Today’s London news round-up:

Driven to succeed: meet London’s youngest black-cab driver The Guardian

A pomegranate juice shop which a GB News presenter suggested was a tax scam has said they are ‘speaking to lawyers’. Metro

Moment London bus bursts into flames in Westbourne Park during record heatwave Standard

Skaters hopped the fences into a closed Watford skatepark to demonstrate support for their “valuable community asset”.  Watford Observer

A row has broken out after a warning by Hounslow Council over posters place around the area of Gunnersbury Park. Neighbournet

First look at the £17m transformation of Orpington leisure centre South London

The phantom closure of Bus Stop M has ended, to the relief of many Bow residents. Diamond Geezer

“Cherished by the people” – Brockwell Lido returns to public hands with £250,000 gym refit Brixton Buzz

BBC Sport will continue to broadcast Wimbledon until 2033 after signing a new deal with the All England Club. BBC News

Hawk helps keep Watford General Hospital clean and safe Watford Observer

A Hackney woman bidding for social housing was forced to wait over a year for the council to complete her medical assessment, a watchdog has found. Hackney Citizen

And from ianVisits:

Parliament spending £2m a week to stop crumbling palace falling down

Tickets Alert: Tours of the Aga Khan Centre in King’s Cross

Leighton House exhibition explores how its Arab Hall was designed

London Transport Museum reveals plans for £26 million refurbishment

London’s Pocket Parks: Victoria Gardens, Old Oak Common, NW10

Bees, butterflies and blooming roadsides as TfL expands wildflower verges

Things to do in London tomorrow

The London Territorial Force in Peace and War, 1908-21
Chelsea
Join Charles Fair, Richard Hendry and Tom Thorpe as they discuss the formation, composition and wartime contribution of the London Territorial Force.

Barnet Heritage Trail Launch
Colindale
Launch of Barnet Heritage Trail: guided walk, storytelling, shadow puppetry, and community celebration at Cultivate Colindale’s new circular economy hub.

Building A Sense of Belonging
Ealing
A historical talk and review of linked restoration projects on a site in Hammersmith

Henry Moore after hours
Richmond
Celebrate the arrival of summer with a night of art, music and performance, inspired by the landmark Henry Moore exhibition at Kew.

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That comes from a National Audit Office report into the ongoing issue of what to do with the crumbling edifice of the UK Parliament estate. It’s an issue that’s been kicked down the grass for so long that the scaffolding poles that prop up parts of the building are in danger of becoming heritage items themselves.

Parliament currently spends around £1.5 million a week on maintenance of the Palace, including major refurbishment projects. This is forecast to increase to around £2 million a week between 2026 and 2030.

Although Parliament passed an act that will allow funding for the restoration works, there’s still a lot of debate about how they will be carried out.

The most cost-effective and least risky option for the project would be to empty the building entirely and relocate politicians elsewhere during the works.

Politicians are unhappy with the idea and are considering alternatives, such as partially emptying the building and relocating offices during the restoration works. That pushes costs up considerably and adds a decade or more to the delivery time.

Some of the options would take so long that a stonecarver could start work on the project as an apprentice, and still be working on it the day they retire.

The costs range from £11 billion to an eye-watering £56 billion.

However, each year of delay is estimated to add £320 million to £420 million to the overall cost of delivering the Programme. That’s mainly due to inflation, but also the longer the damage is left unrepaired, the more damage is caused, and repairs end up costing more to carry out.

While politicians dither and delay, the independent Restoration and Renewal Programme is seeking an initial £3 billion for a seven-year set of repairs, and also the work to develop and acquire temporary accommodation for the Houses – if they agree to move out.

In the meantime, look for mice running around behind politicians when they give interviews on the telly.

The full report is here.

It’s also open for tours.

While it looks like a conventional office block from the outside, it’s inside that the real action takes place. A central floor-to-ceiling courtyard space dominates, but what really marks the building out at the many gardens dotted around the outside and on the roof.

What’s also delightful about the building is the attention to detail, from the careful use of patterns in the decoration to both shade rooms while reminding people of the building’s origins to the furniture dotted around the library spaces, and even the signs for the toilets seem to have been custom-designed when an off-the-shelf sign would have been adequate.

Tours of the Aga Khan Centre are available most Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

The tours are free, and you can book one here.

The Aga Khan Centre is on the junction of Stable Street and Handyside Street, just north of Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross.

Featuring original designs by architect George Aitchison, ceramicist William De Morgan and illustrator Walter Crane, alongside works by Leighton and ceramics from his collection, the exhibition offers visitors a window into the collaborative process that brought the Arab Hall to life.

Made up mostly of drawings and sketches, the exhibition shows some of the thinking behind the design of the famous pop-song filming location and how he secured the tiles from Middle Eastern sellers, often taken from buildings that had fallen into ruins.

It also shows off some of the changes to the original design which were never fully realised.

The exhibition is based on new research by Dr Melanie Gibson, which has uncovered how some of Leighton’s trips across southern Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Sicily inspired the design of his London hall.

One of the rarer paintings on display is one from inside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, which he was allowed to paint after applying to the British consulate for permission and paying a fee. The exhibition also includes the only painting of the hall that Leighton made, of a child sitting on the floor reading a book.

As someone who uses his phone to capture exhibition captions and things that catch my attention, it was wryly amusing to see Leighton’s smartphone-sized pocket notebooks, where he did essentially the same thing, with a pencil.

The exhibition is in Leighton House’s basement gallery. Although the main house charges an entry fee, the basement gallery is free to visit.

It’s open until 4th October 2026, and you can visit on Wednesdays to Sunday between 10am and 5:30pm.

Although the exhibition is free, if you want to visit the rest of the house, entry is paid, and, very annoyingly, adults now have to buy a joint ticket for both Leighton House and Sambourne House.

It’s cheaper to visit both at the same time, but removing the option to visit just one is a tad irksome.

• Adults: £23
• Concessions: £16
• Children (6-19): £8
• Children (under 6): Free
• National Art Pass: £13

Details here.

Regular visitors will know that in a corner of the museum, there’s a large graphic on the fire escape showing a futuristic image of London in the year 2026. As part of the refurbishment, that image is to be taken down. Not because it’s out of date, but because that’s where the museum’s new entrance is going.

In fact, the plans will restore the entrance to its original location.

The museum’s current entrance was relocated during the 2007 refurbishment, routing visitors through the shop before they enter the galleries. While commercially successful, the arrangement leaves visitors facing a long, largely featureless corridor as they enter the museum.

That corridor is largely a consequence of accessibility works carried out in 2005. Because the museum could not excavate into the historic floor, the lifts were installed around a metre above floor level to accommodate their lift pits. This required extensive ramps throughout the building, with much of the ground floor raised on a platform and additional ramps connecting different areas.

Modern lift technology no longer requires such deep pits, allowing most of those ramps to be removed. The resulting redesign will free up valuable gallery space and create a more intuitive layout for visitors.

The long blank corridor will itself be turned into an event space.

No longer needing the long entrance slope means they can flip the museum entrance back to its original location. From here, people will be able to walk straight into the museum, and the intention is to maximise the double-height space to create a bit of a wow factor when you walk in by moving the buses out to the sides rather than the barrier-like block they are in at the moment.

There will be more spaces created around the rest of the museum, mainly by rationalising back-of-house staff areas. There’s already been some changes, such as a new video room next to the toilets, and a new gallery is being built at the moment.

Overall, they expect to add about 500 square metres of public space to the museum, allowing for about 90,000 additional visitors per year on top of the 450,000 they’ve reached in recent years.

One of the most visible changes, aside from the collection layouts, will be the removal of the bridge across the main gallery. People will instead be able to walk around all three other sides of the main gallery, through a new space at the far end of the building.

Moving the museum’s entrance could also benefit one of the museum’s most successful attractions: the shop. It attracts more than twice as many visitors as the museum itself. To borrow from the V&A’s famous 1980s advertising slogan, the London Transport Museum is an ace shop with quite a nice museum attached.

The money-spinning cafe and shop will also be refurbished as part of the plans.

Alongside the revamping of the museum interior, the project will address several hidden issues, primarily related to drainage, the removal of the gas boilers, and the upgrade of the rooftop solar panels.

The museum expects to remain open throughout the redevelopment works, and everything should be completed in time for its 50th anniversary in 2030.

The whole project is set to cost around £26 million, and they’re raised £1 million from the Arts Council, £300,000 from the LT Museum Friends and a £12 million grant from Transport for London (TfL).

That leaves just under £13 million still to be raised. However, work can begin before all the funding is secured, with the museum drawing on its reserves to finance the early stages of the redevelopment.

Elizabeth McKay, Director and CEO of London Transport Museum comments: “London’s transport story is one of the greatest innovation stories in the world, and this transformation is about sharing that story in a bigger, bolder and more inspiring way than ever before.”

“For generations, Londoners and visitors have come to the Museum to explore the city and its stories through its transport system. As we approach our 50th anniversary, we’re creating an experience that captures the energy, creativity and optimism of London itself – while opening the doors to even more people.”

During a briefing for museum supporters, an update was also provided on the museum’s Acton Depot, where the majority of the collection is stored.

Although there has long been an expectation that the site could eventually be redeveloped for housing, the museum confirmed that the depot will remain in Acton as part of any future plans. Options under consideration include redevelopment around the depot, and it could even emerge with slightly more space than it has today — a useful prospect given the size of the museum’s collection of trains and buses.

The museum also confirmed that it expects to acquire one of the older DLR trains when they are withdrawn from service.

—

Updated to correct a typo in the first sentence about the cost of the project.

In an area dominated by the railway past and present and lots of light industry, a heck of a lot of what you see around you has been rebuilt several times, but not this pocket park. It somehow escaped being built on when all the rest was.

The pocket park sits next to Victoria Road, which was little more than a dirt track through the fields when the first railways arrived in the area.

By 1915, some workers’ cottages were built on the now paved Victoria Road, and some side roads were laid out around the pocket park, evidently intending to build more houses.

It seems the housing never arrived, as industry moved in instead, and by 1930, the roads laid out for housing had vanished under more railway sidings and yet another warehouse.

You can see the plot of land that became the pocket park in this 1934 photo – it’s at 9 o’clock, between the two rows of terraced housing to the north of the railway bridge. You might spare a thought for the people who moved into those first houses expecting to be surrounded by human neighbours, only to find warehouses moving in.

The pocket park was still just an empty plot of land when finally in the late 1950s it was laid out as a recreation ground and named Victoria Gardens. The exact date is hard to pin down, but it would probably be 1958-59 and in May 1960, Acton Borough applied for permission to create park bylaws for Victoria Gardens.

The next big change locally was in the 1990s, when the row of houses facing onto Victoria Road and the old warehouses behind it were cleared by Wimpey Homes to build a cluster of low-rise blocks of flats. So the people living in the homes on the other side of the pocket park finally got the neighbours they expected back in the 1900s.

If you want to cry, the two-bed flats were being sold for £66,000 for completion in June 1995.

And in 2018, the warehouses on the other side of Victoria Road were cleared away to make space for HS2’s Victoria Road construction site. When HS2 moves out, the site will be redeveloped for housing.

And that might see the pocket park get a makeover as well, as it could do with one, because if a park could ever look sad, this one would put Eeyore to shame.

Piled up on a slope – which wasn’t there in the 1930s, so presumably ex-building rubble, the grass is rather threadbare, and the random lumps of bushes seem almost accidental growth rather than planned.

The large stones dotted around do give a bit of character, but candidly, this is a park overlooking a busy road and a building site, and hardly conducive to pleasant relaxation.

Oddly, it might need to be renamed soon.

The Victoria Road and Old Oak Lane Development Framework document shows it as being renamed “Midland Terrace and Shaftesbury Playspace,” with a new Victoria Gardens being created on Jenner Avenue in North Acton.

TfL first began experimenting with wildflower verges in 2019 through pilot schemes alongside the A40 in Hillingdon and the A406 in Redbridge. The approach involves reducing mowing from up to eight cuts a year to just two, removing grass cuttings, allowing wildflowers to establish, and creating richer habitats for insects and other wildlife.

The verges provide nectar, food and shelter for a range of species, including bees, butterflies, birds and small mammals. They also help capture carbon dioxide in the soil and reduce emissions by cutting the frequency of maintenance visits.

New wildflower verges have been established at several locations over the past year, including 5,000 square metres along the A10 in Enfield, 2,000 square metres on the A2 in Bexley and 1,700 square metres beside the A217 in Sutton. TfL has also planted wildflower seeds donated by Butterfly Conservation on traffic islands near Rotherhithe roundabout, replacing more formal planting schemes.

The new sites add to an expanding network of wildflower verges across London, including publicly accessible areas at Redbridge Roundabout and alongside the A40 in Hillingdon, where residents can experience the habitats firsthand.

Monitoring carried out with the charity Butterfly Conservation suggests the programme is already benefiting wildlife. Since 2023, surveys have tracked butterfly populations across the verges, and in 2025, volunteers carried out 118 surveys at 34 sites. These recorded around 720 butterflies from 22 different species, along with about 100 day-flying moths.

Butterfly sightings were, on average, more than 50% higher than in the previous year.

Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy Mete Coban said the expansion demonstrated how relatively simple changes could make a significant difference for nature.

He said: “The expansion of wildflower verges across London shows how simple changes can have a big impact, helping nature thrive.

“Alongside these verges, we have planted more than 640,000 trees, including two major new woodlands, and created or restored over 2,000 football pitches worth of green space.”

The wildflower programme forms part of TfL’s wider environmental strategy, which also includes measures to reduce pollution entering waterways and lower flood risk.

Working with City Hall and other partners, TfL has delivered almost 50,000 square metres of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) across London, including nearly 18,000 square metres in the last financial year. These schemes use features such as rain gardens, planted roofs and wetlands to slow the flow of rainwater into drains and rivers.

TfL added that it plans to install a further 10,000 square metres of SuDS over the next year, including as part of the A23 Streatham Hill improvements, which aim to make walking and cycling safer and more attractive.

Before land is converted into a wildflower verge, TfL assesses factors including the suitability of existing vegetation, maintenance access requirements, proximity to homes and any potential impact on road safety.

Greggs has decided to shut [a small number of] stores in London due to the extreme heatwave. Standard

The man regarded as the ‘architect’ of the ‘new town’ in Enfield has quit his job. Enfield Dispatch

Buy Back Brixton submits ‘competitive’ bid for the purchase of Brixton Village and Market Row Brixton Buzz

Several London councils have today launched court action against the Mayor of London over plans to slash affordable housing targets amid claims the city is being “turned into an investment asset for the super rich”. Standard

Dagenham social club owner in last ditch plea to keep trades hall alive Barking Star

A replica of New York’s historic Stonewall Inn will take to the streets of London Pride this summer as part of a partnership between the venue and Brooklyn Brewery. Attitude

Wimbledon qualifying was suspended for almost an hour-and-a-half on Wednesday due to a power outage at Roehampton. Standard

Despite hearing some early progress on grant funding at Housing 2026, a major London landlord has warned that the lack of demand in the capital is making it difficult to cross-subsidise social housing. Inside Housing (£)

London families told to refill water bottles despite having no running water during heatwave The Canary

And from ianVisits:

Tickets Alert: Early openings and late closings at Horizon 22 viewing gallery

Drones to patrol Romford railways in trespass crackdown

Tickets Alert: The heritage tube trains are back out on the rails

Exhibition tells the 300 year history of St Martin in the Fields

Tickets Alert: Visit the Logos Hope, the world’s largest floating book fair

Visiting Our Lady of the Rosary and St Patrick, Walthamstow

Things to do in London tomorrow

Routemaster RM1 on display at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
London Transport Museum will bring the iconic AEC Routemaster RM1 to Covent Garden’s Piazza for one day only.

Inside the Infinite Shed: Heat Pumps Explained
Southwark
Ever wondered how a heat pump actually works? Curious about switching out your boiler but not sure where to start?

Lunchtime Talk: Screening London – The GLC Film Viewing Board Files
Clerkenwell
Join this lunchtime talk to hear what 27 boxes of archived files can tell us about the cinematic & cultural history of the mid-20th century.

Fletcher Priest Architects – open studio
Holborn
An open studio exploring 100 Fetter Lane’s printing heritage, material passporting and belonging through making, film and conversation.

The Evolving Life of an Islington Home
Islington
A talk and Q&A considering the past, present and future of retrofit.

A History of Georgian Feasting with Dr Amy Boyington
Twickenham
A talk and Q&A with Dr Amy Boyington, exploring the country house dining room as a carefully orchestrated theatre of wealth, power and performance.

Paths Through Britain
Camden
In this panel conversation, explore how ancient tracks, pilgrim ways and long-distance trails reveal a hidden history of how people have travelled slowly through these islands, and why walking still holds such power today.

Richard Price and America’s Revolution: evening talk with Sir Roly Keating
Stoke Newington
Join Sir Roly Keating for this talk on philosopher, mathematician, scientist, non-conformist preacher and political radical Richard Price.

Wellcome Collection Late: Shaping Age
Camden
An evening inspired by ‘The Coming of Age’ exhibition, featuring performances, talks, workshops, music and tours which challenge and subvert expectations of age and ageing.

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However, unlike the free daytime visits, these “out of hours” openings are charged for, which also means they’re quieter and less crowded.

The early bird tickets cost £15 per person (including a hot/cold drink), and open the tower for visiting on selected Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays in July from 7:45am.

The late evenings are on selected Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6.30pm to 10pm, and cost £25 including a drink.

Tickets are available from here.

Scroll down to the dates and look for the little blue or orange dots indicating early or late openings.

Alternatively, if you wait until the clocks go back in late October, you can go up later in the afternoon for sunset from about 4:30pm and all for free. Free tickets are released on their website daily and are snapped up fairly quickly, but they reserve some space each day for walk-ins if you’re willing to take a chance.

GBR Anglia will start the trials of a new BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) drone technology later this summer and will allow Network Rail teams to access live aerial coverage up to 400 metres from Romford Rail Operating Centre, providing faster access to information compared with standard drone systems and reducing the need for staff to enter higher-risk areas.

The beyond visual line of sight trial has been approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and forms part of the ongoing work by Network Rail, c2c and Greater Anglia as Anglia’s integrated railway.

Following sixteen months of development work, these BVLOS drones will be operated on Network Rail’s behalf by Heliguy.

The drones are also fitted with high-resolution thermal imaging cameras, which enable early identification of wear or damage across track, drainage, structures, and lineside equipment before it develops into faults. The long-term aim is to expand BVLOS drone operations across strategic locations in Anglia, with flights extending up to 4 kilometres.

Richard Barke, route crime and security manager for Network Rail’s Anglia route, said: “Trespass, vandalism and cable theft are some of the biggest causes of delay for passengers across the East of England.

“The learning from Romford will help us understand how this technology could support faster and more effective incident response across the Anglia route in the future.

“That means better coordination between route crime teams, operations and response teams, so we can deal with incidents more quickly and keep disruption to a minimum for passengers.”