Each week, Ben Hopkinson looks back at a serious, crazy, and happy news story from the past week.
Serious News
The Met Police commissioner has admitted that recruiting officers into the force is concerning.
Sir Mark Rowley has given evidence to the Police and Crime Committee meeting, in which the London Assembly was also present, to review his first year in the role.
The force is losing more staff than those being recruited, as they are approximately 1,000 officers short of the 35,000 target – due to the cost of living pressures as well as reputational issues.
He said: “I am very worried about recruitment, but it’s not quite a crisis”.
Crazy News
Following from last week’s news about a swan slowing traffic down in Wales, another swan has been causing havoc on the rails.
Spotted on the train line between Reading and London near Maidenhead on Wednesday, the swan caused train services to be stopped mid-morning while the swan was removed.
A train conductor noticed that the swan had moved “right underneath the front of the train”.
The swan was not injured and was taken to Slough to drop it off with animal welfare teams, and the line was reopened shortly before noon.
Happy News
A couple who won £100,000 on the EuroMillions are spending their winnings on fostering children.
Mark and Kathleen Reece had a dream of becoming foster parents, and are set to achieve that dream by converting their garage into extra bedrooms.
Speaking of the moment when they realised they had won, Kathleen says: “I decided to call the number on the back of the ticket and was talking to a lady from The National Lottery when Mark came home. I told him to shush, as I was on the phone to The National Lottery. He looked at me in disbelief so I put the phone on speaker and the lady confirmed we’d won”.
Talking of their dream, Kathleen added: “I’ve always wanted to foster children. Mark and I discussed it many years ago and then we had our own. I’ve always wanted to foster, however having enough space has always been an issue”.
