Camden Council are offering a prize worth £120 to the person who comes up with the berst idea for fighting crime in Camden Town. The Council are asking people who live and work in the area for ideas on how to tackle illegal street activities, such as drug taking, begging and prostitution.

To find out what people think and what crime-fighting ideas thay have, the Council and the Metropolitan Police are conducting a survey of residents and businesses in the Camden Town area. The survey asks people to describe the type of illegal activities they see and how often, how this makes them feel about the area, and how the area could be improved and made safer. The results of the survey will help Camden Council and the Metropolitan Police to target crime and disorder in the parts of Camden Town where it is worst.

A prize of £120 worth of vouchers will be given to the person who comes up with the most innovative idea for tackling illegal activities in the area. The winner will be able to spend their vouchers in a shop of their choice in Camden Town.

Copies of the survey have been posted to every business in the Camden Town area and to every third residential address. The return date is 8th February. Anyone who has not received a copy and wishes to take part should contact Vickie Wallis on 020 8974 3367.

Camden Council have warned that exploding hot dog cans could be on sale in the borough and that some people may have already bought them. The rogue frankfurters could also make people ill.

Shoppers shouldn't buy the 400 gramme Ye Olde Oak Foods cans of 8 Premium Hot Dogs, which have 'Best Before' dates of September and October 2004. If you have any of these cans in your larder, you should return them immediately to the shop where you bought them. The shop should give you a full refund.

"These cans are all being recalled by the manufacturers, but they could still be on sale in Camden or in people's kitchens," says Olson Oxenham, manager of the Food Safety Team. "That's why we're warning consumers not to open them; they could explode and there's also a small risk of food poisoning,"

Advice and information on all food safety matters is always available from Camden Council on 020 7974 5596

A man has been banned from King's Cross, Euston and St Pancras stations for five years after Camden Council obtained an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) against him.

Daniel Murphy, 20, currently living in the Euston area, has a history of aggressive begging, abusive language, drug use, spitting at rail staff and other anti-social behaviour. On one day in September he was ejected from Euston station 13 times, and four days later 17 times.

A District Judge sitting at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court last week granted the banning order against Mr Murphy after police, rail staff and shop staff at the stations spent a year gathering evidence against him. British Transport Police joined Camden Council and Railtrack in pushing for the ASBO, the first to be granted for London mainline stations.

The order bans Mr Murphy for five years from anti-social or nuisance behaviour anywhere in the London Borough of Camden and stops him entering King's Cross, Euston and St Pancras mainline and Underground stations, as well as Euston Square Underground station. Nor is he allowed on the Euston Road between Euston Square and King's Cross Thameslink.

Chief Inspector David Dickason is the British Transport Police's Crime and Disorder Co-ordinator for London. 'This is the third order we have had granted,' he commented, 'the first two being for Underground stations. It is very important that people should be able to use London's stations without being subjected to harassment. This order is an important milestone in our efforts with the London boroughs to stamp out anti-social behaviour on the railways.'

Councillor Richard Arthur, Camden's Executive Member for Community Safety, said: 'This is an excellent example of us working in partnership with other agencies. We have been very proactive in the use of these orders to crack down on unacceptable behaviour and this is the eighth ASBO we have obtained. In fact the Government white paper on Police Reform singles Camden out as an example of good practice for our use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Anti Social Behaviour Orders.'

Adam Ant was detained by police near Camden Lock on Monday (January 14th) and admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead under the mental Health Act. This follows his arrest on Saturday in Primrose Hill.

Following that incident, he was charged with assault, criminal damage and firearms offences (see below).

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Police were called at 7.15pm on Monday regarding concerns for the safety of a 47-year-old man. Police from Camden located him in the Camden Lock area and took him to the Royal Free Hospital. He has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act."

Adam Ant on firearms charges - 14/01/02
Eighties pop star Adam Ant has been charged with assault and possession of a firearm following an alleged incident at Primrose Hill pub the Prince of Wales on Saturday night.

The singer (47), famous for his pirate and highwayman outfits, has also been charged with criminal damage and actual bodily harm against a man in his forties.

The former popstar, real name Stuart Goddard, started out as a punk but is best-known for top ten hits like Prince Charming and Stand and Deliver.

He was released on bail and is due to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on January 18th.

A woman was killed and two men injured in a violent incident at Euston Underground station on Friday evening.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "A woman is dead and two men have been injured following a stabbing incident at Euston Underground station at around 1820. "

A man travelling on a northbound Northern Line train stabbed a woman as he alighted from the train at Euston. The woman is believed to be an ex-girlfriend.

"Two more stabbings took place on the platform and in the booking hall area as members of the public tried to intervene. The casualties have been taken to University College Hospital.

"The assailant in his thirties and is white. The man, who was stabbed in the arm, is aged 20-30, white, with a superficial wound. "The weapon has been recovered from the last man to be stabbed. The woman who died in this tragic incident was stabbed in the chest."

A man who has been stalking Camden Council leader Jane Roberts for almost three decades has been detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act at Highbury Corner magistrates court. David Phillips, 65, had broken the terms of a restraining order imposed in September by writing to Ms Roberts and attending a Council meeting.

Dorothy Johnstone, prosecuting, told the court that Phillips first met Councillor Roberts as a labour Party activist in 1973. He began writing to her at the hospital where she was a child psychologist, phoned her at work and at home and even visited her house.

In a written statement read out in court Councillor Roberts said that: "I feel as if he has invaded my whole adult life and that I have been violated. It seems that my whole life has been spent either trying to hide from him or suffering his harassment.

"I now feel sick, disgusted and furious at my treatment by this man. I was destroyed by constantly being kept under surveillance as if it was a military operation by him. It distresses me that this has driven me to hatred of another person because that is not my nature."

Phillips' solictor said that he admitted breaching the restraining order but that he had never threatened to harm Ms Roberts. Phillips is currently an in-patient at a south London psychiatric hospital. District Judge Ian Baker said: "The degree of the activities makes it quite clear to me that detention in hospital until he can be deemed to be safe is the most suitable option."

read more about Councillor Roberts