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

1959: A Barkingside woman's life was saved by the pudding basin she was washing up when her 15-year-old stepson accidentally fired a shotgun in the family's kitchen.

Kay Wright, of Duke Road, still suffered severe facial injuries from deflected lead shot from the 12-bore shotgun cartridge and shattered fragments of the bowl, but doctors at King George Hospital revealed she would almost certainly have died were she not holding it.

Mrs Wright was making a good recovery in hospital after a series of skin graft operations.

1979: A Redbridge Council bid to confiscate part of a farmer's land to be used as public allotments took a farcical turn when the move was declared illegal by none other than the council's own planning committee.

The council was still in the middle of presenting defending own case to the official Lands Tribunal after farmer John Fowler's 11 acres in Fairlop filed a legal challenge against the move, only for its own committee to side with him and refuse planning permission.

They were considering an application from the borough's recreation and amenities committee for the land to be officially released and listed as allotments.

But councillors rejected the application over concerned of the impact it would have on residents in Hazelbrouck Gardens and Walden Way who would have to look out over ramshuckle huts.

1999: Police were hunting a bunch of racist thugs who had begun terrorizing a Clayhall estate with neo-Nazi chanting.

And a Turkish delivery driver dropping food off to the estate one evening was also viciously beaten.

In response to the growing levels of fear on the estate, Redbridge Council had paid for mobile CCTV cameras to be driven around the area and police had increased the number of patrols.