Birmingham Post

Head for Heights: Brum's Very Own Big Apple-Style Apartments

Secret City Talks to Plot Fuel Fight

Campaigners will meet near Birmingham this weekend to plan a new wave of fuel protests amid fears of soaring prices and a worldwide oil crisis. Angry hauliers, farmers and motorists are planning to meet at a secret location on Sunday to discuss an action plan as crude oil prices hit a 21-year high.

Council Memo Reveals Inquiry Into Aston Pride Scheme Fraud

A fraud inquiry into the pounds 54 million Aston Pride regeneration scheme has been launched by Birmingham City Council. The move was a direct response to The Birmingham Post's exposure of financial incompetence at the Government-backed project.

60,000 Pupils to Lose Free School Bus Travel

Nearly 60,000 West Midlands pupils could lose the right to free school transport under proposals to let councils charge for buses. The figures were revealed last night as the Department for Education continued consultations with local authorities. Children are currently entitled to free transport if they live more than three miles from school, or two miles if they are under eight years old. About 70,000 youngsters in the region benefit.

Is This the Height of Brum's Exclusivity? ; Ever Fancied Looking Down On Your Fellow Citizens? That's What the Latest Exclusive Penthouses to Be Opened in Birmingham City Centre Are Offering. Neil Connor Took a Stroll Around the Latest in High Life City Living

I t's not only 'nosey parkers' who would benefit from being able to look down on the rest of the city from the latest apartments at the Centenary Plaza development. Joining the Hyatt Hotel and Alpha Tower in a three-fingered salute above the Paradise Circus end of Broad Street, the soaring pounds 76 million Holliday Street development offers a bevy of opportunities for the lucky resident perched in one of its six penthouses -two of them on the top floor.

Murder Trial Told Love-Sick Spinster Gave Accused Pounds 130,000

A woman broke down in court yesterday after revealing how she lost pounds 130,000 to a financial adviser with whom she had fallen in love. Peter Crittenden (64) is accused of seducing another woman, spinster Joan Beddeson, before fleecing her of pounds 280,000 and murdering her when she demanded the cash back.

Ozzy Rocks for Olympic Preparations

Midland stars Ozzy Osbourne and Jamelia will sing at a free concert to celebrate the Olympic torch's return to London. Along with legends Rod Stewart and James Brown, they will perform at a concert on June 26 which is set to turn The Mall, the historic thoroughfare in central London, into a colourful music spectacle.

Brindleyplace Inspires China's 'English' City

Birmingham's canalside pubs are the unlikely inspiration for new watering holes in a giant English-style city in China. In Songjiang, close to the Yangtze River delta, skyscrapers and eight-lane highways are giving way to village greens, shady Georgian squares and winding cobbled lanes.

Land Rover Showroom Targeted in Bomb Plot

A Land Rover dealership in Athens was the target of a failed bomb plot by an extremist Greek terror movement because it was a symbol of Britain's involvement in Iraq. The Popular Revolutionary Action group said it was responsible for planting a small time-bomb at a showroom of the Solihull-based manufacturer, near Athens' old airport last month.

Murder Detectives Quiz Man After 90-Year-Old Victim Dies

Detectives were last night due to question a man on suspicion of murdering a 90-year-old pensioner who died after a masked robber burst through his front door and attacked him. Neville Bassett was 'beaten to a pulp' and suffered six broken ribs as he tried to stop the attacker stealing cash from his Solihull bungalow.

Pickaxe Handle-Wielding Neighbour Caught by Own Candid Camera

An irate Nuneaton man who attacked his elderly neighbour in the street with a pickaxe handle was caught by his own CCTV cameras. The vicious assault was the culmination of a two-year feud over a failed planning application to which Gordon Davis's 77-year-old neighbour Keith Fallows had objected.

Jeez, Pete, You Are so Right ; Once Famed for His Six-Pack and Perm-a-Tan, Peter Andre has Now Re- Emerged After a Spell in the Jungle at the Top of the Charts and On the Arm of the Country's Best Known Glamour Model. Emma Pinch Enjoys Lunch with Him

Peter Andre definitely has whatever it takes to reel in the pre- teen vote. HMV is alive with the high pitched murmur of under tens, more like the Happy Meal section of McDonald's than a record store. Many of the poppets in the queue for autographs shyly attribute his popularity to how 'nice' he is and how he wasn't nasty to Jordan in the jungle. That's the I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here jungle of course and it's a bit of a shock they were watching, what with Jordan's pneumatic thrusting ...

Tube Staff to Strike On Polling Day

London Underground workers will stage a 24-hour strike on the day of the European, mayoral and council elections in a dispute over pay. Thousands of members of the Rail Maritime & Transport Union will walk out on June 10 after voting by 2,614 to 643 in favour of industrial action.

Gandalf Casts Euro Spell for Cashman

Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen has added some glamour to next week's elections by giving his backing to Labour European Parliament candidate Michael Cashman. Sir Ian, who played Gandalf in the film trilogy, is supporting Mr Cashman and Labour's European team in the West Midlands.

Police Education Drive to Highlight Dangers of Throwing Missiles

Police are targeting schools across the Midlands to save the lives of drivers being bombarded by missiles. Senior officers are taking urgent action throughout the region after stones and other objects were hurled from bridges above the M6 Toll on to traffic passing below. Two drivers were injured in January and police have logged 60 stone-throwing incidents over the past three months, forcing road bosses to install a mesh enclosure around a footbridge at Chasewater.

Going Underground for a Traffic Solution ; One Topic Dominated Discussions When Conservative Party Chairman Dr Liam Fox Toured Birmingham City Centre Yesterday. It Wasn't Europe, Education or Health, As Chief Reporter Paul Dale Explains

Shoppers and office workers enjoying the lunchtime sunshine in Victoria Square were in no doubt about the biggest city council election issue in Birmingham. Virtually every person who spoke to Conservative Party chairman Dr Liam Fox during a walkabout outside the Council House mentioned, unprompted, the city's appalling road congestion and poor public transport.

Seasonal Crime Is Targeted

West Midlands Police has launched a month-long series of co- ordinated initiatives to tackle the seasonal peak in crimes. In Operation Headway, officers will aim to clamp down on crimes such as robbery, car crime and burglary, which peak at this time of the year.

Last Post for Worker Found with Mail Stash

A Staffordshire postman has been sacked after police discovered 17,000 undelivered letters in a house. Officers and Royal Mail security staff discovered the stash of addressed letters after they raided a house near Alsagers Bank, in the Newcastleunder-Lyme area.

'Good-Hearted' Burglar Jailed

A Black Country burglar with a conscience returned property he took in a house raid when he discovered his victim was disabled, a court heard yesterday. Robert Bate caused more than pounds 5,000 damage before getting away with pounds 3,000 worth of goods including jewellery and a digital camera.

Drug-Fear Prisoners Cleared Over Escape

Charges were dropped yesterday against two convicts who fled an open prison because it was 'rife with drugs' and handed themselves in to a closed prison. Audie Carr (29) and Benjamin Clarke (23) absconded from Leyhill Open Prison, in Gloucestershire, and knocked on the door of Gloucester Prison the next day, telling staff they could not handle the regime and wanted to serve the rest of their sentences there.