Romford & district · Local news you can trust
The A12 at Romford loses a lane to 11 October for Thames Water. Emerson Park and Harold Hill roads close 5 to 9 October, and c2c's drought timetable carries on.
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Crime
Havering Crime Figures: Rainham Shoplifting Triples
Havering logged 24,479 crimes and ASB reports in the year to July 2026, flat on last year. Rainham shoplifting tripled; Harold Wood burglary fell 64%.
Jobs
Harold Hill Jobs Fair: MyPlace, 15 October, Free Entry
A free jobs, skills and apprenticeship fair runs at MyPlace, Harold Hill, on Thursday 15 October, 9.30am to 12.30pm. No need to register. What past fairs led to.
Christmas
Santa's Grotto in Romford: The Mercury, £10, No Booking
The Mercury's grotto in Romford was £10 last year with no booking. Christmas Land in Hornchurch runs 27 November to 2 January, grotto £8 a child.
Rainham
Rainham Hall Winter Opening: Thu to Sat, Shut 24 to 31 Dec
Rainham Hall opens Thursday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, through winter and closes 24 to 31 December. Prices from £3.25, the Sense and Sensibility show, RM13 free.
Travel
Gallows Corner fully reopens, a year later than planned
Gallows Corner is open in every direction and the diversions are gone. TfL confirmed it on Monday, a year after its own published programme said it would.
Business
Havering Small Business Awards 2026: All the Winners
Paul Perfect Heating is Havering Small Business of the Year 2026. Here are all nine category winners, their sponsors, and where three of them trade.
Licensing
Wingstop Romford at The Brewery: Licence Hearing Withdrawn
Havering has withdrawn the 2 October hearing on Wingstop's licence at The Brewery, Romford. The hours it asked for, why the council objected, and when it opens.
House Prices
Havering house prices: fourth in London, 21 boroughs fell
Havering's average home cost £448,648 in July, up £9,260 in a year while London fell 3.3%. Only three of the 33 boroughs grew faster; 21 went backwards.
Havering
Havering Council Funding: £6.75m of a £91m Rescue Pot
Havering is one of 14 councils sharing £91m to overhaul costly services. The government named what seven of them will spend it on. Havering was not one of them.
Havering
Havering Claimant Count Hits 7,705, Highest Since 2025
Havering's claimant count rose to 7,705 in August, the highest since June 2025. The entire year-on-year rise is among people aged 50 and over.
Romford
Como Street Car Park Plan: 138 Homes, None Affordable
Officers backed 138 homes on Romford's Como Street car park with no affordable housing, despite 121 objections. The committee met on 17 September.
Havering
Havering Food Waste Collections Pushed Back to April
Havering's food waste service now starts in April, not this autumn, a council budget report shows. It also puts this year's emergency borrowing at £54.2m.
Romford has had a market in the middle of it since the thirteenth century, and it is still the town everyone in this corner of east London ends up in. Around it sit places that keep their own names and their own feel: Hornchurch and Emerson Park, Upminster and Cranham, Gidea Park, Collier Row, Harold Wood and Harold Hill, Elm Park and Rainham down towards the marshes.
They all come under Havering, a name that survives from the old Royal Liberty and now mainly means the council. That council decides what gets built, what the bins cost, where you can park and what a licence is granted for, and most of the decisions are published where nobody reads them. We read them, we write down what they say, and we link to the file.
Every fact we publish is linked to its official source, so you can check it yourself.