Birmingham Post

Medical Research at Risk

Britain's worldwide reputation for medical training and research could be jeopardised unless a massive shortage of clinical researchers in universities is addressed, a leading medical expert warned last night. Professor William Doe, dean of the world-renowned medical school at the University of Birmingham, said medical graduates were reluctant to take on the demanding academic roles in favour of better paid NHS consultant posts.

More Ba Flights Halted After New Alerts

British Airways yesterday cancelled a flight from London to Washington for the second day running and a flight to Riyadh due to take off today amid security fears. Some 300 passengers checking in to the fully-booked Flight BA223 from Heathrow to the US capital were told two hours before it was due to take-off that the flight was grounded.

What a Stormer: Land Rover Concept Car to Make Us Debut

Two famous Midland motoring companies will make a massive push into America next week as Land Rover unveils its first concept car and Aston Martin wheels out the new DB9 Volante. The Solihull-based 4x4 manufacturer said yesterdaythat the Range Stormer is a high performance, sports tourer or SUV concept car.

Disney Po-Faced Over Pooh

Disney has warned a Midland hospital it could face legal action after it was discovered that pharmacy staff were using the image of Winnie-the-Pooh as a secret code. Staff at the Queen's Hospital in Burton-uponTrent, Staffordshire, used a picture of the bear on the door of its out-of-hours drug store as a secret symbol for staff to represent the acronym for 'pharmacy out of hours'-pooh.

Hunt for Run-Over Woman

Police were last night investigating claims that a woman was forced out of a car and run over on a busy Midland road before being bundled back into the vehicle and driven away. Eyewitnesses told officers that the unknown woman was thrown out of a car in Great Charles Street in Brownhills, near the busy Lichfield Road junction, where the vehicle reversed into her.

Machete Attack Heroine Lisa Reveals She Could Not Cope with Child Molesters

Heroine Lisa Potts admitted yesterday she would not be able to cope as a police officer faced with a suspected paedophile as she encouraged more women to join the service. The 28-year-old former nursery nurse, who suffered horrific injuries as she protected youngsters from a machete attack at a Wolverhampton school in 1996, appears in the latest Could You? advertisement which is released on television and cinema screens from today.

Appeal Goes Out to Repair Shakespeare's Church

A appeal has been launched to safeguard the future of the church where William Shakespeare was baptised and buried after dry rot and death-watch beetle were found in the main trusses of its chancel. Trustees of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, said the bill for restoration work had now risen to pounds 150,000 -50 per cent more than estimates made last summer.

Mercedes Tempts with Toll-Free Travel Offer

The cost of travelling on the new M6 Toll is being used as a unique sales offer by car giant Mercedes-Benz in Birmingham. The luxury motor company is offering people who buy its C-class model from Mercedes-Benz Birmingham Central a year's free travel on the controversial new road, worth almost pounds 1,500. People can choose between having pounds 1,500 paid towards their deposit, three years free servicing, or having their toll charges paid.

Priorities for 2004

1. Devolution Under the tag 'Birmingham goes Local', management of local authority services and decision making will pass from the Council House to 11 constituency committees. The process, the biggest exercise in devolution ever attempted, comes into effect in April. The committees, with budgets up to pounds 20 million, will take responsibility for a range of services including street cleaning, refuse collection, housing management, libraries, parks and neighbourhood offices.

Neighbourhood Plan for City

Tidier streets, safer neighbourhoods, good schools and a better standard of housing and social services are key priorities for the year ahead, according to Birmingham City Council. The local authority's draft cabinet and corporate plan sets out aims and objectives for 2004/05, and promises to listen more carefully to the views of residents.

New Year Peak Time for 999 Calls

New Year's Day was the busiest day for West Midlands ambulance crews, who dealt with 1,400 emergency calls in a 24-hour period, the service revealed yesterday. The figure, which is on a par with the number of 999 calls received last New Year's Day, was 300 up from the daily average for the festive season.

Woman, 89, in Car Plunge

Rescuers battled to free an 89year-old woman trapped in a car that plunged down a canal embankment and hit a house. The woman was 'stable' in hospital yesterday after being airlifted from the crash scene at Sandon, near Stafford.

Hit and Run Man Quizzed

Detectives were questioning a 45-year-old man yesterday over the death of a youth killed by a hit-and-run driver. West Midlands Police said the suspect was detained in the early hours of yesterday following the death of the 16-year-old schoolboy in Bilston, near Wolverhampton, on New Year's Eve.

Man in Court Over Scalding

A 29-year-old man appeared in court yesterday charged in connection with an incident in which two women police constables were beaten and scalded. West Midlands Police said the man, who has not been named, appeared before magistrates in Coventry to answer four charges.

Brain Virus Kills Mg Rover Engineer

A man who flew home from the Far East to see his newborn nephew died of meningitis just weeks later. Richard Evans, aged 25, from Worcestershire, flew back from a business trip in South Korea to cuddle his sister's son Michael for the first time.

Alvechurch Morris Man

Cancer Victim Wins Apology After Head Scarf Causes Wine Bar Ban

The owners of a bar apologised yesterday after a woman who was left bald following chemotherapy was thrown out of the premises because she was wearing a bandana. Andrea Simmill was told to remove the scarf or leave the Jar Bar in Biddulph, Staffordshire, where she had arranged to have a lunch with her sister and threeyear-old niece.

Daughter's Tears for Her Murdered 'Best Friend'

The daughter of a 53-year-old man who was found stabbed outside his home yesterday described his death as pointless and brutal. Terry Rogers was found in a pool of blood on the pavement in Cromwell Road, Whaddon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, just after 1am on December 20.

City to Get Four More Nurseries

Hundreds of Birmingham children are to benefit from a series of neighbourhood nurseries following a schools cash boost. Four nurseries, designed to tackle a shortage in childcare places, will be built across the city at a cost of more than pounds 2.7 million.

Mp Mounts Olympic Lobby

A Midland MP is lobbying Britain's 2012 Olympic bid team to include Warwickshire's Stoneleigh Park in its plans as the venue for equestrian events. Julie Kirkbride, the Tory MP for Bromsgrove and shadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, is calling on Barbara Cassani, chairman of the bid team, to look at other regions as well as London to host events.