SPORT - Arsenal stand firm on most expensive tickets in Europe

By Tom Lowe and Peter Hutchison

ARSENAL have refused to consider reducing ticket prices for next season despite pressure from the government and supporters.

Tickets for matches at the Emirates Stadium are among the most expensive in the Premiership but the club insists its prices are competitive and reasonable.



A high profile campaign by The Sun has already forced many clubs to slash their ticket pricess but Arsenal appear unwilling to follow their lead.

Blackburn, Everton and Bolton are just a few of the clubs who have announced price freezes or reductions on tickets for next season.

The cheapest adult ticket for an Arsenal Category A match, which includes games against Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham, is £46.

The most expensive ticket is £94, making it the highest priced seat in the Premiership and the costliest league to follow in Europe.

A family of four has to fork out £128 for even the cheapest seats to watch just one match - a cost that some families simply cannot afford.

Amanda Chapman, a lifelong Gunners fan, said: "I used to go when I was younger but I haven't been since because it's too hard to get tickets. That was when you could get tickets for about thirteen quid.

"They have got to cover their costs because they've just bought a great big stadium, but prices have got silly."

Arsenal's prices have come under fire from sports minister Richard Caborn, who said the club's ticket prices were so high that they excluded many ordinary fans, including even those living in the shadow of their 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium.

"London is the most expensive city in the world to watch top-flight football," he said. "Prices are too high and it is the supporters who suffer.

"Even clubs that sell out week in, week out, should set aside cheaper tickets for people from the local community."

Tony Blair has waded into the debate, telling Times Online that "ticket prices shouldn't be beyond the reach of the ordinary fan because it's the ordinary fan that really builds the club."

There is growing support for ticket reductions amongst politicians - 49 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion demanding top-flight clubs cut their prices.

Premiership clubs have the opportunity to cut prices because they are to benefit from a £625m TV windfall next season as a result of matches being shown overseas for the first time.

An Arsenal spokesman, quoted in the Evening Standard, said: "We are comfortable with the pricing policy at the Emirates Stadium and believe that our supporters receive good value for money.

"As part of our move from Highbury, 50 per cent of all new season tickets allocated at the Emirates Stadium were offered to Islington residents."

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Newington Green suffers from parking restrictions

by Tom Lowe

COUNCIL parking restrictions around Newington Green may have local support for protecting resident parking and improving traffic, but community businesses claim they are suffering.

With vehicles banned from pulling up outside, customers have been deterred from visiting commercial premises around the Green, and deliveries have been thwarted by patrolling wardens charging £50 a ticket. As a result, local traders have struggled to cope.

North London Wine Cellar manager Ahraz Atif said: “It really affects business. If someone parks outside, a warden will arrive in four to five minutes – it’s that quick.

“One of us has to stand there the whole time while a delivery is made.”

He said the restrictions deterred both customers and those making deliveries.

“Some [delivery] people will only come when we have at least two people in the shop, so one can stand with the van in the parking space”, he said.

“Sometimes, say on Monday, he [a delivery man] can’t find a space and has to come back on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

But ward councillor Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, said Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs), which protect parking for residents, were a separate concern to the problems they can pose to shop owners.

With more cars than parking spaces on our roads, the Liberal Democrat called the balance between tackling traffic congestion and providing delivery access for small businesses “a juggling act”.

He said: “[It is a] difficult issue, protecting parking and businesses and not getting them mixed up. We have got to make sure there are alternatives.”

Mr Jamieson-Ball added: “I think there are two issues: shop issues and CPZ issues.

“We need more parking bays for shops.”

Ahraz, who lives in Palmers Green, is one of many running small businesses in Newington Green who live further away. But there are plenty of complaints from those who do live in the Green’s surrounds.

Granville Bourne, a resident of Mildmay Park, said: “Even down there [off the Green] you can’t park. You don’t get much benefit.

“You can see the wardens don’t use their discretion. People come to visit and can’t park anywhere.”

A council survey in January reported that 55% of the residents questioned supported the introduction of daytime CPZs, while 49% said they would like to see all-day parking controls and 29% favoured operating hours between 10am and 2pm.

But some shop owners insisted the council is not listening to calls for changes.

One man, who would only give his name as Ahmat, said: “They did a survey before the changes. Lots of people didn’t want the changes, but they made them anyway."

Council documents say CPZs are designed to give priority to suppliers of goods and services, as well as residents and visitors, but now the restrictions have started to have other implications – not only for local businesses, but about vehicle ownership.

Former Mildmay Councillor and local historian Pat Haynes was critical of CPZs, saying: “I’m glad to say I never owned a car.

“People get so worked up about it [parking restrictions].”

He said: “If the Government had more guts, they’d charge more for fuel. That’s the way to solve things.”

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Schoolchildren to see Gore's Truth

By Tom Lowe

AMERICAN cinema is set to play a big screen role in educating Islington schoolchildren about the hazards of climate change, under a new scheme unveiled yesterday.

Former Vice-President Al Gore’s ground-breaking film, An Inconvenient Truth, which highlights the declining state of the Earth, will be shown to secondary school pupils throughout the borough after its distribution company, United International Pictures [UIP], agreed to lease a 35mm copy of the film for school screenings.

The Hammersmith-based giant slashed its standard equipment hire charge from around £750 to just £150 on the condition that it is used only for educational purposes.

Mildmay councillor Anna Berent, who is leading the film education project, said she is “anxious” for children to see the film.

“It is the youngest people who will be affected the most by climate change, " she said.

"Children will be able to use pester power on their parents if necessary to really help push for a significant reduction in energy use. This could make an enormous difference to both their futures and to others around the globe.”

Mr Gore, who is Gordon Brown’s recently appointed adviser on climate change, narrates the acclaimed movie, which Berent hopes will be shown early next year with local cinema group Screen on the Green, on a loop over five consecutive mornings.

She said: “Simply showing the film in a school hall will not feel as important as being taken especially to the cinema to see it. Screening An Inconvenient Truth at the Screen on the Green could have a far greater impact on the children.

"Provided this scheme is a success, Islington could be exemplary in spreading these screenings to secondary schools all over the country.”

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Students forced to pay big for small talk

by Tom Lowe

STUDENTS in Mildmay halls of residence are being cut off from friends and family by the extortionate costs of receiving phone calls.

Instead of having ordinary landline phone numbers, students can only be reached on so-called “national call rate” 0870 numbers, which can cost up to 25 times more to call than standard geographic numbers.

Resident Antonis Karipidis said: “It’s disgraceful. It costs me a fortune to phone Greece – and for my parents to phone me. I can’t speak to them as much as I’d like because of it.”

Alliance House Student Residence on Newington Green supplies a telephone handset in each of its 213 rooms, but the company that provides phone services for residents, Keycom, uses 0870 numbers for incoming calls in order to apply national call rates,

There is no alternative to the set-up for those wishing to have a phone line, since terms in the 7,000-word tenancy agreement from residence managers Shaftesbury Student Housing forbids the use or installation of any other telephone equipment.

Phone credit must also be purchased from Keycom for outgoing calls, leaving the 200 plus students – many of whom are from outside the UK and are unfamiliar with 0870 numbers – in a no-win situation.

Companies like Keycom are currently under no obligation to make their billing rates clear, which makes it even more difficult for callers to know what tariffs they are paying.

Keytalk.net, the website of Keycom’s student phone service, tells customers: “Calls to your Keycom phone are free for you and callers pay standard national rates.”

According to moneysavingexpert.com, a normal 20 minute evening call with Toucan Telecom costs 3p – but the same call is 78p to an 0870 number.

New consumer protection measures announced by Ofcom, the communications regulator, will mean service providers can no longer charge more for 0870 calls than ordinary calls, unless they make a free-to-caller price announcement at the start of the call.

There will also be an end to revenue sharing, preventing companies from profiting by charging on 0870 number ranges.

But some fear that companies will simply side-step to 0871, which will continue to offer a charging option, but this number range will be subject to strict guidelines.

Ofcom spokesman Ed Nyes said: “0871 is slightly more expensive. We want to re-categorise it as a ‘premium rate’ number.

“The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) code of practice lays out very specific requirements for organisations using 0871, including clear advertisements, which must be very specific about the cost of calls.”

0871 charges will also be offset by the introduction of a new non-geographical 03 number range.
Mr Nyes said: “The key thing is that 03 numbers will cost the same as an ordinary phone call.

“It’s not for Ofcom to decide [whether organisations use 03 numbers], but we are giving them a choice.”

These Ofcom measures will come into force at the end of 2007 at the earliest.

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Gunman disappears after police chase

By Tom Lowe

ARMED police were called to Newington Green yesterday after reports of a gunman in the area.
A man with a gun had been spotted earlier running through the Mayville Estate, with officers in pursuit.

One onlooker said: “I was dropping off my grandchild nearby at around 5pm when I saw a young man running through the estate and down Wolsey Road, being chased by two policemen.”

The fugitive then reportedly entered a house on Wolsey Road, when residents gathered by neighbouring Newington Green Primary School called 999.

Two police cars and a police helicopter attended the scene, where the road was cordoned off and an armed response team then entered the building.

However, only two dogs were found inside the house, and the suspect seemed to have disappeared.

Newington Green resident James Wright said: “A random bloke went into the house brandishing a gun and no-one knows who he is.”

Shortly after their forced entry, a police medical unit arrived, believed to have treated one witness for shock.

The police have declined to comment.

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