create a homegrown alternative to Starlink with satellite groups such as Eutelsat
  
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• Britons could make satellite calls using smartphones by end of 2025

  25-03-2025 14:11
  
  Ofcom hopes to end ‘not spots’ in networks, but access is likely to be limited to very rural areas
  
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• Tickets Alert: Tours of Dorneywood House and its gardens

  25-03-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Gifted to the nation for the use by a government minister, just outside London can be found a modest mansion that’s also open to the public, but only for a couple of weeks a year.
  (c) Dorneywood Trust
  Dorneywood House is the less famous of the three grand estates used by government ministers, after Chequers and Chevening House, and is also the only one that the public can visit. You can visit the gardens at Chevening House, or walk past Chequers, but only Dorneywood House lets you inside t
  
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• Burnt Oak turns 100: Celebrating a tube station that nearly had a different name

  25-03-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This year marks the centenary of Burnt Oak tube station and also marks the last ticket hall designed by an architect overshadowed by his predecessor and his successor.Burnt Oak is one of five stations for the Northern line extension north of Golders Green, and the stations were all designed by the architect Stanley Heaps.
  Heaps started as an assistant to Leslie Green, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) architect who designed most of central London’s distinctive stat
  
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• The London Buzz – 24th March 2025

  24-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Phone snatcher pinned to the ground after being nabbed by undercover officers Metro
  More than 400 residents have been forced to leave their flats for at least six months after a “catastrophic infrastructure failure” in their new-build. South London Press
  National Grid’s chief executive has said Heathrow had “enough power” from other substations following Friday’s fire that caused the airport to shut down. BBC News
  Residents
  
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• London Victorian steam museums forge new future following merger into a Heritage Trust

  24-03-2025 15:31 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Two of north London’s Victorian steam museums have merged into a single organisation, while preserving the two museums as individual sites.
  Markfield Beam Engine and Museum (c) ianVisits
  Following the merger, the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum and the Markfield Beam Engine and Museum are now part of a new umbrella organisation, the Heritage and Communities Trust. Both museums will retain their individual names and distinct identities but will have access to shared resources, expertise, and a
  
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• Greater Anglia launches accessibility improvements with SignLive

  24-03-2025 14:13 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Greater Anglia has launched a British Sign Language interpreter service which enables people who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate with its customer relations teams.
  The train operator has partnered with SignLive, which provides remote British Sign Language interpreting on demand.
  Customers can use SignLive to speak to the train operator’s customer relations team about issues including delay repay, complaints and feedback, business travel, smart cards, operational train informatio
  
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• Get crafty with lots of hands on workshops during London Craft Week

  24-03-2025 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One week in May is London Craft Week, during which a couple of hundred events across London are crammed into just a few days.London Craft Week events vary from someone showing off a single new fabric design, to exhibitions of new objects the shops are hoping to sell — and best of all, exhibitions and demonstrations of crafts at work.
  (a gripe – a lot of the events tell you who is doing something but not what they are doing, which means the key information is missing)
  Most of the exhi
  
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• Student housing proposed to sit above Thameslink tunnels near King’s Cross

  24-03-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An unusual building has been proposed for a vacant site on top of the Thameslink railway tunnels between King’s Cross and Farringdon stations. If planning is approved, the 121-bed student accommodation would be located in the Britannia Street car park, which is above the Thameslink railway tunnels and next to the London Underground open-air cutting.
  Sheppard Robson / Planning documents
  Internally, it’s unremarkable, as student flats with lots of communal areas, and a roof terrace, bu
  
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• London’s Alleys: Western Mews, W9

  24-03-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This is a small Maida Vale mews that sits between the busy Harrow Road to the north and the Grand Union Canal to the south.The mews was originally called Carlton Mews, as the main road it leads off was Carlton Terrace. However, when Carlton Terrace was renamed as Great Western Road, the mews was also renamed to Western Mews. Presumably, Great Western Mews was seen as inappropriate.
  As with so many mews, what was originally a space for horses and staff was later turned into private homes for the
  
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• The London Buzz – 21st March 2025

  21-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Hackney Council has refused a Shoreditch nightclub mogul’s request to open a new venue, amid fears it would lead to a spike in crime and disorder. Hackney Citizen
  The local government and social care watchdog has condemned Islington Council for leaving a disabled resident in a “state of neglect”, despite her having “obvious and significant” needs. EC1 Echo
  Comic Relief is set to reignite the Oasis ticket frenzy with a [£10
  
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• US to probe Chinese telecom groups it suspects of posing security risk

  21-03-2025 16:45
  
  Huawei, ZTE and China Telecom among companies targeted by new FCC investigation
  
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• The blocky 1960s Euston Tower is getting curves with site redevelopment

  21-03-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Euston’s blocky 1960s office tower that dominates the area is become a bit curvy, as plans have been approved to revamp the building and redesign its appearance.
  Euston Tower – from the top of the BT Tower
  Away with grey 1960s glazed walls and in with something that looks a bit like a cross between the Centrepoint Tower and the former Camden Town Hall extension.
  Originally serving as the home of Capital Radio from 1970 to 1999, it was once a celebrated landmark and widely recognised
  
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• British Museum remains UK’s top attraction as some venues struggle to recover

  21-03-2025 07:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The British Museum has retained its title as the UK’s busiest visitor attraction, although visitor numbers to attractions across the country are still down on pre-pandemic levels.
  British Museum (c) ianVisits
  The total number of visits to the 400 members of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) in 2024 was 157.2 million, a 3.4% increase from the previous year but still representing a decline of 8.8% from the 169.7 million visits in 2019 to the top 386 ALVA sites.
  For the se
  
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• UK regulator says plan for competitive broadband market by 2031 on track

  20-03-2025 18:26
  Rising impact of rival networks may see Ofcom lifting restrictions on BT’s Openreach
  
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• The London Buzz – 20th March 2025

  20-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  A block of offices in Hammersmith could be turned into 76 new flats after a plan was submitted to convert the Aircraft Factory Building. Hammersmith Today
  “Mass orgies” and drug users are destroying valuable wildlife habitats in one of north London’s most popular parks, a conservation group claims. Islington Gazette
  A former Liberal Democrat councillor for London Bridge and West Bermondsey who served as the vice-chair of the London Liberal D
  
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• Trooping the Colour 2025 tickets ballot closes soon

  20-03-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Trooping the Colour is a big military parade that marks the King’s official birthday in June, and you have just a few days left to apply to be in the ballot for tickets.It’s one of those genuine once-in-a-lifetime events to attend, even if the pomp and ceremony isn’t your sort of thing, because it’s a memory you’ll treasure and trigger many envious looks from friends when you tell them you’ve been in the audience for the Trooping the Colour.
  I attended in 2018
  
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• Government urged to back the Bakerloo line extension in its 10-year infrastructure plan

  20-03-2025 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A coalition of local councils and businesses has called on the government to include the Bakerloo line extension in its forthcoming 10-year Infrastructure Strategy for the UK.
  The Bakerloo line trains, at over 50 years old and practically on their last legs are the oldest passenger trains in general use in the UK today, and need special permission to remain in service because they break quite a few disability access laws.
  Lambeth North tube station (c) ianVisits
  There is a dual plan to replace t
  
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• From trick riders to big tops: The story of the UK’s first circus in Lambeth

  20-03-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Just over 250 years ago, the first circus opened in the UK, and now an exhibition tells the history of the circus and how it all started in South London.The first circuses weren’t travelling affairs but were fixed locations, and the one generally considered the first in the UK was at a site in Westminster Bridge Road where St Thomas’ Hospital now stands. Opened in 1770 by Philip Astley and his wife Patty Jones, it was a show of trick-riding displays, sword work displays, rope acts an
  
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• A new tunnel is about to be dug under the River Thames

  20-03-2025 10:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A new tunnel is about to be dug under the Thames to the east of London — to help move electricity around the country.
  Typical electricity tunnel (c) National Grid
  There’s already an electricity cable tunnel under the Thames between Gravesend and Tilbury, but it is more than 50 years old and is coming to the end of its useful life, and the National Grid says that upgrading the cables inside the tunnel isn’t feasible anymore.
  They filed a planning application last year to dig a n
  
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• Southeastern offering 10,000 train tickets for £5 each

  20-03-2025 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Southeastern is offering 10,000 train tickets for £5 each to be used over a single weekend in April, a couple of weeks before Easter.
  The £5 tickets will be valid for travel on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th April across the Southeastern network, and will go on sale on Saturday 22 March via their website.
  Southeastern’s network covers towns and cities such as Canterbury, Ashford, Maidstone, and Rochester, as well as scenic countryside and coastal destinations like Margate, Hasting
  
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• CityFibre targets 1mn customers as it seeks crucial £1.5bn financing

  20-03-2025 06:00
  
  Altnet believes it can double subscribers this year after warning it would run out of funding in 2025
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks: St Peter’s Square, W6

  19-03-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This is a roughly 200-year-old pocket park surrounded by grand houses. Although originally private, it’s been open to the public for over a century.The square was laid out during the economic boom of the 1820s, when the then-owner, George Scott, decided to build a speculative housing development on part of his Ravenscourt Park estate and also provided the land for St Peter’s Church, Hammersmith.
  From 1827 plots were developed piecemeal by builders who undertook to conform to a master
  
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• Lutnick touts Musk’s Starlink for US broadband scheme

  18-03-2025 22:31
  Commerce secretary urges officials to consider Trump adviser’s satellite connection for rural households
  
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• Howard Lutnick touts Elon Musk’s Starlink for US broadband scheme

  18-03-2025 22:31
  
  Commerce secretary urges officials to consider Trump adviser’s satellite connection for rural households
  
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• The London Buzz – 18th March 2025

  18-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  One of the longest-serving councillors at [Camden] Town Hall has said that members do not get enough in allowances – as Camden voted to increase their pay. Camden New Journal
  A woman has died after a van collided with pedestrians on the Strand in central London. Standard
  A £3.5 million refurbishment of the Millennium Bridge expected to begin by this spring has been pushed back to next year. South London Press
  Chris Philp’s ‘foreign&rsq
  
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• Look out for an attempt to fly 50 hot air balloons over London in May

  18-03-2025 16:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  If all goes well, up to 50 hot air balloons may drift over central London on a Sunday morning in May or July this year.
  (c) Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta
  All going well that is, as the annual Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta has been rather less annual in recent years as the weather keeps getting in the way and stopping it. Last year they came so agonisingly close, with an all-clear on the Saturday afternoon, only for the weather to turn overnight and the whole thing cancelled lit
  
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• London Museum to display its largest ever Roman archaeology archive donation

  18-03-2025 15:16 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The London Museum has received a £20 million donation from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the single largest archive of archaeological material ever received by the museum.
  The collection of mostly Roman artefacts was discovered when Bloomberg’s new office building was being constructed, and the site provided one of the best-preserved collections of often lost fabric and wooden remains in London.
  Site excavation works April 2013 (c) ianVisits
  The archaeological project, also funded by
  
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• Boxpark’s food arcade next to Liverpool Street station opens next month

  18-03-2025 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An Edwardian shopping arcade that opened in 1912 when an open-air cutting for the Metropolitan railway was covered over is to reopen next month as a Boxpark operated food hall.
  (c) Boxpark
  The arcade was nearly demolished in 1988 for offices but saved and restored in 1994-95. It’s still owned by TfL, and in 2022, they signed a 15-year lease with Boxpark to open it as BoxHall City, a covered food hall with 14 kitchens.
  After a couple of years of conversion work—longer than initially p
  
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• Turin Shroud (replica) exhibition at St George’s Cathedral

  18-03-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A full-size replica print of the Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth claimed to show the image of Jesus Christ, is on display for a few weeks in a London cathedral.
  The Shroud of Turin Exhibition shows the shroud as it would be seen in person, but also with the much more evocative modern photographic negatives that revealed the face imprinted into the fabric. It’s almost invisible in daylight, making the revelation of religion dependent on the powers of science.The replica on display in Lond
  
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• IKEA confirms May Day opening for its Oxford Street store

  18-03-2025 09:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  IKEA has announced that its new Oxford Street store will open on May Day, some 18 months later than originally planned when it bought the former Top Shop building.
  (c) IKEA
  IKEA bought the Grade II listed building in January 2022 and had expected to open in the middle of 2023, but the conversion work was beset by delays and complications including water ingress into the basement.
  The IKEA will only occupy three floors of the seven-storey building, comprising the ground and two lower ground floor
  
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• Historic Bazalgette Mausoleum to be saved after decades of decay

  18-03-2025 09:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The decaying resting place of London’s Sewer King, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, is to be restored following a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for the work to be carried out.
  Bazalgette Mausoleum in St Mary’s Wimbledon (c) ianVisits
  The Bazalgette Mausoleum is a Grade II listed structure in St Mary’s Church Wimbledon. However, the internal vaulting has partially collapsed, and the rest is in very poor condition. Due to water damage, it’s also on Historic England’s Her
  
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• Ampersand Station: How WWII created an unofficial tube station

  18-03-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  In the 1940s, it was possible to catch a Bakerloo line train from Ampersand station, even though no such station officially existed.
  Ampersand station (c) ianVisits
  The station was officially called Bushey & Oxhey, and the oft-repeated story is that during WWII, railway station names were obscured to make life difficult for spies. When the order said station names needed painting out, someone decided that meant the & symbol wasn’t part of the rules.
  Hence, the station gained the ni
  
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• Indian billionaire Mittal weighs up increasing his BT stake

  18-03-2025 06:00
  
  Bharti founder has privately suggested he could expand his position in UK telecoms group
  
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• The London Buzz – 17th March 2025

  17-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  What has Sadiq Khan’s MIPIM visit achieved? OnLondon
  A series of satirical adverts criticising Elon Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have appeared at bus stations and on tube trains across the capital. The Londoner
  A man accused of scaling the clock tower of Big Ben has denied causing a public nuisance and trespassing. BBC News
  The best rooftop bars in London for summer 2025 Luxury London
  Cyclists using the new Silvertown Tunnel will b
  
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• Another ten-week closure of the Blackheath to Charlton railway tunnel

  17-03-2025 10:20 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The rail tunnel between Blackheath and Charlton is to close for ten weeks later this year as Network Rail carries out a second set of repairs to the 175 year old tunnel.
  TfL map showing affected area
  The closure will mean the rail link between Blackheath and Charlton will be closed, and trains that usually run between Dartford and Cannon Street via Lewisham will be diverted to run between Greenwich instead. People who usually travel to/from Charlton and Blackheath/Lewisham will be able to use th
  
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• Statue of peace campaigner Brian Haw unveiled near Parliament, 20 years after Parliament tried to silence him

  17-03-2025 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Twenty years ago Parliament passed a law that was, in part, designed to get rid of an annoying man by banning protests within 1 kilometre of Parliament Square. Yesterday, to the sound of a bell ringing, a statue of that man, Brian Haw, was unveiled in south London, close to the 1km boundary that had been created to get rid of him in 2005.Brian Haw was a campaigner who started a peace protest on the grass at Parliament Square in Westminster in June 2001 and stayed there for nearly ten years, his
  
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• Alphabet spins off laser-based internet project from ‘moonshot’ hub

  17-03-2025 08:01
  
  Taara start-up aims to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink to connect remote areas to the internet using light beams
  
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• London’s Alleys: Pear Tree Court, EC1

  17-03-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This is a passage in Farringdon that came into existence after a monastery was closed down, turned into slums and is now lined with offices and social housing.What is today the top end of Farringdon Lane is an ancient route north out of London and was at one time occupied by the medieval nunnery of St Mary. The nunnery was one one of the last to be shut down as part of King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. The lands were sold to the Duke of Norfolk. He later swapped them for la
  
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• The London Buzz – 14th March 2025

  14-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Enfield Council is “exploring options” over the future of Dugdale Arts Centre – as it aims to save tens of thousands of pounds in running costs. Enfield Dispatch
  A new poll has revealed the huge scale of opposition againsyt plans for a Chinese “super-embassy” next to the Tower of London. Express
  A blind doctor has won a payout from Croydon Council after the authority denied him the right to vote independently and in secret. Local
  
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• Liberty Global in talks to acquire Vodafone’s stake in Dutch JV

  14-03-2025 16:41
  
  Potential deal could value UK telecom group’s share of VodafoneZiggo at more than €2bn
  
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• Elizabeth line’s ghost shadows busted with moquette-inspired bench panels

  14-03-2025 15:31 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There will be no more ghosts on the Elizabeth line, as Transport for London (TfL) has started rolling out moquette-inspired panels behind the platform benches.
  Farringdon station (c) ianVisits
  The curved concrete panels that line most of the central Elizabeth line stations turned out to be harder to clean than originally expected. With people leaning on the walls, the marks soon gained the nickname of “ghosts” for the ghostly shadows that built up.
  In December 2023, TfL started testi
  
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• Free open afternoon at the Poppy Factory to mark VE Day

  14-03-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  For over a century, a south London factory has employed former military personnel to make Remembrance Poppies, and as part of VE Day 80, they will have a free open afternoon.The factory is based in Richmond upon Thames and now has 22 production workers and two special wreath makers. It currently makes more than 124,000 wreaths, 450,000 crosses and symbols, and 250 royal and special wreaths.
  They’ve run tours for some years, but there’s now a visitor centre that showcases the Poppy Fa
  
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• Mrs. Doubtfire musical closing with discount sale on tickets

  14-03-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  You’ve probably seen the adverts all over London, but not for much longer as The Mrs. Doubtfire Musical will close at the Shaftesbury Theatre at the end of April.
  Ahead of that, there’s a sale on tickets for the last few weeks.In addition, on the Wednesday performances throughout March until 2nd April, Mrs. Doubtfire will be hosting special fan nights with post-show Q&As with the cast as well as never before seen transitions.
  Struggling to cope with his divorce and the loss of cu
  
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• Charing Cross tube station’s Trafalgar Square entrance to close for the summer

  13-03-2025 19:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Some of the entrances to Charing Cross tube station will be closed this summer, as the ticket hall requires essential maintenance due to water damage.
  Closure warning sign in the ticket hall (c) ianVisits
  Charing Cross tube station was formed from the merger of two tube stations, and has two ticket halls. The one that’s closing is the “Bakerloo line entrance” next to Trafalgar Square.
  The “Northern line entrance,” which is right next to Charing Cross mainline statio
  
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• The London Buzz – 13th March 2025

  13-03-2025 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Trade unions have accused Hackney Council of “ignoring” pension fund members after they were denied the right to give a deputation to councillors on divestment. Hackney Citizen
  Four Tory-run councils reject London Green Belt review – but Labour-run Barnet will take part Barnet Post
  Campaigners are trying to stop the sale of a ‘low cost’ community gym located in the heart of Covent Garden. BBC News
  A car park in Beckenham is set t
  
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• Islington council wants to scrap the nightly locking of its small parks

  13-03-2025 16:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Islington Council is considering a plan to stop locking up its pocket parks every evening and leave them open all night.
  Cannonbury Square (c) ianVisits
  It’s a cost-saving measure, as having staff drive around the council area clearing parks of lingering visitors and locking the gates costs money. However, the counterargument is that leaving the parks open overnight could attract antisocial behaviour.
  Islington Council manages 122 parks, of which 92 have fences and gates around them. The c
  
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• Kensington and Chelsea cracks down on abandoned e-bikes – operators fined £3,000

  13-03-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Enforcement officers working for Kensington and Chelsea council have started seizing e-bikes that have been dumped on pavements by their riders.
  Street Enforcement Officers loading abandoned rental e-bikes into a van (c) KBKC
  In the first phase of the clampdown, 30 Lime bikes and 12 Forest bikes were seized and taken to a secure storage location, before the operators were invoiced for the removal and storage of each bike.
  Both operators have paid the Council more than £3,000 in fees to cov
  
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• The cable car will be closed for 10 days starting next week

  13-03-2025 14:11 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Bad news for TikTok’rs as the IFS Cloud Cable Car will close for its annual maintenance next week.The cable car closes for about a week every year, but this year, the planned work will involve the replacement and renewal of essential components on the tower assemblies. This is routine heavy maintenance but due to the nature of the works and duration it takes, it needs to be carried out when the system is closed.
  The London Cable Car will be closed from Monday 17th to Wednesday 26th March 2
  
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