Month: April 2014

Tracy Johnson, the former model and author has been found guilty of fraud in a joint prosecution by Brighton & Hove City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.

She had been living the high life whilst claiming income support, disability living allowance, plus housing and council tax benefits.

On April 23, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court handed Ms Johnson a 12 months jail sentence.

Ms Johnson, 52, dishonestly claimed £10,557.96 in housing benefit and £1,686.20 from the council over a two year period – over £12,000 in all. She said she was living at Flat 3, 30 Adelaide Crescent in Hove and was a house-bound agoraphobic who was chronically afraid of other people.

In fact, Ms Johnson was travelling the world, enjoying trips to Argentina, India, New York and Madrid.

The fraud came to light when Brighton & Hove’s officers received a housing benefit claim from a third party claiming to rent Ms Johnson’s flat from her as she had gone travelling.

Ms Johnson subsequently moved to Wales but continued to live abroad while claiming benefits in the UK. The combined overpayments to her were more than £50,000, with offences continuing up until 2012.

Penny Wood, senior benefits fraud investigator with Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “This was a blatant attempt to gain a number of benefits to fund a luxury lifestyle. This money belongs to taxpayers and is there to help those in need. We will continue to track down those who are abusing the system and work with partner organisations to make sure fraud is exposed and those who take money in this way are prosecuted.”

Following parts of the main seafront road becoming unsafe the route for this Sundays’s March for England has been slightly ammended.

The A259 eastbound at the junction with West Street was closed around 8am on Friday (April 25) due to the collapse of a roof of the Fortune of War pub in the King’s Road arches. The collapse has led to a weakness in the eastbound carriageway. Workman discovered the fault and the road was closed while structural engineers assessed the situation.

Structural engineers have now assessed the road and the eastbound carriageway will remain closed for the next few weeks.

The march was due to start at the junction of West Street and the A259, where the fault in the road appeared. The march will now start at the A259 junction with Middle Street.

There have been no changes to any of the conditions placed on those wishing to assemble to protest against the march. However, there have been slight variations made to the notices issued for assembly of the march and the conditions on it.

The section 14 notice for the assembly for the March for England states: ‘The March for England and those associated will assemble on the eastbound carriageway of the A259, Kings Road between the west most edge of the junction of the A259, Kings Road and Middle Street, and the west most edge of the A259, Kings Road and Ship St. The assembly will be confined to the road between the kerb lines to the north and centre line of the carriageway.

The march itself will follow the same route with the slightly amended starting point. The conditions issued under section 12 of the act state: “Using only the eastbound carriageway of the A259, Kings Road the procession will move eastbound along the A259 Kings Road. The procession will move no further east than the junction of Pool Valley and the A259, Kings Road. The procession will then return by the same route.”

The section 14 notice for those wishing to protest against the march remains the same and states: “Those wishing to assemble in order to protest against the March for England shall only do at the promenade to the south of the A259, Kings Road, between the pedestrian crossing at the eastern side of the junction of the A259, Kings Road and Black Lion Street to the pedestrian crossing at the western side of the junction of the A259, Kings Road and East Street.”

Superintendent Steve Whitton, said: “We have been working with the council and their engineers to assess the structure of the road and have decided to move the start of the march further eastwards on the A259.

“The march will now start at the A259 junction with Middle Street. They will then march east to the junction of Pool Valley and back again. It will still start no earlier than 12.30pm and finish no later than 1.30pm.

“Our focus is, as always, keeping people safe and we have worked with the council to make sure people taking part in both the march and the counter protest, as well as visitors to the city, are kept safe. For this reason the eastbound carriageway will be completely closed at West Street.

“It is really important people understand that the carriageway is closed for safety reasons and they should not enter the area which is cordoned off under any circumstances.

“Please talk to our officers, who will be very visible in the city, if you have any concerns.”

Executive Director Geoff Raw from Brighton and Hove City Council, added: “Structural engineers will be working over the weekend to assess the extent of the problem and which seems to have been caused by historic alterations to premises in the arches. We’re working as swiftly as possible with the police and key partners to ensure public safety and to keep the traffic moving as smoothly as possible. A contra flow system is now in place between Middle Street and West Street, please allow extra time for journeys through this area and check the council website for updates.”

To find up to date information, CLICK HERE: 

All parts of Brighton and Hove have been brought to a standstill following the closure of The Kingsway following reports of subsidence.

Police cordened the seafront following reports that the road had begun to subside.

Eastbound traffic is being diverted off the A259 Kingsway up the B2185 Grand Avenue and The Drive to join the A270 Old Shoreham Road. Westbound traffic is being diverted from the Aquarium roundabout up the A23 via London Road to the Old Shoreham Road causing the city centre to gridlock.

Sussex Police say they were originally informed that there was a “five foot hole” in the road but further investigations revealed  a “depression” rather than a hole.

A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “It was discovered by workmen engaged in underground building work at the Forunte of War pub.

Labour moved quickly and called for the Greens to take urgent action to prevent further seafront collapses.

Warren Morgan, Leader of the Labour and Cooperative Group group on Brighton Council, said: ‘Today’s collapse of the structure under the A259 seafront road near the junction with West Street shows how critical the condition of our most important transport arteries is. It is vital for business, tourism and of course traffic, and major disruption will do immense harm to our city’s economy.

“I believe that despite knowing that the city’s main seafront road and the arches below it are in need of tens of millions of pounds of investment, the council’s Green leadership has chosen to spend money on a series of other traffic and transport projects it has deemed more important and more in line with their political priorities. This has to end now.”

Labour is calling for the £8 million of funding that the council has secured for the Valley Gardens improvement scheme to be diverted immediately to deal with the urgent work needed to keep the A259 seafront road open, and without delay set up a project board under a designated senior officer to oversee a thorough and immediate survey, and prioritise urgent repairs to the city’s most important piece of infrastructure.

The Greens spokesperson is on gardening leave.