Birmingham Post

Snow Hits West Midlands

Dramatic Licence at City Centre Hostelry

One of Birmingham city centre's best-known drinking haunts for professionals is set to be transformed into a pub-theatre. The Fuller, Smith and Turner Brewery, which owns the Old Joint Stock in Temple Row, has applied to turn the second floor of the Grade II listed building into an 80-seat auditorium.

Pounds 2.6m Sweetener for Road-Price Plan

The West Midlands is favourite to become the first conurbation outside London to introduce road pricing after being handed a major financial inducement from the Government. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has given the region the lion's share of a pounds 7 million national "pump priming" fund for a six-month study into setting up a pay-as-you-drive system.

Bill for Two New Metro Lines Rises by 74pc

The cost of building the next two Metro lines in the West Midlands has risen by 74 per cent, writes Campbell Docherty. The bill for the Birmingham city centre and the Wednesbury- Brierley Hill lines has leapt from an estimated pounds 212 million in 2002 to a forecast pounds 369 million when the lines, if approved, are constructed between 2008 and 2011.

'Priority Lane Will Be Impossible to Police

Birmingham's first high-occupancy vehicle lane, where motorists will be fined if they fail to carry a passenger, is likely to prove impossible to police, it was claimed last night. City transport chiefs admitted that infra-red camera technology to check on the four-mile route along the Heartlands Spine Road is still being developed and is unlikely to be available when the experiment begins.

Shrewsbury Gets Funds for Traffic-Busting Scheme

Outside the West Midlands conurbation, Shrewsbury was also chosen to receive a share of the pounds 7 million of Government funding for congestion-busting transport schemes. The county council has been allocated pounds 480,000 for an in- depth investigation into all the options for tackling traffic problems and improving roads and public transport in Shrewsbury.

Business Leaders Must Have Say in Pilot Plan

Alistair Darling has handed the West Midlands a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to tackle the congestion that is crippling the region. But Simon Murphy, chief executive of professional sector lobby group Birmingham Forward, believes the region's transport officials need to include the region's business leaders as they work up plans for a road pricing pilot.

Witness Appeal

Police in Birmingham are appealing for witnesses after a man crashed his car into a wall in Winson Green yesterday morning. At about 6am, the 21year-old from Handsworth overtook a van in his Ford Escort on Wellington Road, when he lost control just before a bend in the road, said police.

Armed Raid Plea

Detectives in north Warwickshire are appealing for information after armed robberies at a hotel and a supermarket. Officers said the raids happened within four hours of each other at the Co-op store in Atherstone and at the Corner House Hotel in Bulkington.

Owners of 12 Uninsured Brum Tornado Houses Told to Pay Up

The owners of 12 uninsured houses and small businesses wrecked by the Birmingham tornado will have to pay for the scaffolding which props up their properties even if they do not have the money. Birmingham City Council confirmed its tough stance yesterday, claiming that any leniency would send out the wrong message to other people who had taken out insurance.

Mp Says Toxic Soil Must Be Removed

The transportation of toxic soil from a Birmingham estate built on a former landfill site has caused further contamination, a city MP has warned. In a letter to Birmingham City Council, Steve McCabe (Lab Hall Green) called for an urgent clean-up of the contaminated land in Hall Green, where high traces of arsenic, cadmium, lead and nickel were found in the soil last year.

I Should Be Able to Walk Again in This Country

A shortage of facilities and funding could end a Midland man's dream to be able to walk again following a horrific car accident a decade ago. Stewart Fisher, who lives in Walsall, spent two years in hospitals after a speeding car mowed the 17-year-old down as he enjoyed a weekend in Blackpool with friends in August 1995.

Revealing Campus Plan

Four rival plans for the University of Worcester's pounds 90 million city campus are set to be unveiled. The institution is inviting the public to have their say on the shortlisted proposals for the development which have been commissioned from four leading architects.

Public Consultation On Hospitals Postponed

A public consultation over the future of hospital services in Worcestershire has been postponed following trust bosses' decision to amend their proposed pounds 20 million savings plan. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - which runs Redditch's Alexandra Hospital, Kidderminster Treatment Centre and Worcestershire Royal Hospital - had hoped to make the necessary cuts by next April.

Black Sabbath's Rock 'N' Roll Hall-Mark

Midland rockers Black Sabbath, Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols are among five legends to be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame next year. The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Foundation will hold its induction ceremony on March 13 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, the organisation has announced.

Trio Released

Three men arrested after a Fiat Bravo car smashed into a parked lorry, killing a teenager, have been freed pending further inquiries. The trio - aged 18, 22, and 24 - were detained on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after the accident in Finchfield Road, Wolverhampton, in the early hours of Saturday.

Rural Matters: Four Ways in Which Farmers and Growers Can Tackle Climate Change

The NFU has identified ways in which farmers and growers can make a positive contribution toward tackling climate change Renewable energy: The use of crops for biofuels and biomass offers a carbon neutral alternative to fossil fuels. The Government recently announced a five per cent Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, which will be introduced by 2010. This is a positive development for the arable farming sector, which has the capacity to provide raw materials to help the UK meet this target ...

Rural Matters: Weather Changes Farming

Farmers are being forced to implement radical changes in agricultural practices due to the impact of climate change, the National Farmers' Union said today. More than a third of farmers see climate change as a threat to their livelihoods, with more than 90 per cent believing they face more extreme weather as well as warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers, according to an NFU report.

Rural Matters: Gun Groups Attack Farm Over Cages

A Warwickshire farm has come under fire from the UK's largest shooting groups for using battery cages to rear pheasants. Heart of England Farms in Kington Lane, Claverdon, which has already been criticised by animal charity Animal Aid, is now a target for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. BASC, which for the past year has criticised the use of battery cages for rearing pheasants and partridges, is now calling for a total ban on the equipment.

Rural Matters: Cutback On Red Tape

Ways of cutting through red tape and reducing form-filling for farmers have been unveiled by the Government. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs strategy aims to help farmers improve performance in protecting the environment, biodiversity, animal health and welfare, as well as food and worker safety.