...make sure you chose somewhere that looks as though they take pride in cleanliness. After a campaign against dodgy establishments deemed a risk to public health, Moon Pizza - a Walthamstow restaurant popular with local schoolkids - was just closed down by Environmental Health after people working nearby saw "rats jumping from a window". Inspections revealed poor hygiene with grime and rodent droppings all over the shop, and covering containers intended for takeaway food.......

Could EMI be moving to Croydon? No, we don’t think so either. The Cultural Olympiad is afoot: the launch on the 26th – 28th September looks set to be a weekend of pretty special events. And construction on the cupcake is proceeding apace. Fingers crossed an’ all. Specially as 9 out of 10 Brits currently verge towards pessimism on the games front. What housing slump? The super-prime end of the market is thriving, thank......

One of the benefits of roof or windowsill gardens must be being pretty confident about what's lurking in your plantings. Not likely to encounter snails or slugs or beetles or.... human remains. Which is what a plucky allotmenteer in Walthamstow dug up last week. To be more specific, a human skull. Police are now running forensic tests on the skull and treating the plot as a crime scene so we wait for more news......

Monuments around Britain, including many in London, which commemorate the abolition of slavery are to be given protected status. A man has died in police custody in Brixton. Still in Brixton – police found a man suffering from stab wounds early this morning. And another teenager has died by the knife, this time in Walthamstow. Charlton Athletic are getting involved in the fight against gun and knife crime. An Epping company has been fined......

Developers say they are unlikely to accept a consortium's offer to safeguard greyhound racing at Walthamstow Stadium. The site's owners, London and Quadrant Housing Trust, reckon the bid is "not genuinely viable", and will continue with their selfless plan to "ease homelessness" through a housing development, which will (by sheer coincidence) also turn a tidy profit. Despite a "show of strength" outside the stadium on Thursday night, time for the 'Stow is running out. Racing......

It's been a less than stellar year for London as far as knife crime is concerned and yesterday was particularly upsetting as four fatal stabbings took place in different parts of the city. A 19-year-old was stabbed in Edmonton, becoming the 20th teenager to die as a result of stabbing this year. Two arrests have been made in connection with the murder. In Leyton, a man who crashed his car had first been stabbed.......

58. Doomsday! For centuries mankind has been superstitious about certain happenings and signs, perceiving such anomalous symbols and events as omens of doom, or forewarnings of death and destruction. Of course we'll never truly know if such fears are justified, but what we do know is that the end of the world has always been nigh... In our modern climate the dread of terrorist attacks is common, an inner fear that lurks, for although......

So, Walthamstow. Anyone been? This Londonista has never ventured to the top end of the Victoria Line, despite living at its southern-most outpost only a few years ago. What is there to do in Walthamstow? It certainly has its claims to history - a local chap may have built the first British petrol-driven car, and socialist writer William Morris came from there too. But most people either associate the place with Walthamstow Stadium (and......

The scourge of polite society, and a garment guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of houseproud folk across London, the hoodie is nothing if not an adaptable form of clothing. In the wake of the bulletproof edition sold by a Romford firm, another variant ready for urban warfare has arrived: gas mask hoodies are now available at Walthamstow Market. Costing twenty quid, the nylon jacket is available in brown and grey camoflauge, and......

A conflict of interest has forced a Walthamstow police officer to resign. Manjit Johal, formerly a sergeant, was found guilty of sampling the wares of a brothel he was investigating in December 2005. Johal had originally gone to the establishment to determine whether or not it was being used for prostitution, and managed to verify in the least sensible way possible that it was indeed. Originally arrested under the suspicion of rape, Johal was......

Book-lovers will be checking out a unique new venue on Saturday [2 Feb]: St James Street Open-Air Library in Walthamstow. No payment, no tickets – just bring as many books as you like, and swap them. Fab, but Brrrrrr. Its hours are brief; from 1-3pm the first Saturday of the month. And its book stock is the few hundred its organisers have rounded up from supporters – plus whatever anyone brings. But it’s handily......