Tube bosses have admitted the performance of the Jubilee line has been at its worst since the extension to Canary Wharf opened in 1999.

Commuters heading to work on Tuesday morning (March 25) endured the total suspension of the line for an hour and a half, the latest in a string of rush-hour problems to have plagued the line since the New Year.

Penny Hazell, from Transport for London, is general manager of the Jubilee line and responsible for overseeing its performance. She spoke to The Wharf about the problems.

HAVE you cottoned on to the latest vibe in the world of personal fitness?

Power Plate is the newest exercise craze to sweep the country, with celebrities like Kylie and Elle MacPherson, as well as a growing number of sportsmen, among the devotees of plate power.

And now the first dedicated Power Plate venue has opened in Canary Wharf. The Power Studio, at 41 Millharbour, opened its doors in February, offering 25-minute sessions on the state-of-the-art fitness machines. Ideal for the time-conscious Wharf executive.

A CATHOLIC priest jailed after a protest at a Docklands arms fair has vowed to continue his fight to shut it down.

Father Martin Newell spilled “rivers of blood��? outside the DSEi international trade event at ExCeL London in September to depict the bloodshed caused by the arms trade.

He poured five litres of red paint onto the gangway, while fellow London Catholic Worker member Zelda Jeffers lay next to the fair’s check-in desk covered in red dye.

Fr Newell was sentenced to five days in jail last week after refusing to pay a fine for criminal damage. Ms Jeffers was sentenced to 14 days on Tuesday (March 25).

He said: “To pay this fine would be to co-operate with a system that is fuelling murder and mayhem around the world by promoting and protecting the arms trade.��?

MANY of us are still getting to grips with 2008 – but a Docklands lecturer has already marked the year with an Oscar and a new baby.

Documentary and narrative video teacher Marianela Maldonado, from Tower Hamlets College – next to Poplar DLR station – was part of a team that scooped Hollywood’s greatest honour.

She was a co-writer of Peter and the Wolf, a modern adaptation of the classic fairy tale which won the Best Short Animation Film award at last month’s ceremony. She is also celebrating an addition to the household after giving birth to a baby boy last Wednesday (March 19).

HE’S a friendly barber from The Gentry in Cabot Place, but for one day next month he’ll be a fighting machine.

George Pericleous will be swapping scissors for boxing gloves when he steps into the ring for his first white collar bout.

George, 29, has been cutting hair in the Wharf for two years and in that time he has had a few customers who are white collar boxers.

“It is definitely something that a lot of bankers around here are getting in to,��? he said.
“I just hope my opponent doesn’t turn out to be somebody who comes here and I beat them, or they might not want to come back.��?

The hairdresser from north London was a keen boxer in his youth but decided to give white collar a chance after watching a television programme recently.

These days kids get to go everywhere on holiday.

Florida, Turkey, Australia – they’re all just round the corner, really. If a lad or lass hasn’t been on at least two flights a year by the time they are eight they must be living in the dark ages.

But there was a more innocent time. One of ice creams and donkey rides on Scarborough beach, trying to ignore the storm clouds overhead and fish and chips for the fourth day in a row.

And mini-golf.

This oh-so-simple game will bring the memories flooding back.

It is so simple it is perfect for hungover mornings. Until you get to hole 14 – that’ll test your powers of recovery.

Blonde's Eye View - Cherry Green's consumer report on test-driving younger men

A newly single colleague at work asked me my opinions on toy boys recently.

Now, my opinions are frequently legion, while not necessarily well thought out, but this was a matter I felt able to comment on.

While I rush to point out that I am not that old, I have, however, been tempted by young flesh in the past and therefore consider myself qualified to write a Toy Boy User Guide.

Dan Bourke's Concrete Pencil - The meaty goodness of opinion, sandwiched between News and Sport

IT couldn’t be more exciting. It’s the talk of the office, of the whole Wharf.

You know what I’m talking about: Leon.

A new sandwich place, offering food that’s really different from other stuff here.
And not just sandwiches. Other stuff too. Real food.

GORDON Brown had reassuring words for Canary Wharf workers when he arrived at the financial centre.

The Prime Minister was at the East Wintergarden to promote Ken Livingstone’s mayoral election campaign.
His visit coincided with jobs uncertainty at Bear Stearns and the ongoing threat of global recession. But the Prime Minister told The Wharf that maintaining high employment in the area is at the top of his agenda.

HUNDREDS of lorry journeys a week should be avoided thanks to a new device giving barges access to the Olympic site for 2012 Games construction.

A fishbelly gate was delivered to Prescott’s Lock, part of the Bow Back Rivers on the edge of the 2012 Games area, on March 17. The gate, which gets its name from its distinctive shape, will
control the flow of water through the lock at the site above Three Mills.

It will create a green gateway for barges entering the Olympic Park as construction work on the 2012 venues is stepped up later this year, helping to stop east London roads being clogged up
by trucks.