A look back at the biggest local stories from this week 20, 40 and 60 years ago.

1957: A tennis-mad Goodmayes girl won £400 on a quiz show watched by millions and put herself in the running to scoop a top prize of £3,200.

Dorothy Burnell, of Green Lane, was appearing on ATV’s $64,000 Question show answering questions about tennis, which she had been obsessed with since she was a little girl because her milkman looked startlingly similar to US tennis star Vic Seixas.

She said: “I had awful butterflies in my stomach.

“Going into the sound-proof box is terrifying. There is a glare of lights in front of you; you cannot see out – only your own reflection.

“Questionmaster Jerry Desmonde’s voice sounds miles away, echoing, but he is very friendly and puts you at ease.”

Dorothy moved onto the next round, and her story will be told fully in our flashback section during the coming weeks.

1977:A campaign of hate against a Pakistani newsagent in Woodford Green took a turn for the worse when an imitation bomb was left outside his door.

The device was so realistic that police officers, fearing the worst, called in bomb disposal experts.

It was only after they examined it that they declared the incident a hoax.

The bomb was the latest development in a long campaign of terror by a group of racist vandals trying to terrorise former teacher Abdul Shakoor Bora into quitting his High Road shop.

Since taking over the shop in September, Mr Bora had to deal with obscene slogans daubed on his windows and threatening phone calls to his shop almost daily.

But he vowed to continue running his business despite the vendetta against him.

1997: Staff battling plans to replace Ilford Post Office with a franchise in The Exchange claimed they had enjoyed overwhelming support from “disgusted” customers.

More than 500 people stopped outside the Clements Road post office to sign a union petition opposing the switch while managers attempted to argue their case at a customer surgery inside.