A gang set up a fake police checkpoint in Stanwell Road, Feltham near the junction with the A30 last and stopped a silver Ford Transit carrying the high-tech equipment.

The four attackers, who were dressed in high-visibility jackets and police-style caps, then climbed into the van, leaving the victims on the side of the road.

The Transit was found later, empty and abandoned in Stanwell Moor. Police believe a dark BMW 5 series and a dark coloured Audi A4 saloon were also involved in the robbery and are appealing for anyone with information or who was in the area between 11pm and 11.30pm on Monday November 9 to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Ian Wilson said: "This was a well-organised and targeted attack aimed at a specific vehicle that the robbers knew would be carrying a high-value consignment.

"These criminals were not afraid to use violence to carry out the robbery and the experience has left the driver and his passenger very shaken."

Anyone with information should call police on 020 8246 9972 Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The Tory Mayor and the Justice Minister visited the new Heron Wing, which is designed to cut youth crime by increasing education, training and counselling for young criminals.

Mr Johnson said: "Some may argue that we are throwing good money at bad kids but they are wrong. The rate of re-offending for youngsters leaving custody stands at a shocking 75% and it costs £55,000 to detain a young offender for a year so it makes sense both economically and socially to break young people out of the cycle of crime."

Tickets for the event, which is part of the Hanworth Road church's centenary celebration, cost £5 and are available by calling Mark Savage on 020 88902556 or Alan Cuthbert on 020 85715102.

Boozing on the High Street and surrounding roads was outlawed in March but police recorded an extra 82 offences of anti-social behaviour in the area this summer compared with last year.

John Kavanagh, who lives in Feltham High Street, has been abused and had eggs thrown at him and thinks trouble from teen gangs is increasing.

He said: "It's still happening in the park opposite [Feltham Green]. They are still drinking, they are having parties with drugs and drink day and night over there.

"There are often ten or 20 of them and if you dare to go near them they'll attack you. It's beyond a joke and it's getting worse and worse.

"The police don't seem to care about them - this drinking ban hasn't had any affect whatsoever. They just let them drink."

The 18% increase in anti-social behaviour in Hanworth Park, Feltham West and Feltham North in July, August and September compared with the same period in 2008 comes following the end of a curfew in the town centre that police declared a success.

Between October 2008 and March this year offences dropped 12% when officers were given powers to send home unsupervised under-16s out after 9pm and ban them from the town centre for 24 hours.

The dispersal zone, which only took in the area around the High Street, was replaced by a year-long drinking ban covering a wider area including most of Hanworth Park, Feltham and parts of Bedfont.

People caught drinking on the streets inside the controlled zone can have their alcohol confiscated and be fined up to £500 for persistent offending or alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.

When it was introduced Simon Williamson, whose Bedfont Lane home has been plagued by yobs, was one of many who warned the drinking ban was not a sufficient replacement to stop the gangs from gathering.

He said: "I hate to say I told you so but this summer's been terrible and with the warm weather continuing it has not let up one bit.

"You see them taunting the police with a can in their hand and making noise until all hours. It's got worse and this so-called drinking ban is doing nothing to help."

Workers at Dorothy Perkins, New Look, Next, Peacocks, Images Hair and Beauty, Specsavers and Poundland paid £1 each to bring a splash of pink to their stores.

Wayne Altrudo, 28, of Carlton Avenue, Feltham, received a six week community order and was banned from keeping pets for six years after admitting causing unnecessary harm to an animal at Feltham Magistrates Court last Friday(30).

As Britain's biggest online classifieds site, Gumtree allows users to list private items for sale for free, rent property and even meet prospective partners. It met with controversy in August when a man responding to a fake advert was ambushed and stabbed in Barking, East London.

Following Altrudo's sentencing, RSPCA inspector Nicky Thorne said: "I think the case highlights how important it is to take into consideration the financial implications and knowledge required to look after a dog before you take one on.

"Not having the money or time to look after an animal properly or being ignorant to its needs is not an excuse for allowing it to suffer and I think the courts reflected this in their sentencing."

Hounslow Council has received £54,000 in fines from SITA - the company that runs the service - for failure to collect rubbish since it launched a new waste and recycling scheme in March.

He said: "If residents are suffering from a poor service, shouldn't they be given some sort of refund for that?"

"I would say there is a strong argument that it would focus the minds of the contractors and the council if some or all of this money was refunded to residents. That's the line I would take."

Under the terms of the contract, every time an entire street is missed by SITA the contractor is fined £100 but leader of the council Councillor Peter Thompson believes passing this money back to taxpayers is impractical.

"Cllr Dakers fanciful suggestion of refunding residents in affected streets clearly shows that he is only interested in cheap headlines to bolster his own political ambitions. He clearly has no idea of the practical problems and costs of such a scheme," he said.

"Moreover in the vast majority of cases where a street is missed it has been collected by the next day. Every missed street is one too many and despite our dramatic success in increasing recycling by residents, we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to support SITA to improve service levels further."

The council has collected an extra 1,500 tonnes of recycling since the scheme began but Cllr Dakers thinks it could have been much more.

"I acknowledge that there has been a substantial increase in recycling but there is the reality that the introduction of the service was a mess. The sensible thing would have been to pilot it in a small area and work on the problems before introducing it borough-wide," he said.

Households are expected to save up to £120 a year each once the housing association installs new cavity wall insulation in the homes across the borough with the lowest energy ratings. Hounslow Homes also estimates the project will cut CO2 emissions by 88,000kg per year.

The housing association's environmental adviser Rory Prendergast said: ''This grant will greatly assist us in targeting those properties which are the most expensive to heat and are most susceptible to fuel poverty. It will aide us in our efforts to tackle climate change at a local level, improve energy efficiency, and reduce heating costs for our residents.''

James-Tobias Norrington completed the one mile course in just 10minutes 15 seconds - a new record for him - and raised more than £100 for disabled children's charity Get Kids Going in the process.

Mum Kelli said: "We are extremely proud of him. He can do these runs but there are a lot of kids in wheelchairs who can't - that's why he does them.

"I hope we have got an Olympic champion. He's such an active boy I'm sure his life will have something to do with sport or fitness."

Nirmal Gharu, 40, who used to own an MOT test centre in Hampton Road West, is thought to have disposed of a red Daewoo Nexia car which police think was used to transport the 13-year-old's body.

Amanda Dowler, who was known to family and friends as Milly, vanished while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames on March 21, 2002. Six months later, her skeletal remains were found 30 miles away by mushroom pickers in Yateley Heath, Hampshire.

Earlier this month police divers searched Bedfont Lakes for the red car after an anonymous tip-off but found nothing of any relevance.

In October Crown Prosecution Service solicitors were handed a dossier of evidence by Surrey Police connecting Bellfield with Milly's murder and are still considering whether to charge him.

The 41-year-old former nightclub bouncer and wheel clamper, who grew up in Hanworth, admitted earlier this year that he had been driving the car on the day Milly disappeared. He is currently serving a life sentence for killing Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19.