Zebedee Tring

I also walked past Alleyn's just before 3 o'clock today on my way to Herne Hill and took photos of the black Addison Lee coach on the double yellow lines. When I returned around an hour later the coach was still there, no passengers on board but the engine going. Another coach was parked bang opposite the black one and between them they were causing traffic in both directions to back up as the road width was much reduced. There were so many coaches and minibuses parked along there (the minibuses parked with 2 wheels on the pavement)that it seemed very dangerous for the school children who were crossing the road. Incidentally I have seen coaches parked there with their back wheels on the zebra crossing before now. Why no traffic wardens? Outside Jags at 4pm today the situation was a little better but at least one coach was parked on the zig zag lines at the school gate.

I wouldn't recommend putting the cat in a brown bin, otherwise you may well end up as a national pariah like Fred the Shred. And if you were prosecuted, you could well go daaahn.

But Scor 46 did step in and help, Kapt.Korper. So why criticise him?

At least the OP and another person did intervene, which isn't what usually happens in such circumstances. All credit to them. I hope that the dodgy geeza goes daahn for an appreciable stretch for a nasty bout of GBH at the very least, especially if the security guard was badly injured.

(1) If they have insufficient bay space, they should make the excess coaches park on the Alleyns land. (No doubt we will have some response on the lines of "We can't use urban open space land" or the like). (2) I have seen several coaches parked on the yellow lines for considerable periods and not just picking up passengers - that's not legally allowed. Some have parked on the yellow lines when there has been space in the bays. So Alleyns response is really not good enough.

Cescau, I don't know what the so-called "stupidity of Labour" has to do with this issue. That is, unless you are being ironic or you are trying to appeal to Ms Villiers' more base political instincts in having a go at Labour. Of course you may yourself be adopting a political stance just for the hell of it or because you actually believe what you are saying. Either way I don't see how it helps the argument on this thread - it just serves to divide people who may be after the same thing, i.e. a better train service from the Denmark Hill/Peckham Rye area.

These coach drivers are taking the proverbial Michael if they aren't even using the designated bays. It seems if they won't change their selfish habits unless they are hit in the pocket. It would be a good thing if this happened.

This is not a political issue and should not be turned into a Lib Dem/Con versus Labour issue. It is an Alleyns/coach operators issue and it is up to them to sort this problem out, with pressure from the Council/individual Councillors regardless of which party they belong to. I see that it is nearly the first anniversary of my last email on this thread and I am concerned what should be an easily resolvable problem is still continuing.

I totally deplore the mindless thuggery that we have seen during the last few days. However, I cannot see how the removal of financial benefits from anyone convicted of criminal acts during the riots would help. If the people in question have even less money than they had before because of the removal of their benefits, they will only go robbing again to compensate themselves for the loss of income.

And not only that - the coach drivers leave their engines running, as if it is still the 1950s and ignition systems are antiquated. Not only are they wasting fuel (and presumably hitting the profits of their paymasters) but they are further polluting the atmosphere.

As far as I could see about half an hour ago, buses on the 176 and 185 routes (and probably 40 as well) travelling north along Lordship Lane are now following their normal route past E Dulwich station, while I saw buses on 176, 185 and 40 in the other direction travelling along E Dulwich Road from Peckham Rye and then turning left into Lordship Lane. The current info about these routes on the TFL website appears to be wrong.

James, if the Foundation Coach Service manager has taken any action on this, then it clearly hasn't made any impression on the driver of Excalibur coach YN06JXA who at 3.20 this afternoon was parked partially on the yellow line with his engine pumping out fumes. I think that you need to keep up the pressure on this. I'm sure that plenty of people in the area affected by the problem won't let things rest.

Many thanks, James. I hope that you have more luck than other people who have complained about the problem in the past.

James, since your party allegedly has a great concern for the environment and is opposed to excessive pollution, perhaps you could use your influence to get Alleyns to require the coach drivers not to keep their engines running for hours while they are waiting in the road. As for your suggestion that some of us are not keeping a sense of proportion, you might personally be a bit more concerned about the problem if you lived in one of the roads leading to Townley Road and regularly had to walk and/or drive along Townley.

James, you've mentioned that there is a strip of land that could be tarmacked over. Do Alleyns have any specific proposals to tarmac over this land for use as parking for coaches? If not, it would be very helpful if you could suggest to the school that they should take this action on the ground that it is a subject of great concern for many local residents. If they care what locals residents thinks, then they really should do something about this.

So why couldn't Alleyns require the coach companies to obtain their own insurance for this? As for the open space at the school being zoned as "metropolitan open space", Alleyns obtained planning permission for a performing arts centre (or something like that) on part of their "metropolitan open space". But of course this meant dosh for the school, and they aren't interested in the local residents who are affected by the bloody coaches.

Then what about the coaches using the driveway in front of the main school entrance or elsewhere on the site that isn't open space? Why should we have to have the coaches parked on the public highway belching out fumes?

Without getting into any debate about the merits or otherwise of private education, I'd be grateful if someone from Alleyns could answer the following questions: (1) Since your school has plenty of land, why can't you get, or indeed require, the coach companies to park off-road during the day? (2) Again, why can't you get, or indeed require, the coach companies to stop their drivers leaving their engines running? It is no longer the 1950s and the automatic choke has been invented. Indeed, if I were running one of the companies, I would be worried about the effect that this polluting practice was having on my fuel bills, even if I didn't give a toss about the local inhabitants being poisoned by fumes.

One of the good things about Wetherspoons pubs is that they don't have all that bloody loud music drowning out attempts to engage in conversation. The beer prices are very reasonable as are the coffee prices (about half the price of places like Starf**kers). And while the food is not exactly cordon bleu, a meal for two works out very cheap. I hope that they come to E Dulwich.

First mate, two wrongs don't make a right. The thread is about dog poo and not speeding cars. Dog poo is in theory containable by clamping down on selfish, uncaring dog owners who allow their to crap all over the streets. And these kinds of dog owners are less likely to worm their dogs. The point that I was making was that people do do go blind after catching Toxicariasis after contact with dog poo.

Very true. We have a friend whose son became blind in one eye when a kid after catching Toxicariasis after contact with dog poo. They didn't have any pets.

At the age of 10, in the late 50s, I was allowed to travel round the Underground and London Bus network all on my own. I was a shy, unworldly child but as a result of travels in London I became much more self-reliant and able to work out how to get to just about anywhere.

Many years ago my mother-in-law received a visit from a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses who said that they would give her the chance to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. My m-i-l asked them 'How many people are there in the Kingdom of Heaven?' and they replied '500,000'. She then asked them 'How many Jehovah's witnesses are there?' and when they replied 'Three million', she responded with 'Well, there won't be any room for me then'. They were unable to answer this somewhat significant point and left.

I wasn't actually specifically in favour of the Schonrocks, I just thought that Alleyns were overreacting when they came down so heavily on them. But I am certainly against anyone of any age cycling on the footpath. Whether it would be feasible for parents to be prosecuted for the acts of their children in such circumstances is another matter.

If the Schonrocks don't care whether or not their children are breaking the law, why should we care about their plight vis a vis Alleyns School? They are in no moral position to complain about any other law breaking of a similar nature by anyone else.