A look back at the biggest local stories from this day 20, 40 and 60 years ago.
1958:
Bus driver Peter Cash read about the plight of disabled pensioners, many bedridden, lonely, forced to sit indoors day after day, and decided to do something about it.
Peter walked into the Recorder office and said: “My conductress and I are willing to man a bus and give the old people an outing.
“We don’t want to be paid, we would just like to help them.”
The good samaritan act of the 32-year-old from Ambleside Avenue, Elm Park, and his kind-hearted conductress Rose Wiggins, was a quick response to the Recorder’s appeal.
After reading of the unhappiness of many pensioners, and the newspaper’s plea for drivers to give them a day’s outing, they decided they had to do something to help cheer them up.
1978:
Late-night hooligans were turning Hornchurch Road, Hornchurch, and neighbouring roads into “streets of fear”, it was claimed.
Residents and shopkeepers said they were “sick and tired” of yobs fighting and swearing outside their homes, smashing plate-glass windows, spraying cars with paint and jumping on them and urinating through letter boxes.
Signatures were being collected for petitions to be handed to Havering Council, the police and Greater London Council calling for action to stop the reign of terror.
And the area’s Havering Council representative Councillor Bert James was backing their fight with a call for a reduction in rates.
He said: “I think it’s disgusting that people have to put up with this kind of thing.
“We know the police are doing all they can but the fear is that the violence will get worse unless something positive is done.”
1998:
An Upminster man was charged with helping to produce fake bank notes after police claimed to have broken one of the biggest counterfeit rings ever uncovered in the country.
Following raids on two premises in Havering, police claimed to have found £10million worth of counterfeit notes.
They said a capacity to produce postage stamps and £1 coins was also discovered.
The man from Upminster was charged with conspiracy to produce and supply Bank of England £20 and £50 notes, and £20 Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale bank notes. Four others from the Isle of Wight, north London, Chigwell and Buckinghamshire, were charged with related offences.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here