A lineside track fire has been revealed as the cause that disrupted rail services between London and the Southeast on Sunday evening.
Southern Railway says that the fire happenned between Gatwick Airport and Purley in Croydon.
Overhead signal cables became damaged in the blaze which led to disruptions yesterday morning.
Visitors are being encouraged to explore Tilgate Park like never before by taking part in the Tilgate Park Trail Challenge and discovering the park’s fascinating tree trail, both available throughout the summer.
As part of this year’s Tilgate at 60 celebrations, the free family-friendly trail challenge invites visitors to search for secret markers hidden across some of Tilgate Park’s most popular attractions, including Tilgate Golf Centre, Lakeside Café, Tilgate Watersports, Go Ape, the Walled Garden Café and Tilgate Zoo. Participants who find all the markers and solve the final clue can enter a prize draw, making it a fun challenge for families, adventurers and curious explorers of all ages.
Visitors can also explore Tilgate Park’s impressive collection of trees through the park’s tree trail, which highlights 30 champion trees from around the world, including species from China, Africa, Europe and America. Each trail tree is marked with its name and a number, creating a fun and educational activity for children and adults alike.
With the school holidays now underway, these trails offer the perfect opportunity to get outdoors, enjoy some fresh air and discover more of what Tilgate Park has to offer.
Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, and Councillor Chris Mullins, Cabinet member for Leisure and Wellbeing, recently completed the tree trail themselves, exploring the park and learning more about Tilgate Park’s diverse collection of champion trees.
Tilgate Park is one of Crawley’s most treasured attractions. The trail challenge is a fantastic way to celebrate Tilgate at 60 while encouraging residents and visitors to explore different areas of the park. Combined with the tree trail, there is plenty to discover, making it a great day out for families during the summer holidays.
Councillor Michael Jones
Leader of Crawley Borough Council
Visitors can download the Tilgate at 60 trail challenge from our Tilgate Park at 60 page, and start their adventure.
The tree trail can be found on our Attractions at Tilgate Park page.
Gatwick Airport has received the green light for its northern runway project.
It’s after the court of appeal rejected legal challenges brought on by two groups which opposed the plans.
The ruling brings to an end an eight-year planning and legal process which scrutinised every aspect of the expansion plan.
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have successfully obtained a grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, to help clean up gum and reduce gum littering.
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council today announced ambitious plans to remove the chewing gum that blights local streets after receiving a £12,141.86 grant to tackle the issue.
The council is one of 50 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fifth year, for funds to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered in the first place.
The Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme – established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy – is open to councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent it from being dropped in the first place.
The Task Force is funded by major gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, with an investment of up to £10 million spread over five years.
In the past four years, the Task Force has awarded grants worth a total of £6.46 million, funded the cleaning of over 4.15 million square metres of pavements.
Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change – a not-for-profit social enterprise – has shown that in areas that benefitted from funding, a reduced rate of gum littering of up to 86% was seen in the first two months.
Reductions were still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing and the installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum.
Cllr Hannah Avery, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “We believe this funding can have a long-term impact in Redhill and local people will be inspired to keep the town centre cleaner and chewing gum free.
“Later this month, there will be a specialist, deep clean of the pedestrian area to kickstart the campaign, followed by bright signage on lampposts with a simple message to ‘Bin your gum’. We want local residents, businesses and visitors to all get behind it.
“The installation of 32 solar-powered, big belly bins in Redhill town centre in 2024 has helped to reduce litter, but now we want to remind people there is no excuse for dropping gum.”
According to Keep Britain Tidy, around 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, said: “While chewing gum litter remains a stubborn eyesore in our public spaces, the good news is that this scheme is already driving major improvements.
“As an environmental charity, we know that every piece of gum dropped irresponsibly damages the environment, taking years to break down naturally, while also leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for costly clean-up operations.
“Everyone in Redhill can play a part in creating cleaner, greener streets for all by binning their gum properly.”
A prolific shoplifter has been jailed after he was found to be in breach of a suspended sentence.
Max Huggett committed a spate of new shop theft offences within days of a court appearance in Crawley.
He targeted the Co-op store in Langley Parade, and the Asda store in Balcombe Road in June.
The 35-year-old was arrested and charged with 14 new shoplifting offences and 17 breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order.
At Crawley Magistrates’ Court on 2 July he admitted the charges.
Huggett, of Ockley Road, Bognor, was jailed for nine months.
The court was told how Huggett appeared for sentence in court on 10 June where a nine-month suspended sentence was imposed.
But on 14 June he entered the Co-op store and stole items. He committed further offences throughout June this year.
The court was also told how Huggett has 19 previous convictions for 133 offences, 99 of which were theft related.
Speaking after the case Crawley District Commander, Chief Inspector Steven Turner, said: “Huggett has been identified as a prolific shop thief who pays no regard to court orders.
“He has previously been banned from entering retail stores across West Sussex, and was convicted in June for a spate of shoplifting offences.
“Through Operation Apprentice, we continue to target the most prolific offenders, and Huggett was arrested for committing these new offences within days of his previous court appearance.
“We understand the impact shoplifting has in our communities and for retail staff, which is why we work hard to tackle the worst offenders.
“We are pleased that Huggett is now serving a custodial sentence.”