Birmingham Post

Shock As Bus Plan Is Axed

Birmingham City Council has thrown out part of a controversial pounds 26 million bus scheme after furious opposition. Travel West Midlands expressed dismay and accused the local authority of a lack of courtesy by failing to consult it or inform it of the decision. It was one of the first taken by new Tory transport Cabinet member Coun Len Gregory and raised fears about the future of the Outer Circle scheme.

Police Overtime Row 'Bureaucracy Gone Mad'

A Midland chief constable has criticised a Government initiative to cut police overtime as 'bureaucracy gone mad'. John Burbeck, head of the Warwickshire force, said it would cost pounds 20,000 to meet Home Office requirements for analysis and quarterly monitoring of employment statistics. The money would be better spent on front-line policing.

Aston Shootings Memorial Concert Cost Taxpayers Pounds 58,000

A memorial service for two teenage girls gunned down in Birmingham cost taxpayers pounds 58,000. The event at Villa Park to commemorate Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare was largely paid for by the Aston Pride New Deal for Communities project.

Healthy Garden: Young Patients Benefit From Makeover

Sun Ready for a Comeback Tour

Britain is to enjoy a heatwave as soaring temperatures head for our shores this week, forecasters said yesterday. Sun-lovers can look forward to anything up to 30C (86F) as the summer heat finally steps up a gear at the weekend.

Douglas Tells of Stalker 'Terror'

Catherine Zeta-Jones felt like she was a 'marked person' after she received death threats from a stalker, her husband Michael Douglas told a court yesterday. The actor took the stand at the preliminary hearing in a stalking case against Dawnette Knight, aged 32. He also said he felt shocked, frightened and vulnerable after learning of the threats to his wife, who was so terrified that she had fainting spells and difficulty breathing.

Life Sentence for Brutal Murder of Paedophile Pensioner

A convicted sex offender who kicked to death and strangled a paedophile pensioner and then boasted that all child molesters should be 'put down' was jailed for life yesterday. Adrian Brown broke into the rundown home of 73-year-old Arnold Hartley and stamped on his head repeatedly before throttling him in a drinkfuelled attack.

Sex Offender Figures Show Register Works

The West Midlands has the third highest proportion of people on the sex offenders' register, new figures reveal. Home Office statistics reveal that 63 people per 100,000 of the population in the West Midlands are now listed.

List Is Invaluable to Help Community

The sex offenders register came into force in 1997 and includes all sexual crimes. Convicted sex offenders must register their names and addresses with the police, and inform them if they move. Any offender failing to register can be jailed for up to six months and fined. The register is not retro-active and so does not include anyone convicted before 1997.

Bull Tramples Couple After Market Escape

An elderly couple are recovering after being trampled by a runaway bull which broke free from a cattle market in Warwickshire. The beast escaped from the auction at Henley-in-Arden on Tuesday morning and ran into a couple walking near Edge Lane, resulting in a 72-year-old Coventry woman suffering a broken wrist and shock.

Teenagers Butchered Deer During Hunting Trip

A West Midlands teenager and his friend who were on a 'hunting trip' butchered a pregnant pet deer with an axe and a machete, a court heard yesterday. After killing Squeaky, a hand-reared nine-year-old red deer, the 16-year-old from Coventry and the 17-year-old from Cambridge hacked off the animal's head and legs before cooking and eating the carcass.

Marksman Called in When Kutei Refused to Go to Vet

Animal expert Bob Lawrence is used to taming lions, tigers and rhinos with the flick of his finger. As head warden at West Midland Safari Park it is all in a day's work for the man with creatures of all shapes and sizes in his sights.

Who's Smiling Now? Prince Is Settled Happily in His New Home After Rspca Rescue

A dog found collapsed and anaemic at a Birmingham house has found happiness in a Solihull home. The new owner, Tracey Sheldon, 37, said that the two year-old Alsatian had now made a full recovery and was enjoying life to the full.

Bromsgrove Murder: Five Under Arrest

Five people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a disabled man who was beaten to death just yards from his front door, police said yesterday. Andrew Lammas, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, had spent the night with friends at a local pub before being dropped near his home in Austin Road shortly after midnight on June 22.

Queues at Blues for Tickets

Birmingham City Football Club supporters queued for more than two hours yesterday to get their hands on season tickets. A queue of more than one hundred Blues fans waited outside the St Andrews stadium in Bordesley yesterday afternoon. A club spokesman said: 'Season tickets became available for collection yesterday.

Rail Delays Cut Due to New Maintenance Integration

Rail delays have reduced by almost a quarter in the West Midlands following Network Rail's decision to take back control of maintenance, it was announced yesterday. All maintenance workers who previously worked for outside contractors are now part of the NR set-up, a process completed with Carillion contractors on the West Coast Main Line being brought 'in- house' this week.

Crash Victim Leanne Given Pounds 2m Payout After Nine-Year Battle

A Birmingham schoolgirl who suffered terrible injuries after a car crash has been awarded pounds 2 million compensation. Leanne Morgan, now aged 16, and her family have fought a nine- year battle after Leanne was struck down crossing Chinbrook Road, in Billesley, in 1995.

City's Iranians Call for a Secular State

Hundreds of members of Birmingham's Iranian community gathered in the city yesterday to protest against tens of thousands of deaths in the Gulf state they claim were overseen by the ruling mullahs. Members of the demonstration outside the Red Cross headquarters at Camp Hill claim the current regime in Iran is no better than that led by Ayatollah Khomeini that murdered 30,000 nationals during the summer of 1988. Protesters called for a new secular regime in Iran and for the international commu...

Customer Found Bank Was Open All Hours

A bank customer was shocked to discover his local branch of Barclay's had been left wide open - when it should have been locked up for the weekend. Lee McAvoy popped into his local branch in Coventry, Warwickshire, and to his astonishment discovered he was the only person in the building.

'War Zone' Girl Arrested After Day Under Behaviour Order

A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of breaching an anti-social behaviour order in a village which was turned into a 'war zone' by young thugs, it emerged yesterday. Tiffany Boult - one of 11 teenagers handed Asbos by magistrates on Monday - was detained in the village of Yarnfield, near Stone, Staffordshire, on Tuesday night.