A petition asking the government to make it illegal for companies to require women to wear high heels at work has reached more than 100,000 signatures.   

Image source, Nicola Thorp

This means Parliament will consider it for a debate and the government will respond to the petition. 

The petition was launched after London receptionist Nicola Thorp, 27, was sent home without pay because she refused to wear high-heeled shoes when asked to by her employer.

Outsourcing firm Portico has now changed its policy "with immediate effect".

Employment law firm Thompsons told BBC Magazine yesterday that UK firms were allowed to set separate dress codes for men and women at work, as long as they were "reasonable"

Image source, London Fire Brigade

Firefighters based at Dockhead fire station, the fictitious Blackwall Fire Station in the ITV series London’s Burning, have started operating out of a new building.

Located on Wolseley Street, the new building replaces the old station and will provide firefighters with modern facilities.

It includes two larger appliance bays for the Brigade's vehicles, a four storey drill tower for training, offices and meeting rooms, a gym, lecture and quiet study rooms and a kitchen and dining area for firefighters.

BBC Weather

It will be a fine and dry afternoon, with good spells of sunshine. In the sunshine it will feel pleasantly warm in a light northeasterly breeze. 

Highs of 23C (73F).

Loving Dalston
Community news website

The Rio is to go on strike. , externalStaff at the dispute-hit cinema, which has resisted paying a good wage, this week voted overwhelmingly to go on strike on Wednesday 25 May 2016.

BBC Sport

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has signed a contract extension, external which commits him to the club until 2021.

Image source, Getty Images

The Argentine, 44, was appointed in May 2014 on a five-year deal and guided Spurs to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League and a League Cup final in his first season in charge.

With one game to go, Spurs are guaranteed a top-three Premier League finish this season.

"We believe this is just the beginning," said Pochettino.

Susana Mendonca
BBC Radio London Political Reporter

The Tooting by-election will be held on Thursday 16 June.

The full list of those standing in the by-election, caused by Sadiq Khan's resignation after his mayoral victory, will be announced on 20 May.

Chris Evans has said people who do jobs like his own are "paid too much".

The Top Gear presenter said he had a job most people would "kill for" and the BBC should "pay us less".

Sonja Jessup
BBC London News

Image source, PA

Coming up on BBC London from 13:30, we'll be live in south-east London where a huge hole has appeared. 

A parked car has fallen down it - and now residents are being warned they may have to evacuate their homes. 

Image source, Adidas

German sportswear firm Adidas has said it is ending its sponsorship of English football club Chelsea six years early.

Adidas, which has sponsored Chelsea since 2006, said it had reached a mutual agreement to end the deal on 30 June 2017 instead of 2023.

The club will have to pay Adidas tens of millions of euros in compensation, but is free to sign a new sponsor.

The payment means Adidas profits are expected to rise 25% this year rather than the 15-18% originally forecast.

Image source, Uber

Heathrow is to open a car park for private hire vehicles after local residents said Uber drivers waiting for fares were causing a "nightmare".

They were "parking in people's driveways, leaving rubbish in gardens" and "causing a huge amount of local distress", according to airport chief executive John Holland-Kaye.

Uber said it was "something we have been calling for for many months".

Heathrow already has a car park for black cabs.  

Image source, First Trains

A new budget rail service between Edinburgh and London has been given the green light by the Rail Regulator.

The 10-year deal will allow First Group to operate five trains a day each way via intermediate stations at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth from 2021.

It said average fares would be less than £25 and there would be only one class of carriage.

Stagecoach, which operates Virgin Trains East Coast on the same rails, has warned its revenue will be harmed.

Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) currently holds the franchise to run services on the line until at least March 2023.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regulator has now granted approval for FirstGroup to launch open access services between London, north-east England and Edinburgh from 2021.

A drawing by a 12-year-old boy is set to be turned into a new Travel Card wallet for London.

Oliver Chalcroft, from Hertfordshire, entered a competition run by the Institute of Imagination to re-design the holder.

Image source, Institute of Imagination

His image, based on the theme "dance through your imagination", was chosen by a judging panel chaired by ballet star Darcey Bussell.

10,000 wallets will be handed out during the Big Dance 2016 festival.

Image source, PA

Gas and water company engineers are on the scene of a giant sinkhole in south east London to investigate the safety of pipes under the road, after a family car fell into it overnight.

Residents of Woodland Terrace in Charlton told BBC Radio London earlier they believe the car is stuck on a water or gas pipe

A spokeswoman for Scotia Gas Network said engineers were carrying out investigations alongside emergency and utility partners. 

"We'd like to reassure residents the situation is being monitored closely to ensure their continued safety," she said.

Thames Water said there were engineers at the scene checking whether there is any damage to clean water or sewer pipes.

A diversion is in place for bus route 380.

The Culture Secretary will set out the government's proposals for the future of the BBC shortly.

It's expected John Whittingdale will propose scrapping the BBC Trust, which governs the Corporation, and force details of top stars' salaries to be made public. 

But the licence fee is expected to survive for at least 11 more years. 

And some of the more controversial ideas, like allowing the government to dictate when popular programmes can be broadcast to avoid clashing with commercial rivals, have reportedly been scrapped.

A south-east London church has closed after a giant sinkhole opened up in the road outside, engulfing a family car.

Image source, PA

Rev Erica Wooff, the rector of Charlton, lives next door to the church on the corner of Woodland Terrace and Maryon Road. 

She said her initial reaction was "Oh my goodness, there's a hole in the road".

"There was a massive storm last night," she said.

"It has been raining constantly for the past two days but I didn't hear tarmac rip open."

Rev Wooff confirmed the church was closed and that she was working with the community and authorities.

Image source, PA

Image source, PA

The government has announced foreign companies that own property in the UK will have to publicly declare their assets in a bid to stamp out money-laundering.

David Cameron is hosting a summit today with other world leaders aimed at tackling global corruption. 

Downing Street said foreign companies owned about 100,000 properties in England and Wales and that more than 44,000 of these were in London.  

David Cameron has apologised for "any misunderstanding" after he described a former imam from south London as a supporter of the Islamic State group. 

Three weeks ago, in the Commons, the prime minister accused Suliman Gani in Parliament of backing the militant group as he questioned Sadiq Khan's judgement in sharing a platform with him.

Mr Ghani says he's never advocated extremism.

A firm that sent home a temp without pay for refusing to wear high heels has changed its policy.

London receptionist Nicola Thorp, 27, says she was told to wear shoes with a "2in to 4in heel" when she arrived at finance company PwC in December.

Image source, Nicola Thorp

When she refused and was sent home she set up a petition calling for the law on dress code to be changed.

Outsourcing firm Portico said "with immediate effect all our female colleagues can wear plain flat shoes".

Susana Mendonca
BBC Radio London Political Reporter

Labour has announced five people on its shortlist of candidates for  next month's Tooting by-election. 

One of them will be chosen at a meeting of Tooting Labour members on Saturday to stand for Labour at the by-election, as a result of Sadiq Khan resigning to become London Mayor.

The Labour candidates shortlisted are:

• Naushabah Khan
• Mike McLaughlin
• Jasvir Singh
• Rosena Allin-Khan
• Martin Smith