The Ham&High delves into its 1990 archives through history flashbacks charting the brilliant, awful and downright bizarre...

In the February 16 edition, excited Belsize residents primed to see Princess Anne on a royal visit to a hat designer were left disappointed as they found their cars had been towed away due to high security.

More than 20 cars were moved by Hampstead police, who denied claims by local residents that there had been no warning of the 'purge'.

Meanwhile, 28 elderly people in Hampstead and St John's Wood fell victim to a London-wide £2.5 million con. Thieves posed as BT engineers and spent up to a week setting up the hoax to convince the victims their phones were out of order before they arranged a visit and burgled them by appointment.

Two photofits of the burglars were released by police who launched an appeal tackle the con which was scamming three elderly people every week.

Elsewhere, at Wood Green Crown Court four men were sent to jail for behaving like "marauding highwaymen" when they roamed Hampstead Heath and "queer-bashed" two men.