ALEXANDRA SHULMAN’S NOTEBOOK: Should I step in when the child in a nearby house won’t stop crying?

London in the heat is a city of open doors and windows. Recently we’ve woken not to the cheerful clatter of a kitchen nor boys bouncing balls in the garden, but to a toddler crying uncontrollably in a nearby house.

Everyone knows children cry for various reasons, but even so, when you hear one wailing for hours on end, it becomes not just an intrusion, but an unsettling worry. 

Could it be something more disturbing? Is it right to intervene?

The trend seems to be for communities to take more responsibility for what’s going on around them. 

Last week Matthew Barber, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, said we should all be have-a-go vigilantes and apprehend shoplifters ourselves, and that numbers of community police officers were being increased so we could report local ’causes of concern’.

So that crying? Is it a cause of concern that should be investigated, or is it simply a tantrum-inclined infant?

Living in a middle-class neighbourhood, we assume we are among people who are generally good sorts and would never mistreat their children. It’s not an easy decision to bang on the door of neighbours one doesn’t know and tell them you are worried about their crying child.

Likely as not, they’re simply dealing with a child they can’t manage to soothe. And if so, they would understandably be both furious and horrified, and regard the interference as the work of an appalling busybody.

The option of reporting any concerns to the police and letting them approach the parents citing ‘a neighbours complaint’ wouldn’t be much better. It wouldn’t be too long before they discovered who had reported them.

Yet what if the likely scenario is not the case? What if there really is a neglected child crying in a house near us? Ill-treatment of children is not confined to the less well off. 

Indeed, there are numerous cases of child neglect among the wealthy. What if perfectly well-intentioned parents have left their baby in the hands of somebody who is not taking care of them? 

What if a toddler is in danger and nobody around thinks they should get involved because, well, people like us don’t mistreat their children?

As a nation, we are far more likely to report worries about pet welfare than fears about children.

And although I’m pretty sure the crying toddler is not in any kind of danger, there remains a nagging worry.

After all, whenever there’s a high-profile case of a neglected child, so many of us think: ‘Why on earth didn’t anybody say something?’

Martha, a beauty mogul aged 84

In September, Martha Stewart, the original lifestyle guru who was famously sentenced to prison for insider trading, is launching her own skincare range Elm Biosciences. She is 84.

I can’t recall any other woman becoming a beauty entrepreneur in their 80s, and it will be interesting to see whether her age is, in fact, a successful sales driver.

Stewart is in partnership with Dr Dhaval Bhanusali, a notable New York dermatologist, so the product is likely to be as good as any skincare can be.

I’m a bit of a skincare denier and remain unconvinced it delivers significant results, but if Stewart manages to capture the beauty-conscious 70-plus market, she could be on to a good thing.

JD’s favourite theme park? CotsWorld. 

The most exclusive theme park in the country? CotsWorld. It provides just enough countryside to make wealthy American visitors, such as US Vice President JD Vance and his family, feel they are taking part in rural life, while ensuring they don’t have to experience anything too real.

The CotsWorld stone villages are rarely tarred by any off-theme council housing, and even the fields are neat and tidy.

At the sumptuous Daylesford Organic farm shop, where Vance lunched, the vegetables are chosen for their looks – no wonky carrots here – and the beautiful creamy-white homeware in the gift shop will fit in perfectly back home in Washington DC.

Unfortunately, though, the perfection is somewhat marred if you turn up in convoys of SUVs and gun-toting security. That’s not quite the look anybody visiting CotsWorld wants to see.

Take Dua dining tips with a pinch of salt

I’d rather live in Dua Lipa world. Rarely a day goes by when there isn’t a picture of the pop star looking gorgeous somewhere or other. 

Not only is she a terrific performer, but she also has a book club which offers surprisingly good recommendations and she frequently shares her favourite restaurants.

The other day a friend suggested we lunch at a Dua Lipa recommendation in London. 

Sadly, it was an indifferent place where, despite the fact we ordered two courses in the old-fashioned way, the waiter insisted on bringing everything at the same time as sharing plates.

Then, after two hours and a £70-a-head bill, they asked for our table back. Somehow I doubt Dua was chucked out of her seat when she visited.

Illegal migrants not always the bad guys

In the inflammatory debate about whether illegal migrants are a danger to the UK’s women and children, it’s worth remembering that no recent high-profile murder has involved an illegal immigrant.

Sarah Everard, John Hunt’s wife and two daughters, Anita Rose walking her dog in Suffolk and sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry – none of them were attacked by men arriving on small boats. Just saying.

Claire’s farewell puts High St in more peril

It’s sad to see the end of Claire’s. The accessories shop was a familiar tentpole of the High Street and its removal makes real-life shopping even more endangered.

The British High Street needs to be revived, not left to decay.