Metropolitan line extension to Watford Junction could be axed due to £50m funding gap

Staff reporter(wp/es):

The proposed Metropolitan line extension to Watford Junction could be axed or drastically delayed due to a £50 million shortfall.

In a letter to London Assembly Tories, Transport for London said the project “cannot be delivered” with the current funding package of £284.4 million.

Robert Niven, TfL’s head of line extensions, wrote that “more than £50 million will be required on top of our [TfL’s contribution of] £49 million”.

The project had a completion date of 2020. It would take Tube trains  to Watford Junction and Watford High Street via Cassiobridge and Vicarage Road.

The existing Watford station would shut. Tories accused Mayor Sadiq Khan of putting the TfL budget in “turmoil”.

His spokesman said: “This project is outside London and... responsibility for delivering it ultimately lies with government.”

Police hunt man who left victim hospitalised in brutal road rage attack in south London

Pic:A serial killer
Crime reporter(wp/es):

Police are hunting for witnesses to a brutal road rage attack in Streatham that left a man in a serious condition in hospital.

The victim, aged 62, was discovered suffering from serious head injuries just after 5.15pm on Friday on Gleneldon Road.

Witnesses who saw the incident described how the man was punched after a "right-of-way dispute" and saw someone fleeing from the scene.

In a fresh appeal for information, police have described how the victim and another motorist exchanged words after both trying to drive through the narrow road and becoming stuck.

During the altercation the suspect reached out of their own car and through the victim’s window, before punching him in the face.

Both men then got out of their vehicles and the suspect punched the victim in the face again with such force that he fell to the ground and hit his head on the concrete.

The suspect then got back into his car and drove off down .

Shafaq Hassan, a speech and language therapist who lives nearby, said: “We heard people outside our house and went to investigate. 

“Passersby and neighbours had stopped. There was a man sitting on the road surrounded by a few people. I asked what had happened and was told he had been punched. 

“As I'm an SLT I automatically sat down next to him to try and comfort him. He looked in shock and disorientated. 

“He had a head injury on back of his head as apparently he hit the pavement and possibly passed out for few minutes."

She added: "I stayed with him as police and medics came. They asked questions to check if he remembered date and year. 

Eventually they put him on a stretcher and took into the ambulance.

“Other neighbours reported seeing him have a dispute with the other driver about who should give way at the junction."

The victim was rushed to hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Detective Constable Caroline O’Shaughnessy, from Brixton CID, said: “This was a nasty assault, prompted by what appears to be road rage, carried out in broad daylight at a time when there would have been plenty of people making their way home.

"The victim suffered a serious head injury as a result of being punched to the ground following a verbal altercation, and this assault could easily have had more grave consequences. 

“If you saw what happened or you have information that could assist us, we would urge you to get in touch.”

The suspect is described as a black man, aged between 20 and 25 years old and around 5ft 8ins tall with afro hair. He was wearing a jumper and black trousers and was driving a dark green-coloured car.

Storm Stella that battered US set to hit the capital

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Storm Stella which wreaked havoc across the US is set to batter London with wet weather and gales.

The monster storm sparked a state of emergency in New York on Monday and is set to descend on the capital by Friday, experts warned.

The Met Office has now warned that the weather front responsible for the blizzard conditions and 50-mile-per-hour gusts is set to hammer the UK.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill told the Standard that the storm’s impact would be “massively reduced” as it crossed the Atlantic but would bring wet weather across the weekend.

He said: “As the weather front responsible for Storm Stella hits on Friday it will bring wet and changeable weather to London and the south-east.

“The light spring weather we have been seeing will become more changeable over the weekend and in to next week.”

Described as “life-threatening” by American forecasters, Stella caused massive power outages, cancelled flights and brought travel chaos to the US.

Dozens of flights between London and New York, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia were cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Passengers were advised to check with their airlines before travelling.

All New York schools were closed and above ground sections of the subway ground to a halt. More than 6,500 flights in the area were cancelled.

Forecasters were predicting two to three feet of flooding in some coastal areas at high tide. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums were also closed.

States of emergency were also declared from midnight in New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland. 

In Connecticut, residents were subject to a statewide travel ban.

The blizzard consisted of two larger storm systems which have merged into one, according to the US National Weather Service. 

It comes at the end of an unusually mild winter along much of America’s East Coast, with below normal snowfalls in some areas, including New York and Washington.