Birmingham Post

400 Traffic Cameras to Fight City Crime

More than 400 CCTV cameras designed to ease Birmingham's traffic problems are to be used by police to tackle crime. Campaigners raised fears the extension of police surveillance increased the risk of privacy and civil liberties being infringed.

Post Bucks Trend As Sales Increase ; the Post Is Certainly Much More of a 'Critical Friend' to Those in Positions of Power and Influence in the City and the Wider Region

The Birmingham Post bucked industry trends to sell 2.1 per cent more copies in the second half of 2006 than the first, according to ABC newspaper circulation figures released this week. This was the best performance of any regional morning newspaper in England. And its year-on-year sales performance improved by 8.48 percentage points over the same period, to record one of the best results of any daily, evening or Sunday in the country.

Faulty Fuel Silicon Suspicion

A 'faulty fuel' scare that triggered fears among thousands of motorists across the UK may have been caused by silicon contamination. Industry sources claimed last night that traces of the chemical were found in preliminary tests on batches of suspect unleaded petrol.

Game Boy Racers Plague Roads

Roads are being plagued by "Game Boy racers" who drive recklessly after playing on computer consoles, it was revealed today. More than a third of motorists aged 16-24 say they are more likely to go faster on the roads after playing on-screen driving games, a survey for driving school BSM showed.

Church Attacks Television Humiliation for Ratings

TV shows such as Celebrity Big Brother, Little Britain and even Strictly Come Dancing humiliate people in order to get higher ratings, religious leaders argued. The Church of England General Synod yesterday voted by 217 to 0 to express its "concerns" at the current tendency to "exploit the humiliation of human beings for public entertainment".

News Digest: Aston Asbos

Anti-social orders have been made against the ringleaders of a gang who have made the lives of residents in a Birmingham suburb a misery. During their terror spree in Aston the gang, which could be up to 30 strong, caused over pounds 10,000 damage to a school and up- rooted a lamp post.

News Digest: Killing Admitted

A father-of-one has admitted murdering his wife, whose body has never been found. Kafil Ahmed (31), of Darlaston, Walsall, pleaded guilty at Wolver- hampton Crown Court yesterday to killing Laily Begum on January 19 last year.

News Digest: Nuisance Powers

Police in the West Heath area of Birmingham will have new powers to disperse groups of people who are causing a nuisance. A new dispersal order, running until September 1, will enable police officers to break up any group of two or more people if they are causing or are likely to cause intimidation, harassment, alarm or distress.

News Digest: Jury Sent Home

Giant Tree Celebrating Author Tolkein Walks Into Racism Row

Tolkien fans were celebrating last night after winning a three- year battle to secure planning permission for a 21ft stainless steel sculpture in Moseley celebrating the Lord of the Rings author. The giant ent, a walking tree, will be sited on the village green if a pounds 70,000 public subscription is successful.

Barrymore Case Police Now Under Inquiry

An inquiry is to be carried out into the police investigation into the death of a butcher whose body was found in Michael Barry- more's swimming pool, a watchdog said yesterday. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had decided to investigate aspects of the investigation after receiving complaints from the family of the dead man, 31-year-old Stuart Lubbock.

Widow Welcomes Chance to Have Say

Allowing bereaved families and relatives of crime victims to speak in court about the impact on their lives was welcomed by a Birmingham widow last night as part of the healing process. Susan Adams, whose husband was killed in a car crash, welcomed moves by the Government to extend the impact statement scheme which has been piloted in Birmingham.

Rucksack Attacks 'a Hoax to Frighten'

The alleged July 21 terror attacks were just a hoax designed to frighten people in retaliation for the war in Iraq, a court heard yesterday. The rucksack explosives -a mix of flour and acid - were made the day before and were supposed to make a noise but not hurt anyone, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

V Sign of Music Success

Music fans snapped up all 150,000 tickets to one of Britain's biggest music festivals in less than five hours yesterday. Organisers of the V Festival, which is staged on twin sites at Weston Park, Staffordshire, and Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex, claimed the sell-out was a result of this year's stellar line-up.

Six Months Moving House

The typical Briton will move house 16 times in their lifetime - spending almost half a year doing so, a report claimed. Research by the Ideal Home Show suggests that, for every single day of the year, more than 33,200 people across the UK pack up and move. This equates to about 12 million home movers every year, a survey of more than 2,000 people indicated. Typical households take ten days to pack up, move and unpack at the other end, although Londoners manage to shave a couple of days off th...

Train Wreck Being Removed

The painstaking operation to remove the wreckage of the Virgin train that derailed in Cumbria began yesterday. Once the nine carriages are safely removed it will pave the way for the West Coast Main Line - the major route between London and Glasgow - to fully re-open.

News Digest: Policeman at 18

News Digest: Cab Fag Ban

News Digest: Crossing Crash

News Digest: Worker Struck Off