BBC Local Live: London as it happened

Gatwick Airport: Travel to the airport as normal and contact your airline for flight information.

Heathrow Airport: Please check your flight status before travelling to the airport.

London City Airport: There will be cancellations and delays, please check with your airlines.

Luton Airport: Flights now resumed but please expect residual delays.

PACopyright: PA

The situation around the country includes:

• Heathrow: Fifty flights cancelled. Others delayed but planes now landing and taking off
• Gatwick: Flights are now departing but still subject to delays
• Stansted: Flights still landing, no flights departing
• London City: Cancellations and delays
• Luton: All flights experiencing delays
• Bristol: Limited departures reported
• Luton: All flights experiencing delays but planes now leaving
• Edinburgh: No queues but passengers being advised to check with their airlines
• Glasgow: Some delays to departures
• Southampton: Experiencing ''problems''
• Oxford: Experiencing "some delays", mainly to services arriving from overseas
• Leeds Bradford: All flights out and most flights in suspended until 1900
• Birmingham: Some departures are being re-routed to avoid flying through London airspace
• East Midlands: Departures and arrivals delayed but passengers advised to turn up as normal

As soon as air traffic control has a problem, nothing is allowed to take off that might add to the problem.

This is unlikely to be power problem as there are duplicate and back-up systems - including even diesel generators at a push.

It is more likely to be software, which caused the last major problem when the incoming morning crew could not switch over from night-time control system.

With aircraft out of position, or flight crews out of hours, there are likely to be knock-on problems for many flights.

Space seems to be running out at London City Airport as passengers wait for information about their flights.

@KaweechelchenCopyright: @Kaweechelchen

Thanks to @kaweechekchen for the picture.

Security sources have not seen any evidence the problems were caused by computer hacking.

National air traffic services (Nats) insists at no point was the airspace closed.

Planes were allowed to land, albeit at a reduced rate but, aircraft were being held on the ground. Since Heathrow operates close to its maximum capacity on a good day - severe disruption was inevitable.

Several flights due to depart from Bristol Airport were running late this evening but no services have yet been cancelled.

A spokeswoman said: "Delays can be expected throughout the rest of the day, although at this point no flights to or from Bristol Airport have been cancelled as a result. We are doing all we can to keep passengers informed of the latest updates on their flight status."

Travel journalist Simon Calder told the BBC air traffic control over London was "a constant game of three-dimensional chess".

BBCCopyright: BBC

He said the impact of the failure on the busiest travel day of the week, Friday, meant cancellations would quickly build up.

Passenger Howard Brown said: "We left Glasgow at 9.30 this morning and arrived at Heathrow at 10.30. We were due to leave on our second flight to Rome at 12.40 but it was delayed due to industrial action in Italy. We were eventually allowed to board this plane at 2.45 hoping to take off 45 minutes later but we're still just sitting here.

"The staff have said we're in a queue for take off but have no idea where in the queue we are. We have been here for over two hours and we still haven't been offered drinks.

"There are a few babies on board who have been kicking off but at the moment things are relatively calm."

Teenager Florence I Weston tweets: @BBCLondonNews stuck at @HeathrowAirport awaiting a flight to Singapore at 7 and it's my 18th tomorrow - I may have it at Heathrow!!

Federica Ceresca said: "I was flying from Marseilles when 45 minutes into the flight, the first officer said we wouldn't be able to land at Heathrow Airport as there was a technical problem.

Federica Ceresa Copyright: Federica Ceresa

"We were then just about to land in Paris when they rerouted us to Brussels. Then we were about to land when they rerouted us again to Heathrow. We were on the first plane to land at Heathrow. Arrivals was empty. It was like the desert. The rebooking line though was extremely long."

Managing director of operations at NATS, Martin Rolfe told the BBC News Channel: "Obviously, it will take a while for the airline schedule to get back to normal.

"Any disruption like that will take a little while to work through the system, but yes, the system is back up and running."

The scene at Heathrow airport this evening as the knock-on effects of the airspace restriction are felt by passengers.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Passenger Liz Clifford said: "I was booked on the 15.33 Flybe flight to Southampton from Manchester Airport. There is no room for us in the airport so we are currently stuck on a bus on the tarmac - had to wait 35 minutes for one to become available.

"People are starting to get more irritated. We haven't received any further information, nor refreshments."

British Airways has said any passengers due to fly out of Heathrow, Gatwick or London City Airport tonight are entitled to rebook their flights or get a full refund.

In a statement the company said: "We anticipate disruption to both departing and arriving flights but will do all we can to minimise any impact.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

"We will endeavour to keep our customers informed of the status of their flight but we would urge anyone with a flight booking to check ba.com before leaving for the airport.

"If you do not wish to travel from Heathrow, Gatwick or London City this evening we are offering our customers the opportunity to rebook their flight to a later date or a full refund."

Martin Rolfe, the managing director of National Air Traffic Services (Nats), has apologised for this afternoon's disruption.

He said NATS is still investigating the technical problem that occurred.

He ruled out any power outage, which was first thought to blame, and confirmed there was a failure in the flight data element of its system. This resulted in flight controllers having less data available to them and therefore the rate of air traffic was reduced for safety reasons.

Mr Rolfe absolutely ruled out the disruption was caused by any kind of system computer hack.

Anna Devonald emails: My sister Julie Woods and her husband Stewart are travelling from Heathrow to New York and were stranded on the runway.

The flight has now left but passengers have been told that because the plane was running, a refuel in Boston was necessary but now have been informed that they may have to travel by train from Boston to New York.

Tracey Atkinson emails: Why should the airlines have to pay overnight costs etc? This really isn't their fault. Common sense says these costs are for passengers travel insurance to cover, but strange EC regulations say otherwise.

Nigel Highes emails: Sitting on an NYC bound flight at Heathrow. Media hyperbole fun to watch. 51st in line - lucky us...

Simon Peach arrived on a flight from Istanbul to Heathrow and after an hour on the ground was still waiting to disembark.

BBCCopyright: BBC

He told the BBC that "it sounds like things are moving in the right direction."

Eddie Nestor spoke to a passenger at Heathrow who told BBC London 94.9: "I'm supposed to be going to Chicago. I'd like to get back to my family."

Newcastle Airport tweets: If you're travelling this evening and are looking for information about possible delays please visit our website - http://www.newcastleairport.com/arrivals-departures …

Josh Rasbash, a software engineer in the aviation business, has been on a delayed flight from Edinburgh to Brussels. He said: "I've been stuck on the plane for an hour and a half. Most passengers are disgruntled.

"You have to be extremely careful with managing a flight. You can't just let them land wherever. It needs to be carefully organised and managed so we don't hit each other in the air.

"It's Ryanair so I'm not expecting much."

Robert Kowalski tweets: @BBCLondonNews sitting @LDNLutonAirport on #W62066 @wizzair policy do not allow to sell drinks or food when grounded. #nonsense

Swanwick controls the 200,000 square miles of airspace above England and Wales, cost £623m to build, and employs about 1,300 controllers.

The facility opened in 2002 and handles 5,000 flights every 24 hours.

Heathrow says 50 flights had been cancelled but it expects that figure will rise as the evening goes on.

The glitch lasted from 15:27 to 16:03.

The fact that Heathrow typically handles between 80 and 90 flights an hour shows how even a short disruption to take-offs and landings can have a big effect.

Here's a picture taken on a mobile phone of passengers who have been stuck on a plane waiting to take off from Luton Airport for the past two hours.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Passenger Felix Leach tweets: @BBCLondonNews -sitting airside @HeathrowAirport term 5. Absolutely no information. All screens showing flights as on time...

Gatwick South terminal apparently operating very smoothly

Here is an undated handout picture of the air traffic control centre at Swanwick which is where the computer glitch was.

PACopyright: PA

Mary from west London writes: "I am on the BA flight from Delhi which must have been one of last to make it in.

"No stands available because no planes leaving. We have taxi'd from Terminal 5 to 1, and have been told we will be taken by bus back to Terminal 5.

"Passengers tired after long flight but good tempered, just relieved that we made it to the ground."

Passenger Adam Sullivan tweets: @BBCLondonNews nothing moving out of Dublin, plane loaded but sat here waiting for an update. It's not just UK impacted

The bulk of the cancellations are short haul flights and budget carriers in particular and the low cost airlines.

They operate very tight turnaround times - a flight say from London to Milan will stop off in Milan, there'll be a 20-25 minute turnaround, they'll take the passengers off the plane, give it a quick clean and put passengers back on.

That flight will then go to another destination where there'll be a quick turnaround again.

Passenger Lee Cripps tweets: @BBCLondonNews have been sat in Milan airport from 10am due to a strike, now the airspace issue! Can't leave til plane arrives from London.

Birmingham Airport has said some of its departing flights will be re-routed to avoid flying through London airspace.

It advises all passengers to check its website for more information.

BBC journalist Joe Inwood is one of many passengers whose flights have been held or cancelled.

Luton Airport Ops Ltd.Copyright: Luton Airport Ops Ltd.

He spoke to the BBC from a plane on the tarmac at Luton airport.

You can't expect cash compensation because this is not something which is the airline's responsibility.

You can, however, expect a duty of care. That means once the delay gets above a few hours, the airline has to look after you, provide meals and so on.

If people are stuck in the airport overnight, and I very very much fear that there will be many thousands of people in that position, the airline has to provide hotel accommodation for you and it has to get you to your destination as soon as it possibly can.

The system is working again so that's really good. The big issue now is the queues.

This is one of the biggest airspaces in the world so closing it has a huge impact.

Anthony North tweets: @bbclondonnews Zero planes visible from top of Canary Wharf. Very unusual.

Anthony NorthCopyright: Anthony North

Pilot and aviation expert Andrew Brooks told the BBC News Channel: "This is a one-off.

"It causes problems, but so does snow. So does ice."

Heathrow Airport tweets: Flights now departing and arriving. Please check your flight status before travelling to the airport: heathrowairport.com/help/contact-us/airline-contacts …

Gatwick Airport tweets: Please travel to the airport as normal and contact your airline for the latest flight information.

Travel editor at the Independent Simon Calder told the BBC News Channel: "If you're waiting for people and they should have landed but haven't, that might be because they've landed in Paris or Brussels.

"It's looking pretty messy," he added.

London City Airport tweets: Flights beginning to resume there will be cancellations & delays so please check with your airlines

Flight solutions company Flightworx Aviation tweets: Our flight support team fielding questions about the airspace closure. @BBCLondonNews

Flightworx AviationCopyright: Flightworx Aviation

Carla Narth from London said: "I'm heading to San Francisco. We were supposed to leave Heathrow an hour ago but the pilot has told us that the main air traffic control system has died. He said this means all the flights are grounded at Heathrow and we've been put into a queue.

"He still thinks we'll be setting off at some point and told us the system is being rebooted. Everyone on the flight is just a bit bored."

At Norwich International Airport says flights north are still operating but any flights passing through London airspace will be subject to delays and arrivals may be diverted.

Hamish Lynde tweets: @BBCLondonNews been sitting at @HeathrowAirport on #AC855 for nearly 2 hours now. Chaos. @AirCanada

Hamish LyndeCopyright: Hamish Lynde

Heathrow has said they understand from NATS that airpsace has now been reopened and they are in the process of getting flights back to normal.

Birmingham Airport says flights are being re-routed to avoid flying through London.

Glasgow says it is experiencing delays on departures while Aberdeen says it has been told the situation has been resolved but there could be knock-on delays.

Southampton has all flights currently suspended,

Nats tweets: System has been restored and we are in the process of returning to normal operations. For more information please see nats.aero/news/swanwick-technical-failure-update-1615/ …

In a statement Easyjet has said: "The recent failure of the computer systems at NATS' Swanwick air traffic control centre is currently affecting all flights in to and out of UK airspace.

PACopyright: PA

"We advise passengers to check the flight tracker at easyjet.com for the latest information and to be prepared for delays and possible cancellations.

"It is too early to say how many passengers and flights will be affected."

Mike Wainwright tweets: West London is looking VERY quiet now. You can usually see 5-6 planes coming in at all times from here! #Shhh

John J says flights to Manchester have also been affected.

He's sat on a plane in Stockholm and says he's were grounded until UK airspace reopens.

At Birmingham Airport - a spokesman says some south bound flights are being diverted around London airspace.

The airport has had no requests for diverts from any other airports to accept diverted flights.

Northbound flights are unaffected.

NATS have said: "UK airspace has not been closed, but airspace capacity has been restricted in order to manage the situation."

This is how Heathrow currently looks with the planes lined up runway unable to depart.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Aberdeen Airport tweets: We are told that the issue has now been RESOLVED. Could be knock-on delays as normality is restored but system returning to normal.

Travel editor at the Independent Simon Calder told the BBC News Channel: "This is Friday evening - the busiest day of the travelling week.

"It's going to be a long, stressful afternoon and evening."

Leeds Bradford Airport says all flights out and most flights in are suspended until 1900.

London Oxford Airport says it is experiencing "some delays" as a result of the problems, mainly services arriving from overseas.

Local air traffic is not affected.

The BBC Look North team tweet: Humberside Airport has been given no indication it will have extra traffic following closure of London Airspace, but prepared if necessary.

Phil Damerell tweets: Stuck on the runway at Heathrow en route to Berlin... but we have beer! And it's Christmas!

@Phil_DamerellCopyright: @Phil_Damerell

Heathrow Airport tweets: Check your flight status before coming to the airport. Flights experiencing severe disruption due to technical issue at air traffic control

Around 6,000 flights go in and out of the UK on a typical 24-hour period.

NATSCopyright: NATS

This video released by National Air Traffic Services last month gives a sense of how complex the picture is.

London Gatwick tweets: Flights are now departing from Gatwick but there are delays due to the Air Traffic Control computer issues.

This is unprecedented. I've never known anything like this.

Heathrow has a flight every 90 seconds so if you stop flights for an afternoon, it's going to have a huge impact.

The Nats press office tweets: We apologise for any current delays. Every possible action is being taken to resolve the situation.

London City Airport tweets: Update: No departures from LCY until further notice. Please contact your airline for info on your flight

TwitterCopyright: Twitter

Sooner or later the queues will build up at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.

All flights are grounded while the airport awaits more information from Nats.

On average 450 flights go in and out of Stansted airport every day.

At the moment, 10 aircraft are waiting to depart.

Vicky Lane is at Gatwick Airport waiting to fly to Dublin.

She says: "We've been stuck on a Ryanair flight at Gatwick for over an hour. The doors are open and we're really cold.

"We're supposed to be flying to Dublin...I'm not sure when we will be leaving."

All departing flights have now been grounded at Gatwick.

Naomi R tweets: All the planes going nowhere #Heathrow

Naoimi RCopyright: Naoimi R

Aberdeen Airport says: "An Air Traffic issue down south is having an impact on airport operations around the country this afternoon.

"In Aberdeen our advice is flights heading south will be affected until the issue resolves. Helis operating normally also. Contact your airline on specific flights."

Passenger Robert Bell, who was at Heathrow Airport awaiting his flight to Santiago, Chile, via Madrid, said: "We're at the gate and can see the tarmac and there's not a lot going on."

"We're in the dark," he added.

Stansted Airport tweets: Due to a technical fault at NATS Swanwick ATC centre affecting London airspace, departing flights from @STN_Airport are currently suspended.

Aviation expert Chris Yates told the BBC News Channel: "There is a major failure at the London Air Traffic Control Centre, based in Hampshire, and we still don't know the reason for that failure."

Newcastle Airport is saying passengers should still come to the airport for their flights. Manchester Airport says the situation isn't affecting it at the moment.

Thanks to Anna who tweeted: @BBCLondonNews still seeing planes coming to Heathrow..

@thatswedishgirlCopyright: @thatswedishgirl

If you have any images or are affected by the closure of London's airspace please tweet @BBCLondonNews.

London Luton Airport has confirmed that all its flights are experiencing delays as a result of the closure of London's airspace.

Aviation expert Chris Yates says: "If we're talking about a computer failure, if maintenance was being done at the time, for example, then perhaps that's another reason for the air traffic control centre going out of its norm."

tweets: Departing flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information.

Haimish Mead has tweeted this image from the gate at Heathrow

Haimish MeadCopyright: Haimish Mead

Heathrow Airport has said some flights are landing but planes further out could be turned away. A spokesman said every flight has a diversion plan so they will follow that plan. There is no indication of how many passengers are affected.

O AlBarghath tweets: Our departure was meant to be 1510. Now showing 1939 at the earliest. This keeps being pushed back. London Heathrow.

The current situation as shown by AirLive.net.

AirLive.netCopyright: AirLive.net

Stansted Airport in Essex is assessing the impact of the closure.

Passengers in Bristol have been affected as well, BBC Points West tweets.

Alex Lloyd tweets: Just about to board 4pm flight to Berlin & ATC has gone down at Heathrow. It's going to be a long evening ...

The scene now in London's airspace:

Flight AwareCopyright: Flight Aware

Live flight tracking is available through Flight Aware.

Aviation expert Chris Yates says: "Air traffic control centres by their very nature are crucial. Swanwick, like any other air traffic control centre, would have a system of back-ups in place in case of a power outage. Where that fails as well as appears to be the case we are left with a situation such as this."

Dave Roberts tweets: Landed at Heathrow, only to find we can't park cos' it's full thanks to the air traffic control chaos. I fear we are here for a while ...

tweets: Flights are currently experiencing delays due to a power outage at NATS control centre affecting UK airspace. Further updates to follow.

The five councils in England which earned the most money from parking fees were all in London, research from the RAC Foundation has found.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Westminster Council made the most money taking £51m during 2013/14 with Kensington and Chelsea coming in second raising £33.5m.

The figures were reached by adding up income from parking charges and penalty notices, then deducting running costs.

tweets: Part of Cross Deep, Twickenham closed southbound - accident {BR}

The headlines this hour include:

• A report into a near miss over west London in July says an object, thought to be a small radio-controlled helicopter, came within just 20 feet of a passenger plane that was coming in to land at Heathrow.
• A man has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years for the murder of a 16 year old girl in Kent in 1993.

Acton High Street will gain a new three-screen cinema, restaurant and bar if Ealing Council's cabinet accepts a plan to sell the Acton Library building to independent cinema chain Curzon Cinemas, reports the Ealing Times.

GoogleCopyright: Google

The library was moved into the newly-rebuilt Everyone Active Acton Centre earlier this year and the old listed library building was put on the market.

The afternoon will remain dry although largely cloudy. There will be some sunny spells which will develop from time to time, especially later in the afternoon.

Top temperature: 8C (46F).

An 86-room Premier Inn hotel is set to be approved at New Eltham's notoriously busy fiveways junction - where Sidcup Road meets Green Lane - according to the News Shopper.

The paper asks whether this is the worst location for a hotel?

A vintage Rolls Royce wedding car broke down in the middle of the Rotherhithe tunnel earlier.

Scotland Yard confirmed the passengers were taken out of the vehicle while the car was recovered. We're currently trying to find out whether the bride arrived at her service on time and how she got there.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says it is too early to say how long midfielder Aaron Ramsey will be on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Ramsey's goal lit up Tuesday's 4-1 Champions League win at Galatasaray but the 23-year-old was taken off at half-time as a precaution.

The lead story at 14:00 on BBC London 94.9:

A report into a near miss over west London in July says an object, thought to be a small radio-controlled helicopter, came within just 20 feet of a passenger plane that was coming in to land at Heathrow.

A teenager was threatened with a knife and raped in an area for bins in Thamesmead, Scotland Yard has said.

The 17-year-old was walking along Binsey Walk at about 19:30 on Tuesday when she was approached from behind by a man who dragged her under a walkway before raping her and running off towards Harrow Manor Way.

The victim described her attacker as about 25 and wearing dark blue jeans, black Addidas trainers, a dark bulky coat and black scarf which may have had grey stripes. He spoke with a London accent and was possibly of African descent due to a number of phrases he used.

A Christie's employee wears an "Uncle Sam" hat owned by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead which has been valued at £15,000 ahead of the London auction house's 20/21 Pop Culture Sale on 16 December.

PACopyright: PA

In Chingford the A112 Sewardstone Road in both directions is closed and there is very slow traffic in the area due to a police incident between Boardman Avenue and A110 Kings Head Hill. It's causing congestion on A110 Lea Valley Road to A1055 Meridian Way.

At 13:30 on BBC One: The Civil Aviation Authority tells drone pilots to obey the rules after a radio-controlled model helicopter came within 20ft of a plane landing at Heathrow.

And we'll be live from Surrey's new woodland that's being planted in Epsom to commemorate 100 years since World War One.

The lead story at 13:00 on BBC London 94.9: The water industry regulator Ofwat has told Thames Water it will have to wait before it can put up bills to help pay for its £4bn super sewer under London.

The redevelopment of the former BBC Television Centre in west London has moved closer after planning permission was granted by Hammersmith and Fulham Council to include a new club in the Soho House chain, 950 homes, office accommodation and a hotel.

otherCopyright: other

Stanhope Plc, Mitsui Fudosan and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation bought the site in July 2012 for £200m and hopes to begin construction in April next year.

A school in London's East End has been shortlisted in a nationwide competition to kick cyber bullying out of children's education, according to the Docklands & East London Advertiser.

But Whitechapel's Canon Barnett Primary needs another 100 online voters by tonight to beat its nearest rival in Herefordshire to take the top prize.

The school submitted a two-and-a-half minute musical video to the competition run by the Anti Bullying Alliance and internetmatters.org.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino bemoaned two "laughable" stoppages due to floodlight failure as his side slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Besiktas.

EPACopyright: EPA

The loss relegated Spurs to second place in their Europa League group and means they face a tougher draw in the next round.

Household water bills in England and Wales will fall by an average of 5% - not including inflation - by 2020, the regulator Ofwat has ruled.

Thames Water has been told it will have to cut charges by 5% in real terms, United Utilities must cut by 3%, and Bristol Water - a water only company- must cut charges by 21%.

In the football gossip columns Borussia Dortmund are apparently preparing to sell 25-year-old Germany midfielder Marco Reus, with Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool ready to swoop, while the Gunners are also ready to take on Manchester City and Chelsea in order to sign £40m-rated Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba.

PACopyright: PA

The lead story at noon on BBC London 94.9: The water industry regulator Ofwat has told Thames Water it will have to wait before it can put up bills to help pay for its £4bn super sewer under London.

The moment a device believed to have been a drone came within 20ft (6m) of a plane landing at Heathrow Airport has been described in a report by an air safety body.

PACopyright: PA

The Airbus A320 was at 700ft (213m) when its pilot saw a small black object near the aircraft, the UK Airprox (aircraft proximity) Board (UKAB) said.

If you've still got Christmas presents to buy and are planning a visit to central London you could end up walking about five miles, according to mine and mapometer.com's estimations,

PACopyright: PA

It you started at Oxford Circus, walked towards Tottenham Court Court, back towards Marble Arch before turning back on yourself to walk under the lights down Regent's Street to Piccadilly Circus to see Eros and through Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas Tree before returning to Oxford Circus you would cover 4.56 miles.

That's before you've walked around the thousands of other shoppers getting in your way and sauntered/rushed through any stores!

An estimated 500 bargain hunters queued outside Next this morning as it became the latest big fashion chain to open in Hounslow, Get West London reports.

Shoppers waited in line to get their hands on goody bags promised to the first 200 customers to make a purchase in the store, at the Treaty Centre, in Hounslow High Street.

A British ex-pat, who was once named the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation, has returned to Faro police station on the Algarve to be questioned as a witness.

PACopyright: PA

Robert Murat is being questioned by Portuguese detectives as well as a team from Scotland Yard as a witness after he was cleared of all involvement in Madeleine's disappearance in 2007.

A former News of the World reporter from Bethnal Green has denied paying a British soldier for tip-offs.

Ryan Sabey appeared at the Old Bailey alongside serviceman Paul Brunt, from Kentish Town, to enter not guilty pleas. They are due to stand trial in February.

The lead story at 11:00 on BBC London 94.9:

An official report into a near-miss over west London in July says an object, thought to be a small radio-controlled helicopter, came within just 20 feet of a passenger plane that was coming in to land at Heathrow.

Two projects have been approved for new tennis courts on Raynes Park Playing Fields and the redevelopment of the All England Club at a meeting last night.

Councils have been accused by the government of ripping off drivers and committing "daylight robbery" after a report revealed they are coining it in from parking charges.

PACopyright: PA

In 2013/14, councils in England made a combined "profit" of £667m from their on and off-street parking operations, it said.

This was 12% more than the 2012/13 figure of £594m, with 44% of the 2013/14 total being generated by councils in London, the RAC Foundation survey said.

The five biggest "earners" were all London authorities - the authority with the largest surplus in 2013/14 was previous table-topper Westminster with £51m.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed a species of magic mushroom has been discovered growing in the grounds.

Alan Titchmarsh said he was surprised to find the red and white-headed toadstool, which have hallucinogenic properties, while he was filming for a TV show.

A wave of shop thefts and break-ins, including a late-night burglary blitz on three charity shops, is sweeping the south of the borough, reports the Romford Recorder.

Samantha Cameron, the wife of Prime Minister David Cameron, met children taking part in the charity Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day outside 10 Downing Street earlier.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The lead story at 10:00 on BBC London 94.9:

An official report into a near miss at Heathrow in July has revealed an object, thought to be a small radio-controlled helicopter, came within just 20 feet of a passenger plane that was coming in to land.

Hello - I'm taking over Local Live for a little while now while Duncan Smith works on an exciting feature about British cinemas which will be published on the website soon.

A school's playing field will be bulldozed to make way for a car park after plans, which also include classroom expansion, were granted, reports the Sutton Guardian.

Sutton Council's planning committee approved a bid to build new classrooms to provide 120 new places at Cheam Common Junior School in Kingsmead Avenue, Worcester Park, as well as using part of the playing field for a staff car park.

In 1889 poet Robert Browning died - his tomb is in Westminster Abbey.

In 1988, a train crash at Clapham Junction killed 35 people and injured more than 100 and a year ago London Mayor Boris Johnson came under fire after it emerged that 40 people working at his City Hall headquarters were employed on zero-hours contracts.

Regent's Park is set to be home to a £200 million 'mega-palace' owned by the Qatari royal family, reports the Ham & High.

GoogleCopyright: Google

Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned - the wife of the former Emir of Qatar - is planning to convert numbers 1, 2 and 3 Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, into a palatial family home. Once completed, the mansion is expected to become London's most expensive private residence.

A planning application submitted to Westminster City Council reveals plans for a heated swimming pool, beauty salon and a smoking room.

What do you think? Send an email to london.locallive@bbc.co.uk

What do you think of BBC Local Live? We'd like your feedback about this service.

Some of the most vulnerable people in Haringey will be hit hardest of all over the next three years in a raft of cuts as the council is forced to hack another £70m from its budget, according to the paper.

The headlines this hour include:

• Labour and UKIP politicians have clashed over immigration in London in a debate on this morning's breakfast show immigration special live from Kilburn.
• Thames Water has been told to cut its bills by 5%, meaning the average household will save £17 a year between now and 2020.

One of the oldest department stores in London is closing after 123 years.

BBCCopyright: BBC

It has been in the same family for four generations and is run by local MP John Randall. But he says online competition means the store will shut at the end of January.

The water regulator has rejected a request by Thames Water to increase household bills by around £8 a year to help pay for its so-called super sewer - instead telling the company to cut bills by 5%.

The government's already granted permission for the Thames Tideway Tunnel between Acton and Newham, which is meant to stop raw sewage discharging into the river after heavy rain.

Nigel Farage says his party struggles to win votes in the capital because many immigrant Londoners don't feel an "affinity" to the UK.

The UKIP Leader has told BBC London 94.9 immigration hasn't meant integration for London.

More with Vanessa from 09:00. Email us your views.

A report's due out later into a near miss between a passenger plane and a drone near Heathrow. The pilot of an Airbus A320 spotted the drone as he was coming in to land in July. It's thought today's report from the UK's aviation regulator will detail how close it came to the plane.

Ed Sheeran was named British act of the year last night at the first BBC Music Awards, held at Earl's Court.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Saturday sees the last performance at the venue which is to be demolished for re-development.

Starting cloudy and windy with gales in the south and some outbreaks of heavy rain. Drier and brighter weather will spread from the west during the morning, with winds soon moderating, but rain may linger.

The Met Office has a yellow warning of wind until 09:00. Southwesterly gales accompanied by a short spell of heavy rain, are expected to affect parts of southern England during the first part of today,

Good morning. I'll be bringing you the latest news, travel, weather and sport from across London today. Get in touch with your comments and photos by emailing london.locallive@bbc.co.uk or on Twitter @BBCLondonNews.