In May, Barnet Borough Council’s Conservative group came within two seats of losing control of the authority.

They held off a challenge from Labour to maintain their grip on power after a pulsating election count.

Although the Tories emerged victorious, the council is now made up of 32 Conservatives, 30 Labour councillors and one Liberal Democrat.

The death of Green Party candidate Jessica Yorke for the Colindale ward meant voters for that area went to the polls the following month, in June.

Plans to remove memorial benches from a crematorium were branded “totally insensitive.”

The benches at Hendon Crematorium, in Holders Hill Road, were put into storage and will remain there until 2015, unless owners come forward to claim them.

Later that month, Antonio James Tommaso, 49, was found stabbed to death in his home in Sheridan Lodge, Potters Road, New Barnet, three days before his home was torched.

Also this month, concerned parents spearheaded a campaign to install a zebra crossing on a “hectic” stretch of road used by children.

Hundreds supported the idea of better road safety at the junction of Purcells Avenue and Edgwarebury Lane, in Edgware.