Woking Calm In August

Asked to look at the impacts of London riots on Woking, on the likelihood of anything happening here, I went around the town. Apart from the shutters at McDonald's being ever so slightly lower and a man tutting and rolling his eyes outside the station, Tuesday was a quiet evening. There was a feisty looking woman outside the Waitrose in West Byfleet but she was just fed up she'd left her bag for life at home.

I spoke to our local police officer in Sheerwater, who confirmed that all was quiet in Woking and the effect on our residents would have been on those whose travel to London would have been disrupted by the disturbances. Generally people have shown disbelief and shock at the scenes they have watched unfold on the television not very far away, almost on our doorstep in London. What impact any of this has on business and jobs for our local people we have yet to see, the flash points of action like this might be short lived to those taking part but the consequences to the national psyche, the trauma to individuals caught up in it and businesses and economies affected by it are long term. Also long term is the positive attitude that people have displayed in the face of such destruction. How have you been affected by this week's events?