We decided to boycott Croydon back in August 2001 when we were unfairly towed to the tune of £185 having unknowingly parked across a disabled bay. We'd been gone fifteen minutes and came back to fine the car 'gone' too. No ticket. Nothing. Just a trip to the unfriendly environs of the local car pound to look forward to.

We ventured back this morning; three years later, and unsurprisingly (with the exception of a shiny new shopping mall) very little had changed. The Whitgift has started to look a little dated, and most of the big name stores seem to have migrated across the pedestrian zone to pastures new. I can't imagine the balloon guy being allowed such luxuries; his colourful merchandise would seriously clash with the steel greys and polished chrome of the new place.