Last Thursday, whilst leading my Notting Hill Ghostsigns walking tour, we happened upon a utility access plate near Portobello Road market, within the pavement outside 294 Westbourne Grove, which has an additional small brass plate screwed to it bearing the letters TSCU. One of the group proclaimed it as a trip hazard, which it surely is, being as it sticks up higher than the main plate and the screws that hold it in place protrude even more so.
Convinced I'd very recently seen similar elsewhere, perhaps in this vicinity, I took a quick snap for reference and made a mental note to find out more some time in the near future*.
Well, the future was only two days ahead because, as I exited Hoxton station and turned into Cremer Street, heading south towards, I saw a similar example within the pavement near the gate just beyond the railway line, and another a little further along abutting the wall. I realised I must have spotted one of these the previous Sunday when I rushing to meet friends in Columbia Road market. The pic below is the view looking North along Cremer Street:
The little brass additions here are the same design as the Portobello ones but these bear the letters LBH-EP which is surely must be London Borough of Hackney – Electricity Power, or similar(?).
Further along Cremer Street, near the southern end, there is another plate bearing the same letters but in a different punched-out stencil design, the rivet fixings on this one being even more sticky-uppy than the others.
I wonder how many people have actually tripped up on these things? Surely, to avoid this potential hazard, they (thever 'they' are) could have devised something flatter/thinner and instructed the contractors to weld them into the recessed areas of the original cover plates...?
*I just googled, and I discover that TCSU = Traffic Control Systems Unit. Hmm... strange, seeing as this is about 50metres from the junction where the traffic lights are located.