As we prepare to welcome 2019, The Times takes a look at the first six months of the past year, and the biggest stories we have reported on. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the second half of 2018.

Bexley council will be holding the borough’s first ever Corporate Parenting Week from October 1 -5.

Officials in south east London have been left “bitterly disappointed” after it was revealed the capital’s new east-west train line would miss its opening date by nearly a year.

While A-level students across the country deserve congratulations for their achievement, 18-year-old Piriyankan Thavaraja is in a league of his own.

Work has begun to replace the roof of Erith’s Carnegie building, which will be stripped back to its timber frame during the next few weeks.

The council has promised to build on the work that took place to bid to become the Greater London Authority’s London Borough of Culture, and has restated its commitment to put culture firmly at the centre of its growth plans.

Cllr Teresa O’Neill OBE, leader of Bexley council, visited the Quarry site in Erith last week, where 96pc of the first phase of homes have now been reserved.

Exciting plans for a ground-breaking new Place & Making Institute have received a significant boost, with the award of £100,000 of development support funding for the project by the Greater London Authority (GLA).