Controversial live facial recognition cameras will be installed permanently on lamp posts this summer in the centre of a London borough which has long tried to shake off its nickname as the country’s knife crime capital. The move by the Met Police comes a year after law firm Lawtons analysed crime statistics and proclaimed it as the city’s “most violent borough“.

And, if truth be told, living in Croydon, South London, was never part of my life plan. I’d prefer to live in a multi-million dollar home overlooking the sea in California than my mid-1970s block of flats in the town which is best known for tall buildings and knife crime. But since moving to London’s most populous neighbourhood, I’ve been struck by an overwhelming sense of community, rather than a sense of danger.

It doesn’t feel like a small village where everyone knows everyone, but it’s a place where I can always rely on the kindness of strangers. It’s more than the usual neighbourly thing of taking in packages when I’m out.

They are strangers who would risk serious injury for someone they’ve never met. This includes putting their neck on the line – seriously. 

One time this happened will always stick in my mind as something that would never happen anywhere else in the world.

In the days when I could run, before being diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer, I was running as fast as I could towards a tram which was closing its doors.

The all-too familiar beeping sound meant it was about to leave the station without me, until I was spotted by a teenager wearing the de rigueur Croydon uniform of a big black padded jacket.

He looked at me and put his head and neck in the way of the tram doors, so it couldn’t leave without me.

I’ll never know why he didn’t just use his foot or bag to stop the doors closing but maybe that’s the spirit of Croydon.

The borough definitely doesn’t do things by halves.

When Croydon was the Borough of Culture there were not one or two but 60 giraffe sculptures on the streets.

I’ve lost track of whether or not the borough has been bankrupt more times than glamour model Katie Price.

So Solid Crew once turned on the Christmas lights of the Boxpark street food place by counting down from 21 seconds instead of 10.

And it’s where Archbishops of Canterbury spent their summers for 500 years.

So even though it was never my plan to live here, it might be home until I win Euromillions and can afford an oceanside place in California.