Birmingham Post

Council at Fault Over Aston Pride Collapse

A damning report into the failure of the pounds 54 million Aston Pride regeneration scheme blames Birmingham City Council and the Government Office for the West Midlands for poor leadership and a reluctance to intervene when the project encountered serious difficulties. A scrutiny committee investigation uncovered evidence of factional infighting among Aston Pride board members, an almost total lack of training to cope with a huge budget, and the absence of administrative back-up. Aston Pride...

Flying Visit: Race Ace Jets in to Open New Attraction

British Security Guard Is Killed in Iraq City Attack

A British national was one of two people killed in an attack on a vehicle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday. The Briton, who has not been named, is believed to have been working as a civilian security guard protecting foreign engineers at a power station in the east of the city.

Writers in Residence Plan for Every School

Plans are being drawn up to have a resident writer stationed at every school in the country to boost pupils' creative powers. The strategy was revealed by the body responsible for developing the curriculum in British schools during a conference supported by the Department for Education and Skills held in Birmingham.

Fined for Treating Patients

A NHS trust with a pounds 15 million deficit is to pay an extra pounds 200,000 to a private company -because one of its hospitals treated too many patients. A Private Finance Initiative agreement between Worcestershire Royal Hospital and the private consortium Catalyst involving 'soft' services, such as catering, was based on a 90 per cent bed occupancy rate.

Stolen Registers Found On Railway Line and Returned to Church for Anniversary

Stolen registers charting the baptisms, marriages and burials of parishioners over centuries have been returned to a Birmingham church in time for its 300th anniversary. Silver plates and chalices and irreplaceable documents were taken from the Grade II listed Church of the Ascension, in Fox Hollies Road, Hall Green, when thieves broke in and stole a safe on March 12.

Crushing Abandoned Cars Helps Beat Arson

Police have crushed more than 300 illegal and abandoned cars as part of a clampdown on arson in Coventry. Officers hope to seize and destroy hundreds more in a repeat of Operation Cubit, when almost 500 cars were taken off the streets in November last year.

Alert Sparks Traffic Chaos

A security alert in Birmingham sparked more than a mile of traffic tailbacks yesterday. Roads were closed after a member of the public reported a suspicious package at the Scott Arms junction in Great Barr.

How the Pride of Aston Turned Into a Nightmare ; Ambitious Plans to Transform One of Birmingham's Poorest Inner City Areas Collapsed Amid Factional Community Infighting and the Failure of Statutory Organisations to Intervene. Paul Dale Reports

Anyone searching for an example of how not to go about spending more than pounds 50 million of public money would be hard-pressed to find a better case study than Aston Pride. An official investigation into the failure after two years of the Aston Pride Partnership Ltd to achieve anything very much in the way of inner city regeneration makes bleak reading.

Summit to Change Broad St Culture

Birmingham's Broad Street is to undergo its biggest transformation since it became the city's entertainment district in the mid-1990s. A working party will thrash out a new agenda for the city's beleaguered 'Golden Mile' at a summit tomorrow.

Daughter Campaigns to Honour Prisoners of War

The youngest child of a Far Eastern prisoner of war has taken up a campaign in her father's name to ensure a permanent memorial to the region's PoWs is erected in Staffordshire. Jayne Greene wants people to donate their time and money so the Children of Far East Prisoners of War (COFEPOW) can open a visitor centre and chapel at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas.

Thomsonfly Remains Defiant Despite Latest Blow to Plans

Coventry Airport has been forced to ditch plans to introduce valet parking just days before a new budget flights service takes off this week. Thomsonfly, which will offer cut-price trips to Jersey, Rome, Venice, Valencia and Malaga, is due to welcome its first passengers on Wednesday.

Two Dead in Late Night Road Horror

Two people were killed and three others injured when a car crashed into a lamppost then a telegraph pole in Staffordshire on Saturday. A 22-year-old man and a 21year-old woman were pronounced dead at the scene, shortly after the accident happened just after 10.35pm on the A520 Sandon Road, at Meir, Stoke-on-Trent.

Shop Crash

Suspicious Death

Detectives were yesterday investigating the death of a man whose body was discovered behind a restaurant. The body was found just before 3.30am outside the Arch restaurant in Brunswick Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Second Tory Councillor Quits to Join the Ukip

It may be one of the country's smaller political movements, but the antiEuropean Union UK Independence Party is on the verge of becoming power-broker in Walsall. A second Conservative councillor has quit the Tory ranks to join the UKIP, leaving the Con-Lib Dem coalition which runs Walsall Council perilously close to collapse. With rumours of further defections abounding, UKIP leaders are confident that they will soon hold the balance of power.

Police Drop Terrorism Charges

West Midlands Police have been accused of making a U-turn after all charges against three Midland terror suspects were dropped. Three men from Dudley and Perry Barr were arrested as part of a nationwide anti-terrorism operation, last December.

Protest at Post Office Closure

Save Our Post Offices campaigners in Birmingham will stage a rally today against the closure of the Shenley Green branch. The protest has been organised by local residents and will be attended by Richard Burden, the Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield; representatives from Postwatch; Bournville Village Trust; the Rev Nick Evans from St David's Church and local councillors and community workers. Shenley Green Post Office was threatened with closure last summer, but won a reprieve following a v...

Environmental Ventures Ltd

Jowell Set to Reveal New Bbc Chief

The independent panel considering candidates for chairman of the BBC's board of governors has made its recommendation and an announcement will be made within three weeks, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said yesterday. Interviews for the corporation's most senior position were carried out last week, with contenders understood to include former Channel 4 boss Michael Grade, Labour peer Baroness Young and Question Time presenter David Dimbleby.