As 2025 draws to a close, take a look back at the ten most most popular News stories this year which reached a staggering 460,000 views between them…
1 . Young renters paying no more than £230 a room in London as they are matched with the elderly
With prices for house shares rising every year, one woman has matched hundreds of young renters with elderly homeowners where they pay no more than £230 for a room.
All in exchange for 15 hours of companionship, the young person has to pay £165 to the company and just a small contribution towards bills to the homeowner- capped at £65.
127,600 views
2. Why is there a large steel box on the Elephant and Castle roundabout?
The large metal structure on the busy Elephant and Castle roundabout has long been a mystery to commuters or visitors.
Our History+ deep dive explored its true purpose as an underground substation and memorial for the late scientist, Michael Faraday.
The final iconic design came after a number of intriguing but ultimately abandoned proposals.
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50,600 views
3. Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Housing resigns after not having the same licence as Rachel Reeves
Michael Situ was found to have committed the same landlord licensing blunder as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.
Situ had not applied for a £945 license to let out his properties in Peckham, weeks after Reeves was criticised for the same error in Dulwich.
Rather than weather out at the storm, he admirably chose to resign, with King praising his integrity and said he had been let down by the ‘incompetency’ of his letting agent who had not applied on his behalf.
41,921 views
4. Traders evicted from Elephant and Castle shopping arcade
In June, traders in the ‘struggling’ Elephant and Castle Arcade were given three months to leave their shops, after low customer footfall meant it was hard to turn a profit.
Two traders had their lease transferred and continue to operate, but the rest were given a £3,000 exit package.
The council plans to convert the remaining space into a Latin American community centre.
41,000 views
5. The South East London schoolboy who secured a fully funded place at Eton College
From Plumstonian to Etonain, a Woolwich Polytechnic schoolboy’s exceptional academic performance landed him a fully funded place at one of the best private schools in the country
We spoke to 17-year-old Judah Cummings during the school holidays, where he reminisced on his first year in the Windsor school.
36,700 views
6. Phone snatchers to be sprayed with staining liquid in crackdown on Waterloo and South Bank
A rise in phone thefts in high-footfall areas like Waterloo and South Bank prompted the safer neighbourhood team to introduce more extreme measures to stop it.
They secured funding to buy Selected DNA tagging guns, which fire an invisible UV spray that links suspects to certain crimes.
36,600 views
7. Council launches new night-time patrol service
In a bid to tackle anti-social behaviour across the borough, the council brought in a private security company to patrol the streets between 6pm and 2am, seven nights a week.
It’s set to run for an initial period of nine months and complement the council’s existing Community Warden team of 32 officers.
34,900 views
8. Commuter won £2.3m in compensation as hundreds try to sue TfL for train station injuries
Data revealed 13,943 non-fatal injuries occurred at TfL-operated stations between April 2020 and March 2024.
Despite nearly a thousand claims being made against TfL in recent years, compensation was only awarded in 40 cases, including one which resulted in a staggering £2.3 million payout.
32,800 views
A unique pub in Denmark Hill was once a Victorian railway ticket office. After the building caught fire in the 1980s, it was saved by a pub chain that later bought the station.
The pub still has lots of original features, including passenger benches out the front, vaulted ceilings and arched traditional windows.
32,800 views
A tragedy struck Bermondsey in July, after a quadruple stabbing on Long Lane resulted in the death of a father and son.
Terry McMillan, 58, owned a property business and and his son Brendan McMillan, 27, worked for him.
Tributes poured in following the devastating news, with former colleagues, schools and acquaintances expressing their condolences to Terry’s wife and the couple’s surviving son.
28,700 views
