Birmingham Post

Rover Axe has Cost You Pounds 231m

The collapse of Rover has cost taxpayers pounds 231.6 million so far, the Government has revealed. It includes pounds 1.6 million spent on an official investigation, launched six months ago.

Tyson Meets Fellow Pigeon Enthusiast

Town Starts Battle of the Free Car Parks

Solihull has thrown down the gauntlet to Birmingham in the battle to attract Christmas shoppers by announcing free festive car parking. The council has decided to waive evening parking charges across the town centre in a bid to boost the festive retail market.

Nhs Court Win After Nurse Attack

A man escaped a jail sentence after being prosecuted by the NHS for carrying out an unprovoked attack on a nurse which left her cut and bruised. Stuart Suckling (37) was sentenced to a 12-month supervision order by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, and ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment as well as being told to pay pounds 1,600 in compensation.

Family to Gather in Staffordshire On Monday for Funeral of Lord Lichfield

The funeral of Lord Lichfield, one of Britain's best known photographers, takes place on Monday. The 66-year-old - the Queen's first cousin once removed - died suddenly a week ago after a stroke. He will be buried in the Lichfield family vault at St Michael and All Angels Church, in Colwich, Staffordshire, on Monday, a spokeswoman for Lichfield Studios said. The church is a short distance from his ancestral home, Shugborough Hall.

Safari in the Undergrowth ; David Attenborough Was in Birmingham Yesterday Signing Copies of His New Book Life in the Undergrowth Emma Pinch Catches Up with the Legendary Naturalist

His curiosity for the natural world is as fresh as it was when roaming the Leicestershire countryside as a young boy. So while the world of the invertebrate may not have the aaah factor of polar bear cubs tussling in the snow, if anyone is to whet the viewing public's appetite for slugs, bugs and worms, then David Attenborough is definitely your man.

Murder Rocks University

Students and staff were told to stay away from a Birmingham university yesterday after the body of a murdered woman was found in its business school. The woman, believed to be in her 20s and a research assistant at the University of Central England, was found at 4.18am yesterday in the Galton Building at its Perry Barr campus.

Call for Hospitals to Be Super Clean

Hospitals must become "almost obsessive" about cleaning if the spread of infections like MRSA is to be stopped, delegates at a Midland nursing conference were told yesterday. Nurses from across the country met at the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) first national conference on MRSA near Birmingham under the banner that hospital acquired infections are "Everybody's Business".

Rebirth of Fort Dunlop - a Symbol of the 21st Century

The pounds 40 million refurbishment of Fort Dunlop has been proclaimed as a symbol of the economic renaissance of Birmingham and the West Midlands. John Edwards, chief executive of Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency, said the transformation of what was one of the country's largest industrial buildings into a mixed-use business park with hotel demonstrated Birmingham's can-do attitude.

Sex Shop Stripped

Sex shop Hustler has closed the doors to its Birmingham city centre store just over a year after its high-profile launch amid reports that stock had suddenly disappeared from shelves. The huge pounds 1.4m store, in one of the city centre's most prominent locations, was said to have closed yesterday after speculation among local traders about its future.

Schoolboy 'Hijacks' Double Decker

A double-decker bus full of rush-hour passengers was hijacked by a schoolboy who jumped behind the wheel as the driver rowed with other pupils. The Travel West Midlands No 915 bus (right) demolished a wooden fence, bent a road sign and smashed into the front garden of a house in Gravelly Hill North yesterday morning.

Why Calendar Boy Is On the Buses

A Sutton Coldfield college lecturer is set to take the craze for bizarre calendars to another level with a tribute to the nation's bus stops. Top of the stops for Jim Judges is the one at the Asda Wal-Mart superstore, in Minworth. Jim featured the Walmley Ash Road shelter in his top 12 from across Britain because of its "futuristic structure" and importance to shoppers. "The Minworth stop is the only one from the Midlands in the calendar and it is there on merit," he said.

Broadcast Plan Axed

Plans to broadcast Birmingham City Council debates live on the big screen in Chamberlain Square will be dropped after it was discovered the service would cost pounds 1,750 a day to provide. The size of the fee, which covers the work of a camera crew and the provision of high-tech links, is likely to set back the idea for several years. A decision not to go ahead with live footage will be a blow to the council's modernisation agenda.

City Looks for Bishop to Succeed Sentamu

Clergy and church-goers will meet today as part of the process to choose a new bishop for Birmingham. The meeting, part of a period of consultation and prayer taking place following the Confirmation of Election of Dr John Sentamu as Archbishop of York, will consider what qualities they will be looking for in his successor.

Islamic Awareness Week

Birmingham's 11th annual Islam Awareness Week starts on Monday with this year's theme the influence of Islam on British culture. It chronicles the religion's presence in Britain since earliest recorded times through trade, travel and learning.

Inquiry Launched Over City Homeless Figures

Claims that Birmingham City Council is fiddling homelessness figures are to be the subject of an inquiry. A council scrutiny committee will consider allegations by Labour MPs that Britain's biggest social housing provider is exploiting a loophole in order to present a false picture of the number of people without a home.

Lords Bid to Find a Way Through Rising Tide of Street Clutter

An attempt to tackle the growing problem of street clutter, such as questionable road markings and signs, will be made in the House of Lords next week. Labour peer Lord Faulkner of Worcester has the backing of the Campaign to Protect Rural England as well as transport spokesmen for the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties Transport ministers have also voiced their support for reducing clutter.

Boss Pays Tribute to Murdered Trainee

The boss of a trainee accountant who was apparently murdered by her boyfriend in a lover's tiff has paid tribute to her as a "bright and personable graduate" with a great career ahead of her. Gemma Newman's body was found in a burned-out car in Wilson's Lane, in Longford, Coventry, on Wednesday. The body of her boyfriend, Andrew Brown, was next to the vehicle.

Canal Boat Light Parade

A stretch of Birmingham city centre canal will be lit up tomorrow with the return of the Canal Boat Light Parade. The parade, free for spectators and being held for the second year, will take place on the Birmingham New Main Line Canal from 5pm and will see the canal illuminated from the National Indoor Arena to the Mailbox.

Jail for Suburb's 'Ali G' Robber

A robber who styled himself on comic star Ali G and was part of a gang which terrorised a Birmingham suburb has been jailed for nine years. Alan Ali spent some of the cash netted by the gang, who targeted employees of security firms, on the high life.