Crowds at Peterborough Remembrance Service were a credit to our wonderful city

Well Sunday’s Civic Remembrance service in the city centre demonstrated just how great the people of Peterborough truly are, writes Peterborough City Council leader cllr John Holdich.

I’ve not seen Bridge Street so packed for a long time - there must have been thousands of people who came along to pay their respects.

This year’s event was especially poignant as not only did Remembrance Day fall on a Sunday but the occasion also marked 100 years since the signing of the Armistice which led to the end of the First World War.

We were anticipating big crowds and put up a giant TV screen in Cathedral Square so that people could watch the military parade along Bridge Street, wreath laying by the war memorial and two minute silence which was impeccably observed.

We also streamed live footage from the event on the council’s Facebook page and I’m informed that many people watched this online.

So I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along - you are a credit to our wonderful city.

I know that the servicemen and women who attended were deeply touched by the huge turnout and saw firsthand that the people of Peterborough will never forget those who fought for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Last week our Trading Standards team gained worldwide coverage after revealing that they had recently destroyed over 1,000 cuddly teddy bears which had failed safety tests.

Well guess what - they’ve only gone and done it again, although this time the subject of their success is rather different! In their latest case, the team started getting calls from residents who had been scammed by door to door traders selling fish.

Buyers weren’t shown how much they were being charged on a handheld debit card machine and also weren’t given receipts, with one man being conned out of £176.

Police got involved and arrested three men in the Ramsey area, who have since been bailed pending further enquiries. If you think you or a friend / relative has been a victim of a rogue trader please report this to us. Some general advice and details on how to report incidents can be found by visiting www.peterborough.gov.uk/business/trading-standards

In last week’s column I highlighted the progress we have made with households in St Michael’s Gate, where tenants had reported problems with their properties to us.

Our housing team has worked to ensure that communication between ourselves, the tenants and the property owners has been greatly improved and as a result any problems reported are now resolved far more quickly. We have also secured funding through a joint scheme with other authorities to ensure properties in St Michael’s Gate and elsewhere can have central heating installed free of charge. This is a really positive scheme which will benefit many households across the city, with the first installations taking place shortly. We will be making a full announcement about the initiative soon, so stay tuned to find out if your property is eligible for this.

Finally a reminder that our Christmas lights switch on takes place tomorrow with the action starting in Cathedral Square from 4pm. Kev and Ros from Heart FM will be up on the stage to entertain and local bands and solo artists will be performing. The event is being supported by Vodafone who are currently rolling out Gigafast broadband across the city and their staff will be giving out festive goodies.

The big switch on takes place at 7.30pm with Father Christmas himself doing the honours, before the event is rounded off with a spectacular fireworks display from 8pm.Next Friday, sees a special Christmas Fayre and lights switch on at Peterborough City Market from 12pm, come along for lots of festive food, drink, arts and crafts, as well as children’s rides and carol singing.