The concert takes place at Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford and starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £4 and are available by ringing 020 8560 5887 or from info@hounslowfriendsoffaith.org.

The R 'n' B star topped the Billboard Hot 100 today with Down (featuring Lil Wayne), knocking the Black Eyed Peas from their perch after 26 weeks.

"It's just incredible to have reached number one with my first release in America," he said.

In January this year, he performed a surprise concert for youngsters at Springwell Junior School, in Vicarage Farm Road, Heston.

Baljit Singh Rihal, of The Crossways, was sworn in at a ceremony in central London last month and described the role as a 'tremendous privilege'.

"The judiciary belongs to us, and it works better when we are involved," said the 34-year-old BA software engineer.

"Therefore I encourage people to apply and to make a real difference.

"We need to break down the barriers of people just thinking that Magistrates are only retired and white."

Baljit heard about a scheme run by an equalities campaign group called Operation Black Vote, which encourages ethnic minorities to consider a job in the court system. After shadowing a JP in Richmond for six months, he was hooked.

To win his new position the economics graduate had to go through two grilling interviews, stringent background checks and finally impress the Lord Chancellor himself. He has now begin an intensive training course in the law, including some prison visits.

Anyone, other than those in a handful of professions or with serious criminal convictions, can apply to become a magistrate but they must be prepared to sit in court for at least 26-and-a-half days a year.

Planning chiefs claimed the long-awaited scheme had been sunk, at least temporarily, by the housing slump.

It is already a decade since proposals to replace the ageing Heston Pools were first mooted, and five years since Barratt was selected as the council's preferred developer.

Council leader Peter Thompson said: "While it's disappointing we can't take this forward any further in its present form, we have to be realistic.

"The deal on the table would not have seen anything being built for a significant time, and would have prevented any other plan being put in place.

"We are deeply committed to giving local people the leisure facilities they deserve, so now we are going to take a look at what other options there are."

Hounslow Council had reached an agreement with Barratt to build a leisure centre and library in the south-west corner of Heston Park, in return for permission to build homes on the site of the existing facilities in New Heston Road.

However, falling property prices mean the land in question is now worth significantly less than the estimated £20million cost of the leisure centre.

Realising it could be years before the housing market picks up, making the project viable again, councillors decided to ditch Barratt and go back to the drawing board.

Officers will now prepare a report outlining possible alternatives to presented to members of the executive committee later this year.

David Blackett, chairman of Heston Residents' Association, described the announcement as a major setback for the area.

"The seemingly inevitable decision not to take the project forward due to the present economic circumstances is both disappointing and frustrating, even more so in view of the programme to invest in Leisure Hubs at Isleworth, Feltham, Chiswick and Brentford," he said.

"Heston also deserves investment, but there must be no compromise, there needs to be commitment and it needs to be viable and sustainable.

"For too long there has been a lack of investment in the Heston area, an area that has continued to expand with a greater number of young people.

"The executive must appreciate the needs of Heston, and must remain committed to providing Heston with the facilities it needs and deserves."