The capital's buses have a cockroach problem

Dear Londoners — first of all, a big, soppy thank you. Our appeal that went out over the weekend brought a host of new paying members into the fold, leaving us energised and heartened on this Monday morning. It really does mean so much to us that you want to join us on our journey — not just to make a successful local outlet for the capital, but to revolutionise the media eco-system. It's no small feat, but we can't think of a better lot of people to have behind us. To John, Sarah, Ross, Marnie — to everybody who signed up to support us — we're beyond glad to have you board going into our first birthday at the end of the month (more on that soon...). Come say hi in the comments or the editor's inbox; we love hearing from you.

Now, for your Monday briefing. To be frank, the big story in today's edition is a little gross. A word of advice: make sure you put your sandwich down while you read it or skip the first section until you finish lunch, or things might start feeling a little... creepy. 🪳

Big story: The cockroach infestation on London’s buses

Topline: London bus drivers have gone to the press to raise concerns over worsening cockroach infestations on the capital’s buses  

Context: According to reports first published by London Bus Forums, a news site for bus drivers, before being investigated by the BBC, staff are increasingly anxious about the problems. Bus safety campaigner Kevin Mustafa said there were “persistent issues with cockroaches and unsanitary conditions onboard their vehicles” and that the problem was posing “real health, safety and wellbeing risks”.

Which routes are the worst: A post by London Bus Forums identified routes 159, from Oxford Circus to Streatham; 345, from the Natural History Museum to Peckham; and 55, which runs from Walthamstow to Oxford Circus, as the worst infested. “I went to take a sip from my drink and felt something in my mouth,” a driver who works on the 159 told the site. “I spat it out and saw it was a cockroach. I felt sick and ended up vomiting.”

What happens now: TfL have pledged to investigate the claims. Drivers and bus campaigners are calling for more deep cleans of buses and the use of insecticide and heat treatments to deal with the cockroaches. 

Who’s to blame: When the story first dropped, all eyes turned towards TfL, but it’s worth bearing in mind that London’s buses are actually private franchises run by companies like Stagecoach and Arriva, the latter of which was sold by the German government to a private equity group last year. As a result, day-to-day cleaning of those buses is the responsibility of those for-profit operators, not TfL — and the newly launched TfL investigation will no doubt focus on whether cleaning has been carried out properly by operators. 

What TfL said: A spokesperson told the BBC that they were “committed to working together with operators to provide a clean environment for staff and customers” and stressed that buses are “cleaned every night before entering service” but they would be “urgently investigating the specific incidents that have been raised”. 

Your news briefing

🍴Last week, we led this edition with a story on Meze Mangal, a historic Turkish restaurant in Lewisham facing a £2.5mn fine over a planning dispute concerning its ventilation system. Since then the story has been covered by the Daily Mail, Metro, Evening Standard, Square Meal and more. On Friday, local Green party councillor Liam Shrivastava wrote to Lewisham mayor Brenda Dacres about the case, citing The Londoner’s reporting, and specifically asked why the case seemed to be part of a wider pattern by the council of using Proceeds of Crime Act prosecutions (often reserved for cases of money laundering) against “small, local businesses” accused of planning breaches.

🥩 At the end of last month we published an exposé on Michelin-starred chef Victor Garvey, who we found had had been using a string of managing companies for his restaurants to leave hundreds of thousands of pounds of debts unpaid to suppliers, investors and HMRC. One of the most mysterious parts of the saga was the sudden closure of his most recent venture: Victor Garvey at the Midland Grand — one of London’s most elite dining rooms. Ever since, people have been speculating over what was coming next for the site. Well, now we know: it’s being taken over by the steakhouse chain Hawksmoor, which will turn London’s “most beautiful dining room” into Hawksmoor St Pancras at the end of November.  

🏘️ Tenants at a housing block near Parliament Hill are calling for a formal investigation into Camden council and the housing association Riverside, which runs the block, after a vulnerable couple's bodies were found after they died days earlier in their home in the block. Residents say they had made repeated complaints to the council and housing association calling for an urgent welfare check on the couple, to no avail, reports the Camden New Journal.

Quick hits: Lambeth council has used a loophole to no fault evict council tenants despite it being government policy to ban the practice, Imperial College is building a new campus specialising in AI in White City, and an “inclusive” run is facing criticism for banning women and girls over 12 from participating.

In case you missed it…

• On Saturday, we published a feature into the world of home schooling. As the number of children being educated at home shoots up by as much as 63% in some boroughs, we spoke to parents to hear about the budding subculture that’s sprouting up around it. 
• On Thursday, Andrew spoke to historians and sociologists to try and answer what seemed like a simple question (but turned out to be anything but): What happened to all the Cockneys?
• On Wednesday, we had a riveting dispatch from London’s equivalent to the Coliseum: the intense and brutal sporting battlefield that is the Peckham Conker Championships. 

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Pub of the week

One perfect drink: Readers of the Londoner may remember our mournful elegy for the death of County Kilburn, the once enclave of Ireland in northwest London that is increasingly fading away. In that piece, we talked about how the number of proper Irish pubs in the area had all but disappeared. But we need to issue a retraction. The Colin Campbell on the Kilburn High Road, a once fallen titan of the area’s Irish community, is no longer as dead as it once appeared. In our defence, after its old landlady died, there were fears it may never come back — and it did indeed spend a few years in the wilderness until new owners arrived. Spending a night recently in the increasingly rammed pub, surrounded by live folk music and beautifully poured pints of Guinness, it felt for a moment like County Kilburn might just live again.

Want to recommend your favourite pub? Let us know in the comments.

Our favourite reads & watches

London v New York City: what data tells us about which is better — George Willoughby, The Times
For the data nerds among you, The Times have compared London to New York on everything from average rents and high-end restaurants, to levels of sunshine and access to green space, in an effort to find out which city is better. While that piece refuses to come to a conclusion on what — to us — seems like an obvious question, it did teach me that London gets almost twice as many tourists every year (21.7 million) than its American counterpart.

Jeremy King: ‘The Ivy just hit the moment’ — Tim Lewis, Observer
In this profile, Lewis finally gets access to the famously media-shy restaurateur behind some of the city’s most iconic dining spots: the Wolseley, the Ivy and J. Sheekey. Now, he’s releasing a book about his storied life (rubbing shoulders with Princess Diana, an ugly battle with a management group for control of his empire) — as well as revitalising one of the capital’s oldest restaurants, Simpson’s in the Strand, which closed in 2020 and many thought would never re-open.

To Do List

1. Can’t get a hankering for rarebit out of your head? Get down to the Welsh Centre for its annual food, drink and crafts market this Saturday, from 10am to 5.30pm. It’s part of the area’s Bloomsbury Festival — while you’re there, nip to Swedenborg House to catch Elective Affinities, an exhibition of rare works from the eponymous society’s vast collection.
2. Catch the last week of the Lambeth Fringe Festival, which runs until the 25 October. Featuring theatre, comedy and cabaret, as well as more experimental works, the festival promises a host of established and upcoming performers from across the city. 

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From the archive

Desperate for more slices of Cockney life after last week’s explainer? Look no further than this tour of 1980s Bermondsey by Harry Bowling, an author who specialised in paperback tales of East End life. Watch for derelict warehouses, a Borough Market that isn’t a complete tourist trap and some great leather jackets.