Stores across Barking and Dagenham have been praised for their responsible approach to selling knives, following a series of test purchases carried out by an underage teenager.



On Tuesday 31 May, the council’s Trading Standards team visited nine shops in the borough and tasked a 13-year-old volunteer to try and buy a knife.



Eight of the stores refused to sell, with only one store failing to identify the underage shopper.



In the UK, it’s illegal to sell a knife or similar bladed article to anyone under the age of 18.

This June sees the return of Pride Month in Barking and Dagenham and we will once again take part in Pride in London – 50 years after the first LGBTQ+ parade took place in the capital.



This year marks the return of Pride in London on Saturday 2 July, after the parade was cancelled in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions.



It will be the fifth time Barking and Dagenham has taken part in the extravaganza, which draws thousands of people from across the country to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

Due to great public demand, a new adventurous playground was installed and opened on Tuesday 31 May at Eastbrookend Country Park.

The Barking & Dagenham Rangers Service secured funding through the council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), funds provided by developers working in the borough to help build new infrastructure, to install a fantastic new children’s adventurous play area aimed at 2–12-year-olds. The new play area features fun and challenging play apparatus, for users of all abilities, that complements the country park setting.

Cllr Faruk Choudhury took over from out-going Mayor, Cllr Edna Fergus, at the annual ceremonial event held on Friday 27 May at an Extraordinary Ceremonial Council.

A philanthropist, a Bishop, a 60s popstar, a chief executive, and former headteacher have all been awarded the freedom of Barking and Dagenham. 

The five recipients received the coveted title in recognition for their services to the borough at a special ceremony held at Barking Town Hall on Friday 27 May.  

Among those receiving the award, which is the highest accolade the council can hand out, was former headteacher, David Dickson. 

Barking and Dagenham Residents can enjoy a whole host of patriotic fun this summer as part of the council’s festivities for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

 

Four days of free, family fun events will take place across the extended bank holiday weekend, kicking-off on Thursday 2 June with an evening celebrating all things East End with the Cockney Night and Beacon Lighting event inside the historic grounds of Barking Abbey Ruins. 

 

An east London business that illegally left skips by the side of the road has been ordered to pay more than £4,300 by the courts – as well as having the containers seized. 

 

C C Construction (London) Ltd, of Nightingale Lane, Wanstead, were found to have committed 20 separate offences by Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officers during a three-month period between October 2019 and January 2020. 

 

A local company has been fined nearly £1,000 for failing to get the necessary permission to place builder’s skips on the public highway in Barking and Dagenham and continued to ignore enforcement notices.



During a routine patrol on the 12 August 2020, Essex Services Ltd was issued with a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for placing a builder’s skip on the highway at Woodward Road, Dagenham without permission.

A Newham driver has been found guilty in court for dropping a cigarette on the public highway. 

On (27/04/21) a Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officer witnessed the driver of a (Volkswagon Sharran) dispose of a cigarette on the public highway down Station Road, Chadwell Heath.

The driver, Mr Blerim Ademai of Bradymead Road, Newham was issued with a £150 Fixed Penalty Notice as an opportunity to discharge liability for the offence. However, Mr Ademai refused to pay the fine and the case went to court.

A man from Ilford has had his van crushed and been issued a curfew after he was caught fly-tipping twice by Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officers.



On the 30 September 2019, the council’s Environmental Enforcement team discovered a large fly-tip on River Road, Barking weighing approximately one and a half to two tonnes of waste including loose, bagged and bulky waste.