A Croxley Green pop singer was the hero of a dramatic bid to save the life of a man trapped inside a blazing bookmaker’s shop in Central London on Monday.

Jakko Jakszyk, who lives in Durrants Drive, used a crowbar to smash the glass door of William Hill’s in Kensington Church Street. Helped by a passer by, he then dragged the man to safety before the building was wrecked by an explosion.

The unidentified victim was taken to Charing Cross Hospital  where his condition is said to be satisfactory. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Jakko said: “I was coming out of a hairdresser’s when I saw a crowd of people outside the betting shop. I wondered what was going on and then I saw thick black smoke billowing out of the building.

“I could see someone banging on the door. It was really thick glass so I ran into the shop next door for something heavy to smash it with. I got a crowbar but at first it wouldn’t work.

“I took a couple of steps back and threw it at the glass. Another man had come along by then and we managed to drag the man out.”

Minutes after the rescue, an explosion ripped out the front of the shop but by then, Jakko was a safe distance from the building, having treatment for glass cuts to his hand.

Jakko is keeping his fingers crossed that the injuries to his hand will not delay work on his first LP for Stiff Records. He already has a single, Who’s Fooling Who, being played regularly on the radio.

[From the Watford Observer of April 13, 1984]

NOSTALGIA NOTE: Michael Jakszyk, commonly known by his nickname of Jakko, is currently lead singer and second guitarist in King Crimson. The Stiff Records album mentioned was shelved when the label filed for bankruptcy in 1985.

 

Clearly jubilant over the previous night’s Tory by-election bonanza, a radiant Mrs Margaret Thatcher endeared herself to Watford shoppers and market traders during her Friday morning half-hour walkabout through Charter Place.

Every inch of the way through a crowded market there were smiles, greetings, handshakes and good wishes both for and from the Opposition leader.

Officials, aware of a limited time factor, were doing their best to hurry her on but Mrs Thatcher was determined to stop and chat and reluctant to refuse a handshake or request for her autograph.

Her first stop inside the market was at Graham’s Footwear stall where the Tory leader paused to inquire about trade. “We told her it was terrible and we were waiting for her to get in,” said Mr David Phillip.

At her husband’s florist stall Mrs Hazel Snashford said she thought almost everyone in the market had been impressed by Mrs Thatcher’s obvious sincerity and interest.

[From the Watford Observer of April 8, 1977]

 

Bertram Mills’ Circus and Menagerie is announced for one week at the corner of the Watford bypass and St Albans Road from Monday next, April 4, to Saturday April 9. This organisation has a personnel of 400 people, including Zaro Agha, the oldest man in the world (reputed to be 156 years old) and there are also horses, tigers, lions, zebras, mules, elephants and ponies.

[From the Watford Observer of April 2, 1932]