Tower Hamlets council has set up a service to remove unwanted cars free of charge. The service is being initiated to halt the borough's escalating abandoned vehicle problem. Although the council has set up a fine of £2,500 to anyone found guilty of dumping cars in the borough, 3,000 cars were illegally abandoned at a cost of £54,000. The abandoned vehicles unit has estimated that approximately £100,000 of taxpayer's money will be spend in Tower Hamlets this year.

The council has recently joined forces with the local fire brigade, which reports the abandoned vehicles. Bow Station commander Robin Goodman said: "The main problem for local residents is that if fire fighters are detained putting out an abandoned car fire they may be able to get to a more serious property fire in time to save lives."

To report an abandoned vehicle, or request to use the council's free vehicle disposal service email them at [email protected].

Tower Hamlets has been identified by the Met as one of the city's worst crime-plagued boroughs. In a new campaign, codenamed Safer Streets, Tower Hamlets will become the focus of the Yards attention in a drive to reduce street crime. Figures released indicate that street crime rose by 49 per cent in January, compared with the same month the previous year.

Tower Hamlets is one of nine London boroughs where mugging rates are highest and the new initiative instigated by the Met has already driven down street crime by 22 per cent across London. Police identify the rise in street crime in the last year as being driven by the theft of mobile phones, a crime running at a rate of nearly 3,000 a month throughout the capital.

Safer Streets was instigated in the wake of Home Secretary David Blunkett warning Met commissioner Sir John Stevens that he would intervene in the running of the Met if crime figures were not brought under control. Sir John believes the current success of the operation is due to his decision to switch officers from enforcing traffic laws, to tackling muggers. The other boroughs due to be targeted are Westminster, Islington, Lambeth (the robbery capital of Britain), Hackney, Southwark, Haringey and Brent.

In her first public engagement following the death of Princess Margaret, the Queen visited the borough on Tuesday to re-open Salvation Army hostel Booth House. Dressed in a sober black suit, the Queen was welcomed to the hostel by Bryan Stobart, chairman of the Salvation Army Housing Association.

The Queen looked resolute as she toured Booth House and spoke to staff, representatives of other agencies tackling homelessness, and to residents in their rooms and in the computer training. Booth House provides residence for 150 homeless men, and is designed to resettle residents into permanent homes.

It has been refurbished at a cost of just over £8 million. The Queen, who opened the original building in 1968, had pledged to return once refurbishment was complete and meet some of the residents.

Pornography, cigarettes and fake white goods worth tens of thousands of pounds were seized when police and council officials raided Brick Lane's Sunday market. Operation Dale saw teams of Tower Hamlet's trading standards officers, market inspectors HM Customs and Excise and the police swept through the streets, confiscating fake and illegal goods.

Three teams were sent into the markets to seize the goods. One of the teams was specifically targeting illegal street traders and cigarette seller. Another team of plain-clothes police officers targeted traders selling pornography from suitcases, recovering over 200 hardcore videos. The third team were sent in to catch traders selling pirated software and CDs.

Two men were arrested for using counterfeit trademarks after being seen setting up a stall selling fake goods. Further searches found two computers, a colour printer and recording equipment worth over £3,000 used to create the fake merchandise. Trading Standards later released both men pending summons for trademark offences.