Saturday, December 21, 2013

CRACKDOWN ON DUMPING

Fryent Councillors are warning flytippers or residents who dump rubbish they face a fine of up to £50,000 or 5 years' jail if they are prosecuted after Brent Council launched a major new campaign to crack down on flytipping.

Brent is stepping up its enforcement actions across the borough and blitzed Willesden town centre on 18h. December with officers checking traders were not flytipping and giving out information to residents about reporting the problem.

Brent prosecuted 15 people for envirocrime offences from October 2012 to September 2013. Two people who were prosecuted for flytipping were fined £1,000 with £1,700 costs. In the same period, 19 people in Brent were given a formal caution for flytipping, and 259 fixed penalty notices for envirocrime were issued which in total came to around £29,000.

Fryent Councillor Ruth Moher, Brent`s Deputy Leader said:

"Residents are sick of flytippers blighting the  streets around Kingsbury and rightly expect us to crack down. That's why I'm warning anyone who leaves a mattress or old TV in the street what the consequences could be. It won't stop with legal action because we will also name and shame offenders as a deterrent to others who may try it.

"Brent Council is determined to clean up the borough's streets and have our town centres as clean as possible. I'm appealing to residents to play their part as well and  report flytipping if they see it."

If  you see flytips report them here: www.brent.gov.uk/flytipping

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Travellers arrive in Roe Green Park

Late last night about 20 traveller caravans arrived in Roe Green Park. Council officers have started the process to remove them by taking legal action. They have also requested help from the Police who can use other powers to remove them when requested by the landowner, in this case, the Council.

Brent provide a traveller site close to the North Circular Road near the Ikea retail outlet so it is disappointing that this group have decided set up a camp in a local park.

Fryent Councillors

Thursday, November 21, 2013

BIN COLLECTION CHANGES

From the 2nd December and for all collections after this date you need to put your bin as near the the street as possible. If you don't do this your bin may not be collected.

The bin must be within your garden and not on the pavement.

The Council is providing a special assisted bin collection service for residents who are unable to move their bins out to be collected. This service is only available if you have a disability or a health condition. If you think you need assistance please call 020 8937 5050.

Why is this happening? It will make the collection of waste more efficient and quicker.

Click on the link below to see a quick "How to"

http://youtu.be/93KQuhxTYjs

Remember December 2nd  - put your bin near the street. Tell your neighbours and friends.
Thank you for helping Brent Council be more efficient.


Fryent Councillors
Don't forget the Budget simulator - see how the Council spends your cash.
www.budgetsimulator.com/brentcouncil

Monday, November 18, 2013

New Health Centre for Kingsbury

Multi-million pound plans to build “urgently needed” doctors surgeries in Kingsbury have been approved to cope with a growing number of new patients.

The empty patch of land in Stag Lane, Kingsbury, near the Village School will be transformed into a new centre including a pharmacy and 11 new flats.

The Fryent Medical Centre in Church Lane and the Willow Tree Doctors Surgery, which operate from small residential houses in Kingsbury, will relocate to the new centre to accommodate the growing need for improved health care facilities in the area.


The 11 flats are expected to be completed by winter 2014 and the medical centres will be built by summer 2015.

The housing will consist of one, two and three bedroom apartments for shared ownership, and priority will be given to social tenants, people on the housing register and first-time buyers.

Fryent Councillors have been working closely with the GP Practices and the wider NHS, Brent Council and the Network Housing Association. We are delighted that this scheme has finally been approved, this scheme delivers a solution with great benefits for Kingsbury and its residents and patients and adds much needed housing.

Cllr George Crane, Cllr Ruth Moher and Cllr Jim Moher.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Small Business Saturday 7th December

Brent is celebrating Small Business Saturday on 7th December, for those of you that have not heard Small Business Saturday is about encouraging people to "shop local"

The idea was first talked about by Chuka Umanna,  Labour Shadow Business Minister and the idea is rapidly growing.

To help launch Small Business Saturday, Brent Council is holding a Small Business Exhibition at the Civic Centre on Friday 6 th December. A showcase of local products and business leaders will join Brent Regeneration and Growth officers to help with advice on managing red tape or starting up a business.

Council Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt and Cllr George Crane Lead Member for Regeneration and Growth will be meeting business leaders and listening to ways Brent can help small business grow in Brent.


It is also important that we all get out to our local shopping parades in Kingsbury, Church Lane and The Hyde in Edgware Road to "shop local"

Fryent Councillors.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

  "Romans" living in Kingsbury?

It's just been reported by our highly respected local historian, Phillip Grant, that Roman ('Samian ware') pottery and traces of buildings, have been found at the Blackbird Hill (former 'Blarney Stone' pub) archaelogical dig site. Along with other Wembley History Society enthusiasts, Phillip has been working with the archaeologists there.  The significance of these finds could be enormous. If validated by Archaeology South-East, they would confirm earlier speculation that there was a farm and people permanently settled hereabouts, in pre-Roman times viz.,the early centuries of the 1st millennium.

It would add  about 500 years to the age of the area as a place of settlement. Up to now, most historians and archaeologists believed that it was the Wembley area which was the original place of settlement hereabouts. 'Wemba' is first recorded as having his  clearing in the forest ('Wemba lea') in AD825. But if this Welsh Harp ward site ( in the ancient parish of Kingsbury, just along from the old church), does prove to be evidence of a Roman (or indeed pre-Roman settlement), that could have enormous significe for English history generally. It could put the whole area on the English heritage 'map' big time, with enormous potential for tourism.

Before we get too excited however, we must wait for the archaeologists to report finally.  We await with interest for Philip's further reports from Blackbird Hill.

Friday, October 4, 2013

How can we clean up the area around the Edgware Road?

Since I've been a Fryent councillor, now nearly twelve years ago, the one depressing
part of the ward has been at the Edgware Road end of the Springfield estate. Its a poor
shopping parade, with very limited choice with so many betting offices, take-away joints
and pubs. The pavements are cluttered with ill-assorted 'furniture' and the A5 is a
fast-moving dangerous road to cross and divides the community.

Worse, the alley ways behind the parade of shops are a disgrace - especially the one in Springfield Mount with dumped trade and household waste, mattresses and fly-tipping - a happy place for rats and other vermin. We've had the Environmental Health officers in more times than I can remember. They've issued prosecution notices to some rogue landlords who don't seem to care.  A number of residents and traders have tried to band together to improve things, but it rarely works for long, as the problems are overwhelming and they give up. We've put up alley gates and tarmacced the Springfield Mount one, (c£5,000), only to find the gates left open and building materials dumped all over it again. The streets get all the throwaway food cartons and other litter blown up from the parade, which regularly defeats the Council's efforts to keep them clean. Its like pushing a rock up a hill!

Residents have had to endure this mess and other more recent nuisances all those years and it grieves us not to be able to get the Council to do more with the austerity times that have been loaded on slashed local Council budgets so unfairly.
Nevertheless,  there is some brighter light starting to appear over the hill. As a result of our efforts and that of the Council officers, a new Burnt Oak/Colindale/The Hyde Placemaking Plan, has been drawn up to transform the whole area along the Edgware Road as one of the borough's five growth areas. In the jargon, this will involve 'a suite of co-ordinated public realm interventions and urban design strategies'. This means changing the A5 road, pavements
and junctions to make it safer (more crossings), more pleasing to the eye (more trees, less clutter on the streets) and lots of more ambitious plans. Most importantly, we will be looking for some 'quick wins' such as tackling the alley ways, to build confidence that this is not just a grandiose long-term plan. For the full Plan - which has been drawn up by consultants with the public, councillors and officers -  see the website at http://www.brent.gov.uk/regeneration/burnt-oak-colindale-regeneration/  .


So all we need now is the money to make it happen! The good news is that both Brent and Barnet are working together and will contribute regeneration funds. The councillors in Fryent and Queensbury wards will also tip in a significant amount from their smaller 'Ward Working' funds. The major businesses at the Burnt Oak and Colindale end of the stretch in question, will also be major players.

This is a sketch of the Plan. We hope to present it at a future Brent Connects meeting (the old
Kingsbury & Kenton Forum), with far more detail. But at the end of the day, all these agencies can do only so much. Success will depend on you, the residents of the area most affected. We, your local councillors, will be calling a public meeting of residents, traders, landlords and all others who want to get involved in transforming your area.  Watch this space for details.

As some of you will know, I will be stepping down from the Council next May, but George and Ruth (and hopefully our Action Team colleague, Mrs Shama Tatler) will carry this project forward, if they are re-elected in 2014.

Cllr Jim Moher

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Brent Civic Centre Opening Ceremony

Brent Council is celebrating the opening of the Civiuc Centre with a grand spectacle of music, dance, arts and performances.

Come along and enjopy a lively day of family activities and fun for all. There will be guided tours of the building.

Sunday Oct 6th from 12 noon to 7.30

Come and meet your Councillors George, Jim and Ruth. - see you there?

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Brent Connects - Kingsbury and Kenton Forum


The next meeting of Brent Connects, Kingsbury and Kenton will be held at a new venue on Tuesday 23rd July at 7pm.

The new venue will be the Oshwal Ekta Centre, 366 Stag Lane, Kingsbury NW9 9AA

We will post a blog nearer the time when the agenda has been decided but make a note of the date now.

George Crane
Fryent Councillors.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Anyone for Tennis?

As Wimbledon starts its 2nd week we are all supporting Andy Murray as he challenges to win his first grand slam.The timing could not have been better for Barry Gardiner MP for Brent North to meet George and Ruth your local Councillors at the new tennis courts in Ros Green park.

No excuse for all you budding tennis stars to have a go



Monday, July 1, 2013

Have your say - The Hyde -Colindale consultation


Brent Council is developing a plan to improve the stretch of the A5 corridor between The Hyde and Burnt Oak. The consultation event will take place this Thursday between 3pm and 7 pm outside The Hurricane Snooker Hall near Hay Lane.

Everyone is welcome to add their views and Brent Staff will be on hand to answer questions about the plans. Your Councillors will be around during the afternoon.

Your views are important please help us make this part of Fryent a better place to live and work.


Walkabout in Wakemans Hill

Thanks to all the residents we met over the weekend during our walkabout around Springfield Mount and Wakemans Hill. We were shocked to hear about the road accident to an elderly lady on the Edgware Road. Anti social dumping of rubbish on the streets was high on your list of concerns. It is such a shame that some thoughtless residents continue to do this. We are thinking about installing secret cameras to try and catch people dumping.

We were joined the weekend by Shama Tatler who is a member of Fryent Labour Action team. She is also Chair of Brent North Labour Party. Shama really liked meeting residents and chatting about the area.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Fryent Resident - Community Champion 2013

Congratulations to Fryent resident Sheila Perry who received her Community Champion award from Brent's Mayor Cllr. Michael Adeyeye last week at Brent Town Hall. Sheila who lives on the Bush Grove estate in Kingsbury was awarded the coveted Community champion award with the following citation. Having dedicated herself to The Groves Tenants and Residents Association for 15 Years, Sheila Perry has shown boundless energy and enthusiasm when working on behalf of her fellow residents particularly the elderly. Despite suffering from a long term health condition, she has remained active in organising outings, street parties, tea afternoons, fundraising events and many other activities. She also organises younger residents to provide much needed services for older people such as returning bins after refuse collection.’ Well done Sheila, and thank you for all your efforts on behalf of our Fryent residents. If you would like to recommend people you know for a community award, please let us know with a brief description of why you think they deserve the award. Fryent Councillors, George Crane, Jim Moher and Ruth Moher.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Waste Dumping Enforcement

WASTE DUMPING ENFORCEMENT Watch out if you are dumping rubbish illegally in Fryent, or any other parts of Brent. Brent Council has started a new waste enforcement strategy. The contractor is leaving dumped rubbish and alerting the Council enforcement team. Before it is collected the Council will investigate and collect evidence of where it comes from. Apart from being anti social and unsightly, it costs all Council tax payers more as it is additional to the normal collection. If you are caught for a minor offence it will incur a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) which will cost you £80 pounds. For more serious dumping you will receive a caution and prosecution in the courts which may incur a heavy fine. There is also no excuse for dumping waste or fly tipping, if you ring Brent Council streetcare they will arrange to collect bulky waste free. Don't dump rubbish - put it in the correct bin, preferably recycling or phone and get it collected. Fryent Councillors.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Amazon "amazes" on Corporation Tax

I think we should send Amazon a clear message today, " pay your fair share of tax based on the economic activity and profit you make in this Country." Amazon are reported to have sales of 4.2 billion pounds in UK. Isn't it amazing that this multinational company manages to pay only 2.4 million pounds in UK Corporation Tax. It also now appears that Amazon has received some amazing support from the UK in grant hand outs. It pocketed 10.4 million pounds from Scotland in financial support for sites in Fife and Edinburgh in 2011 and 2.5 million from British tax payers in 2012.g. Lets hope Matt Britten, Googles vice-president, amazes the Commons Public accounts committee today and offers to pay up. Now wouldn't that be amazing! George Crane Fryent Councillor (See previous post on Corporation Tax in June and Nov last year.)

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Measles - are your children protected?

Measles - are your children protected? Overall the number of cases of measles across London and in Brent remains at low levels. However, parents need to be aware that children are not fully protected against measles unless they have had the required two jabs of the MMR vaccine. The measles outbreak in Swansea may have caused concern among some parents about their children possibly contracting measles. At the weekend there was conflicting reports in the Times and Sunday Times who were reporting different levels of vaccination rates for Brent. The Sunday Times reported Brent has one of the lowest uptake of MMR vaccinations between 10 and 12 year olds in London.It is clear that the recent outbreak in Swansea could have been avoided if more parents had not opted out of vaccinating their children against MMR. It is never too late for children and young people to get vaccinated against measles. Parents of unvaccinated children, teenagers and young adults living in Fryent who have missed out on MMR should arrange for them to be vaccinated by their GP. If you are unsure whether your child has had two doses of the vaccine, speak to your GP who will have a record. Fryent Councillors Brent.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

SMART WATER

The Fryent Safer Neighbourhood Team of local police officers,councillors,Council officers and residents meets every couple of months to discuss and do something about local crime and other issues. We get regular updates from Sgt Liam Tierney and his officers and burglaries are up in the Fryent area. So, at the last meeting we discussed an anti-burglary initiative which was trialled in Harlesden. It produced great results with a reduction of 86% in burglaries using a forensic tool called Smart Water. Its a very simple system of marking property with invisible paint, which identifies the owner. We asked the police to make this system available and we could use 'Ward Working' funds for the purpose. Residents can then avail of the markers. Watch this space.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

WEMBLEY STADIUM - OPEN HOUSE TOURS

To celebrate Wembley's 90th birthday, they are offering a special behind the scenes tour of Wembley Stadium on Saturday 27 or Sunday 28 April, for a celebratory price of £1.50 per person. To enjoy your tour please visit www.wembleystadium.com/tours and book your place. Places are limited and will be reserved on a first response basis, so booking in advance is essential. Fryent Councillors

Saturday, March 23, 2013

ENERGY SOLUTIONS ADVICE - BEAT YOUR MONEY WORRIES

Are you struggling to pay energy bills - do you need help with how to get the right payment plan? Have you thought about how to insulate your home or replace an old inefficient boiler? There are ways to beat the cold and not get into debt. Why not join Energy Solutions at Brent Town Hall on 16th April between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm. The beat your money worries advice sessions are free and funded by Fryent Councillors using Ward Working money. You can also visit www.sustainablebrent.org.uk George Crane Fryent Councillors

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Bedroom Tax

Have you heard about the Government plans for a ‘bedroom tax’ ? While families of soldiers serving our country will have to find extra money for their son or daughter’s bedroom, 13,000 millionaires will get a tax cut worth £100,000 a year on average. Two thirds of the households hit are home to someone who is disabled. Foster families will be hit – even if they have foster children in their ‘spare room’. Divorced parents and grandparents will be charged more if they want to keep a spare room for when their children or grandchildren come to stay. To add to the chaos, the Department for Work and Pensions has admitted that there are not enough smaller properties for families to move to, yet the ‘bedroom tax’ will still hit households that don’t have the option to move. Is there no end to what this Con - Lib alliance is doing to add more misery to ordinary people. You can find out if you are affected here: http://www.housing.org.uk/policy/welfare_reform/bedroom_tax.aspx Fryent Councillors

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Brent Council Freezes Budget for Third year running.

Brent Council has frozen its share of council tax again and will reduce parking charges after its 2013/14 budget was agreed on Monday night (25 February). The budget passed by Full Council sets out that the local authority will spend around £284 million net on the provision of local authority services in 2013/14, which will be paid for from central government grants, business rates and council tax. "Brent has now had the same rate since 2009/10 and brings welcome relief to hard pressed Fryent residents, who are struggling with falling living standards under this Government" said Fryent Councillor Ruth Moher. As part of this Budget a range of measures aimed at helping Business and Traders was also launched. Fryent Councillor George Crane welcomed a new enterprise initiative and he said at the meeting. "This new team will forge stronger links with businesses inside and outside of the Borough. It will provide small businesses in Brent with the support and advice they need to survive these difficult times. It will also provide us with a strong network through which we can push for more jobs, more apprenticeships and higher wages for our residents." The Council also agreed to fund reductions in on-street parking charges as part of the budget. This will enable the introduction of flat rate charges costing 50p per 15 minutes, with a lower charge of 20p for stays of up to 15 minutes. The net expenditure will pay for local authority services in 2013/14 including two sports centres, supporting the borough's voluntary sector, maintenance of around 22,000 streetlights, 13 million refuse collections a year, street cleaning, a recycling and waste service as well as adult social care and customer services. Brent Council Leader Councillor Muhammed Butt said: "I know how difficult it is for residents at the moment which is why we have taken action in this budget to help ease residents' financial pressures. We have frozen council tax again and will reduce on-street parking charges across the borough, and supported a new scheme to save you money on energy bills. At the same time we are striving to protect Brent's front-line services despite further cuts this year. "However, I want to be open with residents that the coming years will be very tough for the council and residents alike as costs rise and central government grant funding falls even further."

Sunday, February 17, 2013

BRENT CYCCLE ACTION DAY

BRENT CYCLE ACTION DAY Sat 9th March from 11.00 am - 4.00 pm Tesco, Brent Park, Great Central Way NW10 0TL It is Brent Cycle Day aimed at all aspects of Bike Safety and Crime prevention. Organised by Brent Safer Transport Police together with Brent Council. Lots of exciting events being planned, bike health checks, bike ballet, cycle safety training, cycletastic, and lots more. And best of all its FREE - just turn up on the day. FRYENT COUNCILLORS.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Departure of Romanian coaches

Residents will probably have noticed that the infernal nuisance of often up to a dozen coaches parked on the Kingsbury Road beside Roe Green Park appears to have ended. They have not been seen for about three weekends and we trust that they will not return. As we reported a couple of months ago, we got the Council and police to act after numerous complaints about the nuisance being created every weekend. Traffic management legal orders were laid and arrangements for strict enforcement against parking by vehicles over 5 tonnes. Letters were hand delivered to the drivers in Romanian. It seems that they got the message! However, we remain vigilant, in case they return.

Brent keeps changing - so does Fryent

We reported on how Brent's population has been grossly underestimated by the ONS to the extent of 257,000 instead of 312,000. As a result, the Council lost £millions in support grant for the extra needs of this massive undernumeration. At last, the ONS admitted its mistake and this year the government coughed up c£4m,but only for this year, no backdating. We are just getting through the detailed population Census returns breakdown for 2011 from the Office of National Statistics and there is much new information contained, broken down by ward.

In Fryent, there were 4,419 households with 11,884 people in 2001.  The population jumped to 13,445 in 2011 (a 13.14% change), but not the number of households (4,374). What does that tell us?
Larger households, obviously, but in fact, size of households only increased marginally from 2.7 persons to 3 persons on average.

The age group breakdown is also interesting. A large jump in the number of 0-4 infants, but only a slight increase in youngsters aged 5-19 or in the over 65 age group. Clearly, the demand for school places is becoming acute - Fryent Primary just doubled its intake and the Council are promoting a major new school building programme all over the borough in both primary and secondary areas.

A more detailed ward profile will soon be available, which we will share with you.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Not just at election times


Fryent Councillors, Jim, Ruth and George were busy this weekend meeting residents of the Bush Grove estate in Kingsbury at one of their street surgeries. Pictured with other Fryent Labour Action Team they were collecting names for the SOS 999 petition.

The petition will be presented to Mayor of London, Boris Johnson asking him to honour his election pledge not to cut vital Police and Fire services.

If you would like to help Jim, Ruth and George in Fryent contact us through the blog or e mail us.




Fryent Councillors
Working for you in Fryent

Sunday, February 10, 2013

IFS say "More bad news for the economy."


More bad news for the economy as the respected think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies have warned that Government borrowing is likely to be £64 billion more than planned by Chancellor George Osborne only 2 years ago. With current Government policy cutting living standards, freezing  wages, more and more redundancies and job losses, price rises, cuts in welfare for those most in need.

If this was not bad enough, now we are faced with future tax increases. This is just a further example that the coalition economic policy is just not working. This talk of cutting the deficit all seems a bit hollow.

The IFS warned "tax will have to rise  and currently protected services like the NHS will be cut."

Despite frequent warnings on the problems facing the economy the Government continue to say they have no plans to change course.  "It`s not the medicine that`s not working," the Government say, "you just haven't had enough of it yet."     So now you know, keep taking the pills, and bitter pills at that.

George Crane.
Fryent Councillors

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Kingsbury Library Transformation


Kingsbury Library Transformation

Brent Libraries have benefited by an extra 56000 new books since last year and Kingsbury has received over 3200 of this new stock.

The Library staff have increased issues by over 24% over the last few months by listening to what users want.

The space has been re organised and an extra 8 study places have been included in the revamped library. If you are a library user you can even sign up to download popular magazines - check out Brent Libraries website.

The library staff are always willing to discus improvements from users.


Fryent Councillors.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Hand Rails for Elderly in Fryent


 Elders Voice have funding from Fryent ward working funds to provide help with installing outside ‘Kee clamp metal hand rails’ to help householders.

These rails are attached to the outside of your house as an aid to gaining entry. They will be fitted free  - contact elders voice, details below.




Julie Bemmer
Administrative Support Assistant
Elders Voice
181 Mortimer Rd
London
NW10 5TN
0208 206 7056
fax 0208 968 8139
www.eldersvoice.org.uk

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Shisha is Bad for your Health


Brent is issuing a warning to local residents of the risks associated with shisha pipe smoking following a huge rise in local shisha bars in recent years.

The warning comes as the council cracks down on shisha bars that flout smoke-free legislation. More worrying is that many people think it is safer to smoke shisha than cigarettes.

However, according to Cancer Research UK, a typical hour-long shisha session can see users inhale the same amount of smoke as from more than 100 cigarettes.

What is even more alarming is that shisha tobacco contains over 36 times more tar and twice as much nicotine as cigarette tobacco so it is not only more addictive but carries a far greater risk of causing lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

In the last three months, the council has prosecuted the owners of three Brent shisha bars for allowing their customers to smoke in their premises in breach of smoke-free legislation.

The law requires that smoking should not take place in buildings or structures that are ‘substantially enclosed' and in all three cases, the bars were not constructed in accordance with this rule.

Fryent Councillors

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Brent Budget - Discussion


Local people are being invited to attend one of two public meetings about Brent's budget proposals for the forthcoming financial year.

The Brent Connects budget discussions will outline the difficult choices facing local government in the current economic climate and the council's proposals to continue making Brent a fairer borough and promote economic growth during 2013/14.

Local people will have the opportunity to question, and raise issues of concern, with Brent Council Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, and members of the council's Executive.

Both meetings will take place in Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley, HA9 9HD on:

·         Monday, 4 February, 2:30 - 4:30pm, in Committee Rooms 1, 2 and 3
·         
     Thursday, 7 February, 7 - 9pm, in Paul Daisley Hall.

Anyone can attend. No booking is required. 

Fryent Councillors

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

SCAM TARGETS ELDERLY – COURIER FRAUD

"Courier" fraud is a real issue at the moment and has been for over a year now. Officers from Scotland Yard, Operation Sterling have issued this advice on how it is done.

The method used by these scammers is that the victim is cold called at home on their land line number. The scammer then either pretends to be the police or from the victims bank. The scammer will say that there has been a compromise on their account and that in order to investigate it and catch the suspects responsible the card needs to be collected ASAP for forensic or other issues. They are then asked for the pin number to the card which they may give verbally over the telephone, these people are very convincing. Sometimes  the victim is asked to key in the pin number on their telephone keypad. A simple "App" called "Blue Box" for example decodes the tone to the number keyed in. In addition to verify the fraud the victim is advised to phone their bank or the police to confirm what they have just been told. This is when of course the victim's line has been held open by the suspect who does not hang up their end. 
Once the victim is convinced a "courier" is sent round to the victims address to collect the card. The courier is more often than not an innocent cab driver sent to collect from A to B or the suspects themselves. 

Pass this on to as many people as possible - the only way to stop this is to catch these nasty criminals or prevent them from deceiving elderly people. 

If you hear about a scam like this phone Fryent Safer Neighbourhood team or Operation Sterling at Scotland Yard.

And remember - NEVER GIVE YOUR PIN TO ANYONE 

Fryent Councillors


Sunday, January 13, 2013

Kingsbury and Kenton Area Forum - Brent Connects

The next Brent Connects Area Forum meeting will take place on Wednesday 6th February 2013 at Kingsbury High school, Princess Ave. NW9.

The agenda is likely to include the following items:

Government Welfare Reforms - how the cuts will affect you.

Kingsbury Library, what`s on.

Civic Centre - Customer services, what`s up.

Local Policing issues.

This is your opportunity to have your say on local Council services, the popular Soap Box item will still be on the agenda. Make a note in your diary now.


Fryent Councillors, hope to see you there?