Today’s London news round-up:

Government issues notice due to ‘serious concerns’ about how Hillingdon Council is run Harrow Online

Brockwell Park cygnet deaths – local resident accuses Lambeth Council of mismanagement Brixton Buzz

A Wandsworth tenant threatened with eviction last year, at the age of 82, has been told by the new council administration that no eviction process was ever formally opened. Putney News

Plans to install solar panels at the Grade I-listed St Mary’s Church in Harrow on the Hill have been approved by the council. Harrow Online

Rotherhithe locals object ‘grossly inappropriate’ six-metre-wide advertising screens next to Albin’s Memorial Garden Southwark News

A High Court judge has rejected a legal challenge against Islington Council over the closure of a nursery, as the local authority says it will provide interim childcare from the site over the summer. EC1 Echo

The Weaver Line, on the London Overground has reopened four days after it was partially suspended because of a major Walthamstow fire. ITV

Hill Group is set to start work next month on the long-awaited rebuild of Hackney’s New Era Estate Construction Enquirer

Eighty firefighters fought a blaze in Clerkenwell that came the day after Lebanese Grill Express reopened following a police closure Standard

Luxury fashion brand Burberry has challenged incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham to boost London as a shopping destination by restoring tax-free shopping for tourists. National News

And from ianVisits:

Tickets Alert: Attend the City of London’s ancient Silent Ceremony

London Overground’s Suffragette line to get four new railway bridges

The Crick Institute’s ancient DNA exhibition Does Not Appeal

London’s weekly railway news

Things to do in London tomorrow

Crystal Palace Park Celebrates
Upper Norwood
A local fete style event to mark the imminent completion of restoration works at the Crystal Palace park.

Roughly monthly open day of the St Pancras Waterpoint tower
Kings Cross
Tour an historic Grade II listed water tower with views of the Gasholders flats, the Coal Drops, Kings Cross area and St Pancras station.

Cartmarking ceremony
City of London
Cart Marking showcases a truly unique collection of transport dating from the horse and cart to the latest, cleanest, greenest, and safest in use today.

The North Face Climb Festival 2026
Victoria Dock
A celebration of climbing culture as some of the world’s best athletes go head-to-head in Deep Water Solo competition.

Garthorne Road nature reserve open days
Forest Hill
Come and visit this green oasis in a urban setting it is a one of the many local green lungs in Forest Hill where you can find some interesting wildlife.

Open afternoon at The Clockworks
West Norwood
The Clockworks will be open to the public for a rare Saturday drop-in afternoon. Come along and discover the space, talk to the curator and conservator and find out more about the history of networked time.

Monthly opening of the Barnet “Physic Well”
Arkley
Volunteers from Barnet Museum open the Barnet Physic Well, giving everyone free access to this little known part of Barnet’s heritage.

Things to do on Sunday

Crystal Palace Park Celebrates
Upper Norwood
A local fete style event to mark the imminent completion of restoration works at the Crystal Palace park.

South London Comics and Zine Fair
South Norwood
South London Comics and Zine Fair returns to Stanley Arts for it’s fifth instalment showcasing the very best in small press zines, comics, graphic novels and picture books.

The annual Soho Village fete
Soho
A traditional Village Fete with a Soho Twist.

Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Clerkenwell
Every year, thousands of people flock to the streets around the Church to watch the procession and to participate in the feast of the Church where you can buy the typical Italian products from different stands.

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For over 800 years, on Michaelmas Day, the City of London’s liverymen elect a new Mayor for the year ahead, and a few weeks later, the Silent Ceremony takes place. It’s not absolutely silent, as, apart from the occasional muffled cough or ringing of a mobile phone, the incoming Mayor reads out a vow before signing the book to confirm their office and to pick up the keys to live in Mansion House.

There is also a lot of doffing of tricorne hats, bows and presentations, and it’s entirely silent, except for that short declaration by the incoming Lord Mayor.

It’s a great piece of theatre.

Tickets for the public to attend are offered by ballot – and you have until September to apply, which you can do here.

This year’s Silent Ceremony will take place on the afternoon of Friday 13th November 2026, ahead of the Lord Mayor’s Show the following morning.

• 2.00pm – Doors open
• 2.30pm – All guests to be seated
• 3.00pm – Ceremony begins
• 3.20pm – Ceremony concludes

All the bridges that need to be replaced can be found on the London Overground’s Suffragette line, between Leytonstone High Road and Woodgrange Park stations.

• Talbot Road – E7 0DX
• Strode Road – E7 0DU
• Stracey Road – E7 0HG
• Latimer Road – E7 0LH

Network Rail says that work will begin at the Talbot Road and Stracey Road bridges on 1st September, with engineers starting on site at Strode Road and Latimer Road on 28th September. The road and pavement will be closed under each bridge throughout the project, with additional road closures in the area required for shorter periods during 2027.

The first phase of the works will involve extending the support structures at the ends of the existing bridges to carry the new decks. Following this, the demolition of the old bridge decks and installation of the new spans are set to be carried out in spring 2027, with the project to be completed by late summer 2027.

Some weekend closures on the Suffragette line will be needed in 2027 as part of the scheme.

The project to replace the bridges is being delivered by Network Rail’s contractor, BAM.

Joe Kennedy, infrastructure director for Network Rail Anglia, said: “Thousands of people travel over these old bridges every day by train, passing through residential areas in east London. Our project will deliver four brand new bridges that will serve the surrounding community and rail passengers for several generations. We’re really sorry for the disruption and we’ll work very closely with residents and businesses to keep the impact to a minimum while we get the job done.”

There’s also a couple of information events for locals at the Forest Gate Learning Zone, 1 Woodford Road, London, E7 0DH

• Thursday 6th August, 10.30am to 1.30pm
• Wednesday 12th August, 5.00pm to 7.30pm

It’s the Francis Crick Institute’s look at ancient DNA and how it helps track human evolution, migration, culture and disease.

Naturally, the big problem with DNA is that it’s not exactly something you can put on display for people to look at, but the science that investigates it is very big, visible, and quite fascinating to look at.

Alas, this exhibition didn’t put any of that on show and is mainly a series of display boards with fairly thin information about each topic. What you’re often required to do is pick up a headset and listen to the descriptions or play games to try to guess what is being displayed.

It’s both a fairly thin display that should be consumed quickly but also a frustratingly slow experience, especially if there are other people visiting and you end up waiting your turn.

And even after reading it several times, I have absolutely no idea what on earth the display of croc shoes is trying to tell us.

The Crick’s exhibitions are usually really good, but this is a rare dud from them.

The exhibition, We Go Way Back, is at the Francis Crick Institute next to St Pancras station until July 2027.

Entry is free, and it’s open Wed to Sat from 10am to 4pm – and late on Wednesdays to 8pm.

Details here.

London Underground

Helical expecting Gateway 2 sign-off on student resi block above Southwark tube station by end of year Building

‘Like a sauna’: London tube travellers swelter in temperatures higher than legal limit for cattle The Guardian

London Underground’s Central line is getting more trains at weekends ianVisits

Elizabeth line

A direct link from south Essex to the Elizabeth Line is launching this month with a new bus route. Echo News

Mainline / Overground

Fresh bid for more Blackpool to London train services after Network Rail snub Lancs Live

Two new GBR-branded trains were side by side at Liverpool Street this morning, showing off the merger of Greater Anglia and c2c rail services. ianVisits

Thameslink abandons plans to cut rail services on Fridays Greenwich Wire

Broken air con leaves train ‘raining inside’ BBC News

Chiltern Railways has become the first train operator in the UK to trial a new generation of ticket barriers designed to crack down on fare evasion while keeping passengers flowing quickly through stations. ianVisits

Huge fire damages homes and gardens in east London closing train lines and sparking evacuations Standard

Miscellaneous

Her fabric designs jazzed up the London Underground and though Queen Elizabeth II rejected her idea for a stamp, her work made a permanent cultural imprint, as a new exhibition reveals The Guardian

Detectives have released images of a man they want to identify after a woman was sexually assaulted at Hanger Lane Underground station in west London. Harrow Online

Hackers who crippled TfL systems sentenced to more than five years in prison ianVisits

Burnham’s HS2 promise is dead on arrival – here’s how to really fix Britain’s railways iNews (£)

Police hunt laughing man who sexually assaulted woman at west London Tube station Standard

CCTV footage has been released of a person police want to speak to after a lone woman reported being dragged to the ground on the Tube by a man who tried to rape her. Daily Mail

The masterplan for the redevelopment of Euston station has opened for public consultation and is showing off some of the early thinking about how the station’s surroundings will look in the future. ianVisits

Getting cybersecurity on track: How to protect rail in the transition to Great British Railways Politics Home

Sparks from trains could be behind some of the trackside fires that have caused major disruption during London’s ongoing heatwave. Standard

Man who stabbed two strangers in London Underground has sentence increased  Attorney General’s Office 

And finally: A history of sponsored tube station names Diamond Geezer

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The image is from a July 2020 article: The disused North Woolwich railway station is up for sale

Today’s London news round-up:

Sir Sadiq Khan made a peer as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to leave office ITV

North London mental health trust staff walk out on strike Barnet Post

Revealed: ‘Argentina fan’ rescued by police from England supporters in London is ‘rage-bait’ TikTok influencer Standard

The costs of securing a dilapidated leisure centre in Plaistow could reach £180,000 a year, Newham Council has admitted. Newham Voices

Go-ahead for data centre on site of former Southall cereal factory Ealing Times (from selling bites to storing bytes)

More than 100 Londoners have drowned since 2020 and heatwave creates more risks Metro

A Watford man is among three people jailed for impersonating police officers and stealing more than £4 million worth of cryptocurrency from eight victims. Harrow Online

Ealing Council’s Cabinet has given the green light to a controversial three-way deal that could bring an end to West Middlesex Golf Club’s 135-year history Ealing Today

A 14 year-old boy has denied planning a terrorist attack on two mosques in south-west London. Independent

Government oversight of Newham Council to continue until November at least Newham Voices

Residents living near a Rainham hotel are “pleading” for the site’s licence to be changed after “music that just thumps”. Romford Recorder

Charity Commission probes London mosque over preacher’s alleged call for Jews’ deaths Jewish News

And from ianVisits:

First GBR Anglia trains unveiled as Greater Anglia and c2c merge their fleets

Hackers who crippled TfL systems sentenced to more than five years in prison

Free exhibition brings centuries of London’s working people to the streets

Crystal Palace’s famous dinosaurs restored to their Victorian glory

London’s Pocket Parks: Moorgate Corner, EC2

Things to do in London tomorrow

The North Face Climb Festival 2026
Victoria Dock
A celebration of climbing culture as some of the world’s best athletes go head-to-head in Deep Water Solo competition.

Gun salutes in Green Park and Tower of London

Two sets of military gun salutes will take place today to mark the Birthday of HM The Queen (yes, the Queen, we still have one).

The London Victory Parade of 1946
Chelsea
Historian Jennifer Grant recounts the events of the London Victory Parade of 1946, including the complex politics surrounding which ‘allies’ were included.

Monthly release of tickets to visit The Cosmic House
Notting Hill
A slightly unassuming house in Holland Park conceals a remarkable interior — a house packed full of early Post-Modernist designs — and tickets to visit next month released today.

This free news roundup is delivered at 5pm daily via Substack – sign up for free here.

Greater Anglia and c2c are now managed jointly along with Network Rail’s East of England division to create GBR Anglia as a unified organisation.

Merging the passenger and infrastructure functions to form regional operations has already been implemented in the Southeastern and SWR regions, and the aim is to reduce the bureaucratic and contractual red tape that previously separated passenger services from infrastructure provision.

Speaking at the launch of the new GBR Anglia-branded trains, GBR Anglia Managing Director Jamie Burles said that merging the operations is already showing benefits, particularly in how they’re able to realign engineering works that might close the railway with passenger requirements.

GBR Anglia’s Jamie Burles added that, since the merger as part of Great British Railways, they’re responding better to dynamic passenger demand, such as adding more trains for major sporting events – the recent football matches saw additional late-night trains. That’s the sort of thing that was possible before, but was harder to achieve if Network Rail’s regulatory requirements to fix railways within set times clashed with the train company’s desire to run more trains.

The regulatory rules governing passenger services and infrastructure requirements didn’t always align, so the GBR Anglia merger is presented as a way to remove those red-tape conflicts. He added that they’ve recently been adding overhead line monitors to some trains, which have already prevented at least four major disruptive events by spotting problems before they affect the railway.

The first two trains from GBR Anglia sat side by side at Liverpool Street – and the ex-c2c train is also the first to have been fully repainted rather than just having a vinyl decal added.

For the train nerds, the two trains are Class 357 units 357008 & 357020, and Class 720 units 720144 & 720501.

Further Class 357 trains will receive the new livery as they pass through c2c’s existing fleet repaint and planned maintenance programme.

You could also start seeing Greater Anglia’s Class 720/1 and 720/5 trains on the c2c network after rail approvals were recently granted. As an operator, c2c already has some Class 720 trains (720/6), but they expect that allowing Greater Anglia’s fleet to be shared between them will provide greater resilience and flexibility across the two train fleets and help the railway respond more effectively when trains are unavailable or services are disrupted.

Also at the launch, Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said: “Track and train are two sides of the same coin but for too long they operated independently of each other, with passengers and taxpayers left to bear the consequences.

“By uniting track and train under one identity and leadership in Anglia, we’re creating a more reliable service that will put passengers first. It’s all part of our plan to deliver the biggest reform of our railways in a generation, creating more, growth, jobs and homes as we work to set up Great British Railways.”

Across the wider fleet, existing c2c and Greater Anglia logos will gradually be replaced by GBR Anglia branding. The Stansted Express identity will be retained and will transition to GBR Stansted Express. Customers will also see the new identity introduced gradually across station signage, wayfinding, staff  materials, and customer communications.

The transition will take place gradually, and customers will continue to see a mixture of GBR Anglia, Greater Anglia and c2c branding across the region for some time. Existing train services, tickets and customer arrangements will not change.

Thalha Jubair, 20, from east London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, both pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court

Apart from the cost to TfL, the cyberattack caused considerable disruption for staff and passengers, as TfL took large swathes of its systems offline while each was inspected to determine how the hackers gained access to the network.

The incident also delayed the planned expansion of contactless ticketing and temporarily closed applications for Oyster photocards for children and young people. Data from TfL’s Oyster refunds system was accessed during the breach, leaving some passengers waiting longer than usual for repayments.

Authorities said the consequences could have been far worse if they had affected the transport network itself, estimating that a shutdown might have caused up to £56 billion in damage to the UK economy.

The cyber attack was detected on Sunday 1st September, and TfL blocked access to some of its online and office services while it investigated. Although TfL initially said they didn’t expect customer data to have been compromised, they later had to contact around 5,000 customers whose details had been leaked.

It’s now known that Jubair and Flowers infiltrated TfL’s network between 31st August and 3rd September 2024 before being identified by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the City of London Police. Both pleaded guilty last month to offences under Section 3ZA of the Computer Misuse Act, one of the most serious cybercrime offences in UK law, covering unauthorised acts that cause or risk serious damage.

The pair were described by investigators as leading members of the cybercriminal collective Scattered Spider, a group linked to a series of high-profile attacks on organisations in the UK and overseas.

The NCA said action against the pair had effectively brought the group’s activities to a halt, with Microsoft independently assessing that the arrests had materially reduced Scattered Spider’s ability to carry out further cyber attacks.

Flowers was first arrested on 6th September 2024 while investigators said he was actively compromising the systems of two US healthcare providers, SSM Health Care Corporation and Sutter Health. Officers seized laptops, hard drives and other digital devices from his home.

One laptop contained a screenshot of access to TfL’s network, and investigators also discovered videos recorded by Flowers that showed Jubair accessing TfL’s systems during the attack. The pair communicated throughout the operation using Telegram and online collaboration tools.

Flowers was later arrested again for breaching his bail conditions relating to his use of electronic devices. Jubair also faced an additional charge after refusing to provide PINs or passwords for seized devices.

Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, described the case as the largest cybercrime prosecution ever brought before the UK courts.

He said the attack had caused “significant financial harm and disruption” to critical national infrastructure and praised TfL for reporting the incident quickly, saying that early cooperation with law enforcement had been crucial to securing the convictions.

Transport for London Commissioner Andy Lord welcomed the sentences, saying the organisation continued to prioritise the security of its systems and customer data while working with law enforcement partners following the incident.

The investigation was led by the National Crime Agency and City of London Police, with support from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, British Transport Police and international partners including the FBI.

And there’s an outdoor exhibition telling the stories of some of those people captured in paintings and photographs. The oldest photo is of William Anthony, a night watchman, taken shortly before he died in 1863, with the most modern being a young man working in a Southwark shoe factory in 1954

There’s the disabled street musician, a lot of ladies selling wares from baskets, reminding us of life before high street retailers, and people ranging from women working in factories to grand officials in fine, often handed-down robes.

While many of these images are staged by artists and photographers, they give us an idea of the lives of working Londoners through history.

It’s a full spectrum of London, from poverty to wealth, on display.

The exhibition is at the north end of the “wobbly bridge” until 26th July, then from Monday 27th July to Monday 24th August 2026, it will be at St Paul’s Churchyard.

The photographs, prints and drawings on display in the exhibition are from the collections at The London Archives, which preserves millions of historical images of London and Londoners from the fifteenth century to the present day.

The multi-million-pound project, jointly delivered by Bromley Council and the Crystal Palace Park Trust, is the largest programme of improvements to the park since the Crystal Palace itself was destroyed by fire in 1936.

At the heart of the scheme was the restoration of the Grade I listed dinosaur sculptures and their surrounding Geological Court. The Victorian models, widely regarded as the world’s first life-sized sculptures of extinct animals, had been placed on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2020 after cracks developed in several of the figures, raising concerns that they could lose features including toes, tails and teeth.

Conservators have now repaired the sculptures and repainted them using colours based on their original Victorian appearance, leaving them looking closer to how visitors would have seen them when they were unveiled 172 years ago.

Created in the early 1850s, the 30 sculptures were designed to showcase the latest palaeontological discoveries to the public and became one of the star attractions when the Crystal Palace relocated from Hyde Park to Sydenham in 1854. Their unveiling helped spark what has been described as the world’s first wave of “dinosaur mania”, and today they are Grade I listed for their significance in both scientific and cultural history.

The dinosaur restoration formed part of a wider regeneration programme across the Grade II* listed park, supported by a £5 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund alongside funding from the sale of neighbouring land for housing and contributions from several charitable foundations.

The completed works also include a new dinosaur-themed playground, restoration of the Grade II listed Italian Terraces, a new visitor centre with a permanent exhibition on the park’s 170-year history, restoration of the Grand Centre Walk, and the reinstatement of a bust of the park’s designer, Sir Joseph Paxton.

Elsewhere in the Crystal Palace park, new accessible paths, upgraded lighting and wayfinding, sustainable drainage improvements and extensive new planting have been added to improve biodiversity and make more of the park accessible to visitors.

The landscape works were carried out by contractor Maylim, working with HTA Design and a multidisciplinary team of specialists. Historic England provided conservation advice on the dinosaur restoration, while local campaigners, including the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, contributed expertise and archival research throughout the project.