A South London high street has been described as going “downhill” by locals, with some saying they “don’t feel safe anywhere” after a series of reported knife fights in the area. London Road in Norbury, also known as Norbury High Street, sits in the north of Croydon borough, with trains connecting the town centre to central stations such as London Bridge and Victoria.
Croydon Council announced on Monday that Norbury High Street would be the first of the borough’s town centres to benefit from a series of “blitz” clean ups from the authority, in order to restore a sense of “pride”. Works to the street include tackling fly-tipping hotspots, removing graffiti, gully cleansing and jet washing pavements if necessary.
The council said in a statement that Norbury High Street had been identified as a priority area based on data from the Love Clean Streets App.
Tina McIntyre (Photo: Joe Coughlan via LDRS)
Tina McIntyre, 61, was born and raised in Norbury. She said that she still uses the high street “all the time”, despite the area becoming dirtier in recent years.
Ms McIntyre told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The last couple of years, it’s gone really down. It seems to have picked up a little in the last couple of months I reckon… All of a sudden all of the bins went and it was a nightmare. And they’re saying don’t throw rubbish, well where are you supposed to put it?”
The resident said that she rarely goes down the street at night anymore. She said problems such as overgrown trees covering street lights make residents feel less safe in the evenings. Ms McIntyre said: “It is dodgy around here. It was never like this before. It’s gone downhill in that sense… Someone would always say, ‘Oh, there was another fight down in Norbury,’ and shop windows get smashed. I don’t feel safe anywhere really anymore.”
Desmond Booth, 51, has been living in Norbury for over 30 years and said fly-tipping can be an issue due to the lack of bins in the area. He said he also chooses not to come out on the street at night due to antisocial behaviour outside the shops.
Mr Booth told the LDRS: “There’s too many kids hanging around certain areas, too much drinking. I don’t find it intimidating, but it depends. That mostly happens in the evening, not in the daytime… There aren’t many street lights around.”
Croydon Council carried out a trial last year of halving light levels from street lights on main roads between midnight and 5am. Council documents from February this year found that the initiative could save the council £967,000 a year.
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, told the LDRS: “The tree cutting programme is something that we are looking into at the moment. The street lights are relatively new in Croydon so as people have pointed out, sometimes they are obscured by branches, so that is something that we will look out for.”
Hopy Zonzholot claims fights on the street are a bigger issue than the litter problem. (Photo: Joe Coughlan via LDRS)
Hopy Zonzholot, 43, has owned a grocery on Norbury High Street for the past 11 years. He claims that while he rarely notices problems with rubbish in the area, fights between teenagers have occurred regularly outside his shop.
Mr Zonzholot told the LDRS: “Just opposite, sometimes the kids fight. When they fight, if you call the police they don’t come [straight away], they come after. They’re very violent, with knives and all that kind of stuff. Recently it’s been kind of quiet but it was all the time. I feel safe, right now it’s all right but before then it was every two weeks.”
Met Police crime data shows that there were 15 reported knife crime offences between January and June of this year in the Norbury and Pollards Hill ward, averaging at three offences a month. The data also states that 148 cases of violence against the person were reported in this time. These offences are defined as including harassment, assault and bodily harm.
The shop owner said he rarely sees police coming to the area when they are called. He also said he feels violence in the area is a much greater problem than litter and graffiti, and would rather see the council do something to target crime. He said: “They only come when they want to do the things they want to do. If we want them to do something for us, they do not.”
The Mayor of Croydon told the LDRS that the council was working very closely with the police to tackle antisocial behaviour in Norbury. He said the authority was coming up with specific ways to deal with the issue and recognised some areas may experience more problems than others.
He said: “I think that it comes back to taking ownership of a space. If an area looks downbeat and unloved, then antisocial behaviour will follow. I think when we start to take pride in an area and take ownership in the local shops, then the antisocial behaviour tends to decrease hand in hand.”
Locals said the lack of bins on the street was an issue. (Photo: Joe Coughlan via LDRS)
Raj Hamel, 38, is the manager of a corner shop on Norbury High Street. He said he has never experienced any issues with fights outside his shop, and wants Croydon Council to focus on adding more bins to the area instead of targeting fly-tipping.
Mr Hamel told the LDRS: “If they want to waste money let them do it. To be honest, there’s a lot of littering going on here. That needs to be fixed more than anything. In this whole area, there’s only one public bin.”
He added: “We leave at night and it will be normal. When we come back down in the morning, there will be bottles everywhere. Like I said, there’s no bins around for people to throw items away.”
Tony Hooker, of community-based charity Litter Free Norbury, said in a statement that the group was delighted Norbury had been chosen as the first area for the council’s new clean up scheme. He said the charity welcomes anything that seeks to improve the area and is supportive of the council’s “blitz” initiative.
Mr Hooker told the LDRS: “Litter Free Norbury’s mission is to tackle issues with litter and fly-tipping in the area, engaging with residents and businesses to look to improve attitudes and challenge the council where service standards are not being maintained.”
He added: “In respect of street litter bin provisions on London Road, we have undertaken a two-year campaign to improve the bin infrastructure and are pleased to report that through engagement with the council service over 20 bins have been reinstated in the area. We believe this should negate any argument that there are no bins for people to dispose of litter responsibly.”
Andy Wiseall, Transport for London’s Head of Asset Operations, said: “It’s a top priority to ensure that our highways are safe and well maintained. We carry out regular inspections to ensure all of our infrastructure, including streetlights, are working as they should and we will make sure this is the case in Norbury. We encourage local residents to report any maintenance concerns to us and are happy to discuss proposals for investment in new lighting with the council and residents.”
A Met Police spokesperson told the LDRS: “Local officers include the London Road area on their regular patrols in Norbury and are committed to dealing with any reports of antisocial behaviour and associated criminality that are raised with them. Any call made to police will be assessed and responded to appropriately, and officers despatched in a timely manner.”
They added: “If you have any issues you wish to report, or concerns you wish to raise, then please report via the Metropolitan Police website at www.met.police.uk, or by dialling 101. In an emergency, always dial 999.”
Retail trade union Usdaw today (23) called on the shopping public to show respect for shop workers, stating that the busy pre-Christmas shopping period leaves retail workers exhausted and in need of a proper break.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says, “By the time retail workers get to Christmas Eve, they will have been through a very busy run-up to Christmas. Our members tell us that incidents of verbal abuse are much worse in December and through to the New Year, when shops are busy, customers are stressed and things can boil over.
"That is why we asked customers to ‘keep your cool’ and respect shop workers, to make the Christmas shopping experience better for everyone.
“It is shocking that seven in ten of our members working in retail stores are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Over half of shop workers have faced incidents triggered by customers being frustrated with stock shortages, lack of staff or problems with self-service checkouts.
"All of these issues are largely outside the control of the staff who are bearing the brunt of shoppers’ anger.
“Too many retail workers do not get a decent break over the Christmas and New Year period. They arrive home shattered and have to spend time on Christmas Day getting ready for work the next day, which is why 97 per cent want shops to shut on Boxing Day.
"98 per cent of our Scottish members want stores to close on New Year’s Day. While Usdaw has successfully secured the closure of large stores on Christmas Day, the rest of the holiday season is pretty much normal trading days for many.
“For those retailers who do open, we have negotiated national agreements for shops to be staffed with genuine volunteers only, and our workplace reps are supporting members to help make sure that happens at store level.
"We also send our appreciation to those workers behind the shopfront who have to work on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, not least in distribution, food and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“Our message to customers is have a great Christmas and a happy New Year. Please appreciate all those who have to work over the festive period. If you must shop on Boxing Day or New Year’s Day, please treat the staff with respect and understand they would most likely rather have the time off.”
Grocers must focus on their price positioning to remain competitive as food and grocery spending in UK convenience stores is projected to outpace the hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discounters channel.
According to GlobalData, food and grocery spending in convenience stores is projected to reach £43.2 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.0 per cent between 2024 and 2028.
Between 2023 and 2024, the traditional big four grocers, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, and Morrisons, collectively added 800 new convenience stores to their portfolios, with ASDA and Morrisons leading the growth with acquisitions. This rapid expansion underscores increasing competition in the convenience market.
After successfully focusing on price in large format stores to appeal to consumers during the cost-of-living crisis, grocers must shift their focus on agile pricing to convenience locations.
Sainsbury’s and Tesco are notable examples within convenience, with Sainsbury's recently introducing Aldi price matching in its Local stores and Tesco announcing price reductions on over 200 products in its Express stores.
Aliyah Siddika, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, comments, “This replication of price focus from larger format stores to grocers’ expanding their convenience offer will encourage consumers to impulse buy due to increased affordability.
"The shift in UK consumer behaviour towards frequent top-up shopping has also created substantial growth potential in the convenience market.”
Before the pandemic, 81.6 per cent of UK consumers stated they would visit a grocer on the way home from work, and 78.4 per cent reported the same now.
Budget limitations have primarily driven this change, followed by the rise of hybrid working. Pre-pandemic, consumers working in the office full-time had less time to cook dinner after work.
However, with the shift to hybrid work models, consumers now go into the office a few times a week and are more likely to have the time to prepare meals ahead of the days they are in the office to save money.
Convenience retailers should promote low prices on their fakeaway options to entice consumers to visit on their way home from work for an affordable yet indulgent meal.
Siddika concludes,“When offering deeper price cuts in convenience formats, grocers must target price promotions towards items that consumers are more inclined to purchase during the workweek. Such as food-to-go ranges, ready meals, quick dinners, and treats to capture spending from commuters."
The upcoming “grocery tax” could hit hard-pressed Britons in the pocket, adding up to £56 annually to household shopping bills and costing families as much as £1.4 billion a year, state reports on Sunday (22) citing a recent analysis.
The scheme, known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), imposes a levy on retailers and manufacturers for the cost of collecting and disposing of packaging waste, currently funded via council tax.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on Friday (20) published a series of “base fees” to indicate how much food manufacturers and retailers will be charged under the scheme when it starts next autumn.
The highest fee of £485 a tonne will be charged for plastic packaging followed by “fibre-based composite” at £455 a tonne. The levy for paper or board packaging is £215 a tonne while materials such as bamboo or hemp will be charged at £280 a tonne.
The government’s impact assessment estimates the policy will cost the industry £1.4 billion a year and will drive up prices by between £28 and £56 a year for the average household, adding 0.07 per cent to inflation as retailers pass on most of the costs to shoppers.
However, the British Retail Consortium believes the levy, officially known as the “extended producer responsibility”, will cost about £2 billion a year. If all of this were added to food bills it would drive up the average household cost by £70 a year.
The scheme is expected to come into effect shortly, coinciding with rise in employers’ national insurance contributions and the increase in the minimum wage.
The measure, intended to hit the Government’s net-zero targets, has drawn criticism for inflating food prices and creating new red tape for businesses. Critics warn the measure will increase food costs for families while creating additional bureaucracy for businesses.
In a letter sent to Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month, the bosses of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Lidl and Aldi implored her to delay the levy.
The letter said: “For any retailer, large or small, it will not be possible to absorb such significant cost increases over such a short timescale.
"The effect will be to increase inflation, slow pay growth, cause shop closures, and reduce jobs, especially at the entry level. This will impact high streets and customers right across the country.
“We are already starting to take difficult decisions in our businesses and this will be true across the whole industry and our supply chain.”
The levy was originally conceived by Michael Gove during his time as environment secretary but, after a backlash from Tory MPs, it was put on hold.
Labour has revived the scheme since coming to power. Secondary legislation passed this month will bring the scheme into legal force on January 1, 2025, with charges due to be rolled out later that year.
Local authorities, which will receive the funds from the levy, are under no obligation to reduce council tax rates once relieved of the costs of waste collection.
Ashton Primary School in Preston has teamed up with SPAR during the season of goodwill to donate delicious food to the city’s Foxton Centre.
The school’s Year 3 class enjoyed a cookery session baking pear and chocolate crumbles to take down to the Foxton Homeless Day Centre as a pre-Christmas treat for people who access its services.
Ingredients for the crumbles were supplied by James Hall & Co. Ltd and the children also received SPAR recipe cards to recreate the recipe at home with nutritional guidance from the University of Central Lancashire’s Dietetics department.
It is the second time that Ashton Primary School and SPAR through James Hall & Co. Ltd have collaborated on a project after a Pumpkin and Carrot Soup cookery session in October.
Norman Payne, Year 3 teacher and Deputy Headteacher at Ashton Primary School, said: “This has been a heartwarming project to be part of during the festive season. Learning how to cook is a valuable life skill and I know the children enjoyed the sessions.
“We are thankful to SPAR for their support with supplying the ingredients and the recipe cards, and it was lovely to be able to visit the centre which does a wonderful job of supporting homeless people in the city.”
Wilf Whittle, Trading Controller at James Hall & Co. Ltd, said: “After the Halloween collaboration with Ashton Primary School, it was a lovely idea to do something a bit more indulgent around Christmas while still utilising fresh and seasonal products with the pears.
“SPAR is a community retailer and we are very happy to support initiatives like this that give something back, particularly when there is an educational element woven into the project.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
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(Photo credit should read Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)
Cadbury’s has not been granted a royal warrant for the first time in 170 years after it got dropped from King Charles’s list of warrants.
Queen Victoria first awarded Cadbury with the title in 1854 which was then repeated by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1955 who was a huge lover of the chocolate.
Following the decision, the look of Cadbury products is expected to be undergoing a significant change
Cadbury told The Sun, "Yes, practically this means that we will remove the Royal Arms from all of our packaging.
"However to be clear, there will be no change to the iconic Cadbury purple which is not by Royal appointment. Cadbury purple has been used for Cadbury chocolate products for more than a century and is synonymous with the brand, this won’t change."
The reason for sudden the removal of the royal title is not known but Cadbury is not the only company to lose such an endorsement.
Another big brand missing from the list is Unilever, which manufactures goods including Marmite, Magnum ice-cream bars and Pot Noodles.
Apart from Cadbury's and Unilever, 100 other companies had their title removed by the Monarch. Luxury chocolate maker Charbonnel et Walker Ltd has also been bumped from the list since the last under Queen Elizabeth II’s name in April 2023.
Those who have lost their warrants were told of the decision by letter, but not informed of the reason.
They have 12 months to remove any royal warrant-associated branding from their items.
The King released the list of the 400 companies that received his royal warrant this year, including includes 386 companies previously holding warrants bestowed by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
These range from the official 'suppliers of Martini Vermouth', Bacardi-Martini, to Command Pest Control Ltd, Dunelm for soft furnishings, Foodspeed for milk, Kellogg's for cereals, florist Lottie Longman, and McIlhenny as the official supplier of Tabasco hot sauce.
Each warrant is granted for up to five years at a time. The king first issued warrants in 1980, when he was Prince of Wales.
Some firms gained warrants for the first time, including those connected with Queen Camilla. They include hairdresser Jo Hansford and Wartski jewellers. The latter made the king and queen’s wedding rings when they got married in April 2005.