A fire destroyed the HQ of 211th North London Sea Scouts in Mildmay Park.

It happened less than an hour after the scoutmasters had locked up for the night, and left a gaping hole in the roof.

The cause was unknown and leader E. Freeman bemoaned: “Everything seemed to be normal when we left.”

The 150 boys on the group’s books had to make do with a small chapel as repairs began.

In other news, film and TV personality Benny Hill opened Charles Phillips’ “Supermart” shop in Chapel Market.

The Gazette reported how “women shoppers” had mobbed him as he arrived.

Meanwhile, a bus conductor was injured when she was thrown off a bus into the street while heading through Highbury.

During a blizzard, the number 19 bus that she was working on had swerved to avoid a 40-foot tree, which had fallen across the carriageway in Highbury Grove.