JANUARY

Bromley police refused to rule out a connection between the attempted abduction of a pupil at Darrick Wood Junior School and the murder of nine-year-old Sarah Payne. A schoolboy waiting to be picked up after school was dragged off by a man believed to be in his 40s, but managed to escape.

The casualty department at Bromley Hospital was closed after an infestation of tiny insects, believed to be fleas or mites. Staff complained of bites shortly after a patient, thought to be infested with the bugs, was admitted. Workmen spent 11 hours fumigating the department.

FEBRUARY

Foot-and-mouth disease hit the borough when Foal Farm animal sanctuary, in Biggin Hill, was advised by government officials to close its gates. The decision, taken a week after the first outbreak in Essex, led to the sanctuary staying closed to visitors for 11 weeks.

The borough's biggest-ever council tax rise of 12.3 per cent was announced. Council co-leader Chris Maines said the hike was due to the increase in Greater London Assembly costs and teachers' salary increases. Conservative councillors criticised the administration's "extravagance".

MARCH

Police celebrated the seizure of drugs with a street value of more than £210,000 after the six-week Operation Crackdown. Crack, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis were found and 30 arrests were made. Following the drugs busts the number of burglaries fell by five per cent compared with the previous year.

ROGER WRIGHT 24.2.1948 25.3.2001

News Shopper readers and staff mourned the death of chief sports reporter Roger Wright. Roger, who came to the paper after working as racing editor with the Press Association, was known to be the fount of all knowledge by those who knew him. Former football commentator Brian Moore, who also sadly passed away this year, paid tribute to Roger, who lived in Bickley. He said: "All his work was first class. The News Shopper, and local sport in general, will be the poorer for his death. And he always had time, whatever his workload, to talk to others."

APRIL

Bromley and Chislehurst MP Eric Forth provoked pre-election fury after he refused to sign a pledge not to make race an issue whilst on the campaign trail. He came in for sustained criticism from Liberal Democrat council leaders and the Racial Equality Commission.

A 10-year-old leukaemia sufferer from Mottingham visited Disneyland Paris, thanks to the generosity of News Shopper readers. After we highlighted the last wishes of Sophie Hunt, you pledged more than £6,000 to grant her wish of visiting the theme park. Sadly, Sophie died just two weeks after her dream came true.

MAY

The News Shopper launches its Enough is Enough campaign to put an end to council tax rises above the rate of inflation. Readers were asked to support the campaign by signing a form and sending it to council chiefs, which hundreds did.

Campaigners celebrated after councillors announced plans for a £55m leisure complex at the Crystal Palace were abandoned. The decision followed a five-year legal and political battle during which Crystal Palace Partnership had delivered a 40,000-signature petition to Downing Street and challenged the council in the High Court.

JUNE

Three air crashes at the annual Biggin Hill Air Fair resulted in three deaths. No-one was hurt in the first incident at noon on Saturday, June 2, but then at 6.10pm the same day, disaster struck and a two-man Vampire Jet crew died. On the Sunday, a King Cobra crashed yards from the 45,000-strong crowd killing the pilot.

At the General Election, all three of the borough's Conservative MPs hung on to their seats. But while Beckenham's Jacqui Lait and Bromley's Eric Forth celebrated easy victories, Orpington's John Horam found himself in London's most marginal constituency, with a majority of just 269.

JULY

The Court of Appeal ruled against expansion at Biggin Hill Airport by banning the introduction of scheduled flights. It was a huge victory for Bromley Council which had fought against the plans for more than 18 months. The legal battle continues, as airport chairman Andrew Rogers intends to petition the House of Lords for leave to appeal against the ruling.

A night of violence in Bromley town centre left three youths hospitalised and pavements stained with blood. Police arrested four men. Town centre business owners claimed the centre was becoming a no-go area, but town centre management disagreed.

AUGUST

Bromley became one of only two London boroughs to receive Government threats to cap council tax. Watchdogs wrote to council chiefs demanding an explanation for the 36 per cent rise since 1998. The Conservatives blamed the previous Lib/Lab administrations for the problems.

Proposals to close Bromley's £10m magistrates' court attracted stinging criticism from police chiefs and magistrates themselves. The plans, aimed at saving cash from the criminal justice system, were put out for consultation and no decision has yet been reached. If the court was closed, offenders would have to travel to Croydon.

SEPTEMBER

The News Shopper reported on the impact in the borough of the terrorist strikes in the USA. Churches held packed remembrance services, schools raised funds for the bereaved and some local people, such as Rupert Eales-White from Biggin Hill, mourned the deaths of relatives.

Four men were charged with killing Charlton man Darren Gardner, 35, after taking penalty kicks' at his head in Beckenham's Kelsey Park. Stephen Parsons, 22, from Kidbrooke and Michael Hann, 19, of Rockingham Court, Beckenham, were convicted of murder and jailed for life, while Donald Murtagh, 20, of Graveney Grove, Penge, and Daniel Hall, 19, of Bargrove Close, Penge, were convicted of manslaughter. Murtagh faces eight years in jail, Hall seven.

OCTOBER

Conservative councillors criticised levels of policing in the borough, as a minimum of seven officers a day were sent to central London to deal with the terrorist threat. They claimed routine phone calls and correspondence were not being dealt with, and called on the Government, and the Metropolitan Police Authority to fund more officers.

The News Shopper council tax campaign continued as borough treasurer Paul Dale predicted a 21 per cent rise in council tax - 10 times the rate of inflation - which would bring the total rises to 64 per cent in just four years. Council leader Michael Tickner blamed the previous administration and pledged to make cuts to keep the figure down.

NOVEMBER

Police announced that Bromley's biggest-ever crackdown on street crime, called Operation Nicholas, to catch robbers and violent criminals would start in the run-up to Christmas. The operation got off to a flying start in December with 39 arrests in its first week.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell lent her backing to the News Shopper's campaign to save the Bromley Youth Music Trust from closure, after threats to its funding. The editor received more than 150 letters in support of the campaign from teachers, pupils and musicians.

DECEMBER

Bromley Common residents were in uproar after discovering council plans to spend £1m on moving three holes of a golf course, to make way for a new secondary school, likely to open in 2004. The two possible sites for the school, both in Bromley Common, are going forward for planning permission and the overall decision is likely to end up with London mayor Ken Livingstone.

New figures from a crime and disorder audit revealed crime in the borough had increased while detection rates had dropped. More than half of residents felt a medium threat of crime or higher, with burglary, car crime and anti-social behaviour the biggest concerns. Bromley's share of £22m government funding to the Met, to cover the cost of extra policing since September 11, was spent by the time it arrived.

December 28, 2001 17:00