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Plans to redevelop Liverpool Street Station have once again been pushed back, following further updates to the application by Network Rail. The proposal, which aims to partially demolish parts of the busy London station and construct a tower above the adjoining Grade II* listed former hotel, will now face a longer wait for approval from the City of London Corporation. The decision, initially expected by the end of the year, has been delayed to allow consideration of the new information.

The Liverpool Street Station rebuild plan has been controversial from the outset. Conservation groups previously condemned it as “a huge and unnecessary waste of resources” and “likely to be redundant on completion.” Despite this, Network Rail has maintained that it is “committed” to the project and confirmed that “additional details would be available to view on the planning register.”

The original application, first lodged in May 2023, attracted over 2,000 objections from the public as well as formal opposition from Westminster Council and Historic England. Revised plans were resubmitted in April, reflecting efforts to address concerns. These included cutting down the height of the office tower, repositioning it to avoid interference with the Great Eastern Hotel, and improving access and layout around the entrances.

Opposition, however, has remained strong. More than 2,100 formal objections have now been filed, though over 1,000 letters of support have also been received. The Victorian Society criticised the Liverpool Street Station rebuild proposal as “environmentally backward” and urged the City of London’s planning committee to reject it outright.

Historic England, while remaining cautious, has acknowledged improvements in the latest design. It described the revised plans as a “significant improvement” even though it still anticipates “a high level of harm” to the site’s historic fabric. The tower, now proposed at 19 storeys, has been realigned to reduce its visual and structural impact on the neighbouring Andaz Hotel. The designs also include landscaping and new seating near the Kindertransport Statue, as well as reconfigured entrances to manage passenger flow.

A Network Rail spokesperson confirmed that the most recent updates to the Liverpool Street Station rebuild plans include further analysis of transport and traffic issues, following discussions with Transport for London and the City of London’s highways team.

The fate of the project now lies in the hands of the City of London Corporation, which will assess whether Network Rail’s revised submission balances the demands of progress with the preservation of one of the capital’s most iconic transport landmarks.

The Docklands Light Railway has temporarily withdrawn its new B23 trains just six weeks after they were introduced due to brake malfunctions.

The automated carriages, which began operating in early October, caused one train to overshoot a platform, prompting Transport for London to remove three services from the timetable while engineers investigate.

Scott Haxton, TfL’s director of capital delivery infrastructure, reassured passengers, saying: “There’s been no injuries or any negative impact to our customers, it was an isolated incident. The timetable is operating as it was.” He added: “From a customer service point of view, it’s very much business as usual. Introducing new rolling stock onto any operational railway is incredibly complex and it is not unusual to experience performance related issues as they are bedding into the new network.”

The new B23 trains, manufactured by Spanish firm CAF, were originally scheduled for introduction in April 2024 but only began service six months later. Each train features air conditioning, walk-through carriages, mobile device charging points, and dedicated wheelchair spaces. TfL has said that the new trains are expected to increase passenger capacity by 50 percent once the full fleet is operational.

Transport for London has not given a timeline for when the B23 stock will return to service but has apologised for the disruption. In the meantime, older trains are being used to cover the missing services. This comes after one fifth of the DLR’s 90-train fleet was retired over the summer, leaving the network with fewer carriages to operate its busy routes, which serve 340,000 passengers daily.

The reduced timetable is expected to continue until the issues are resolved and more of the 54 new trains due by the end of next year are operational. When fully introduced, the B23 trains are intended to enhance reliability and support the growing transport demands of areas including Stratford, Woolwich Arsenal, and the Isle of Dogs, helping residents access jobs and new housing developments.

While the brake problem has caused delays for commuters, TfL emphasised that safety remains the top priority. Passengers have been asked to check the DLR website for the latest timetable updates and service information while the fleet is reviewed.

A 26-year-old woman from Feltham, west London, has been fined £1,000 by Hounslow Council after placing a single cardboard envelope next to full communal bins outside her flat. Loretta Alvarez, a single mother, explained that the bins, shared by around 25 properties, were overflowing and she had left the envelope on top of other cardboard, believing it would be collected without issue.

Ms Alvarez said she “would never intentionally” leave rubbish in public and described the situation as stressful. She added: “It’s been so stressful. I didn’t want this to happen, I wouldn’t want it to happen to someone else. I’ve been trying to juggle this alongside work and being a mum – it’s been hard.”

Hounslow Council maintained that fly-tipping is defined as leaving waste anywhere in public apart from in a bin, regardless of whether bins are full. The council has stated that Ms Alvarez must pay the fine by 5 November or face legal proceedings, which could result in a criminal charge. Ms Alvarez, who works as a mental health nurse, said she cannot afford the fine and fears it could impact her record. “I don’t have that money to give, I can’t afford getting into debt to pay it, and I don’t want to get a mark on my record. I’m a mental health nurse, I went to university for three years. They’re fining me more than someone gets for speeding,” she said.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service noted that Hounslow Council had temporarily put the fine on hold while investigating the circumstances, but it has not been cancelled. Councillor Pritam Grewal, cabinet member for community safety, said: “The council remains committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach to littering and protecting the local environment. We have done the right thing in issuing the fine, because littering includes leaving waste anywhere in public apart from in a bin, regardless of whether bins are full. While we accept that no one likes receiving a fine, residents expect us to tackle the offence and the offenders.”

Photos from the site show only the envelope left by Ms Alvarez, with other discarded cardboard in the area not hers, but the council has held firm on the penalty. Ms Alvarez said she initially believed the envelope had been collected with the rest of the rubbish and was unaware the fine would be issued, adding that the experience has been both financially and emotionally taxing.

The case has sparked debate over the fairness of fly-tipping fines when bins are full, highlighting the challenges councils face in balancing environmental protection with the practical realities of residents’ daily lives.

A hospital trust has been fined more than £500,000 and a ward manager given a suspended prison sentence after the death of 22-year-old Alice Figueiredo, who took her own life while under the care of Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford.

Ms Figueiredo died after using bin bags from a shared toilet on the Hepworth Ward, despite repeated warnings from her family and a history of similar self-harm attempts. North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), which runs the hospital, and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa, 53, were convicted in June of health and safety offences.

At the Old Bailey, NELFT was fined £565,000 and ordered to pay £200,000 in costs. Aninakwa received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and must complete 300 hours of unpaid community service.

Judge Richard Marks KC described Ms Figueiredo as a “beautiful vibrant young woman” who was “hugely talented” with an “extremely attractive personality”. He said her death was “a terrible tragedy” that resulted from a “complete failure to adequately assess and manage the risk” of keeping bin bags in an unlocked toilet cubicle.

The court heard that the trust had already recognised the dangers posed by plastic bags and removed them from patients’ bedrooms. However, they remained accessible in communal areas, including the shared toilet used by Ms Figueiredo.

Judge Marks told Aninakwa that he had failed to act on the “major concerns” raised by Alice’s mother, which should have “rung major alarm bells”. He added: “Whilst you regret Alice’s death, you have no real insight into what you did wrong. I find the fact you clearly remain in a state of denial very troubling.”

Aninakwa, who continues to work for NELFT, has said he plans to appeal his conviction.

Speaking after the sentencing, Ms Figueiredo’s mother, Jane Figueiredo, said her daughter’s death was “preventable” and that the family had been treated with “dismissive contempt” by hospital staff. In a statement, she said: “Such attitudes go against everything patient care stands for in our NHS.”

She described her daughter as “a uniquely beautiful, brave, affectionate, generous, kind, colourful, creative and luminous spirit” and said the loss had left the family “immeasurably” affected.

Chief executive of NELFT, Paul Calaminus, said he had written to the Figueiredo family to offer a personal apology. “We are deeply sorry, both for Alice’s untimely death and for everything that her family and friends have had to endure over the last decade,” he said. He added that the trust had carried out “a huge amount of work” to improve patient safety but warned that the fine could affect service funding.

Alice Figueiredo had been admitted to the Hepworth Ward in 2012 with diagnoses including an eating disorder and bipolar affective disorder. Despite at least 10 previous incidents of self-harm involving plastic items, bin bags were not removed from communal toilets.

An investigation into her death began in 2016, but charges were not brought until 2023. NELFT was cleared of corporate manslaughter, while Aninakwa was acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter.