Birmingham Post

Pounds 177m Plan to Reopen Rail Route to City Centre

The reopening of a railway line closed to passenger traffic since 1941 could herald multi-million pound private sector investment in south Birmingham, it was claimed last night. City council leaders and the passenger transport authority Centro want to introduce a 20-minute service on the Camp Hill line, serving Kings Heath and Moseley.

Gp Surgeries Condemned Over Patients Phone Scam

A Birmingham MP has condemned doctors who encourage patients to ring high-cost phone lines to make appointments. The GP surgeries advertise expensive 0844 numbers for patients to call.

Hughes Says Sorry for Car Crash Horror

Former Premiership football star Lee Hughes renewed his football career yesterday by issuing a public apology for the horrific car crash in which a man was killed. The former West Bromwich Albion, Coventry and Kidderminster player was released from prison last week after serving three years of a six-year sentence for causing death by dangerous driving.

It's My Ball and I Decide Who Plays

Fresh from their victory over India, England cricket heroes Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen took time relaxing in Birmingham yesterday with the launch an Urban Cricket programme. The stars visited Cannon Hill Park to show some eager local youngsters how the game works and launch the city's new Urban Cricket Arena. The grassroots Urban Cricket project, started in 2006 by the England and Wales Cricket Board, aims to get more children involved in the sport. Last year, Monty Panesar and Pietersen ki...

Terror Police Arrest Methods Slammed by Qc

Police arrested a terror suspect and bound his mother, father and three brothers during a dramatic raid on their family home, a court heard yesterday. The High Court in Glasgow heard an account of the raid which led to the detention of Mohammed Atif Siddique. The 21-year-old, from Alva, in Clackmannanshire, denies a total of five charges, including distributing terrorist materials through websites and claiming to be a member of the al Qaida terror network.

Coaltion to Fight Road Pricing Plans for Shropshire

A coalition of environmentalists, business leaders and motorists has joined forces to fight plans for road pricing in Shropshire. They met last night to plan a campaign against the county council's proposals for congestion charging in Shrewsbury town centre.

Botched Raid May Be Behind Murder of Widow of 81

Police are stepping up patrols in a Birmingham suburb after a pensioner was found murdered in her home. Mother-of-five Mohinder Kaur, aged 81, was found dead at her flat in Nutgrove Close, Kings Heath, at 3.15pm on Saturday. Officers were called to the first-storey flat by a worried relative. Although police did not disclose the cause of death, they officially confirmed yesterday that they were treating it as murder. Mrs Kaur was a widow with a number of grandchildren and a distinctive figure...

Four Hurt in Crash On M5 Motorway

Four people were injured in a car accident on a Midland motorway yesterday. Paramedics were called to the scene near Warndon, in Worcestershire, between junctions 5 and 6 on the southbound M5, at about 3.30pm.

Celebrating Bank Holiday Sun - at the Shopping Mall

Retailers across the West Midlands celebrated a bumper bank holiday as many shoppers chose the mall over the beach. Merry Hill shopping centre in Brierley Hill enjoyed a "significant" increase in visitors as parents looked to kit their young ones out for the upcoming school year, a spokeswoman said. She said the centre had even been helped out by the flooding and rainfall of July.

Delayed Flood Hit Alert for Local Retailers

Midland retailers were warned yesterday they face a "delayed hit" in the autumn after a summer of floods and increasing interest rates. Shoppers in the region are likely to be put off spending sprees by increased fuel costs, a rise in the price of food and a decline in disposable income. Despite a successful start to the year, some of the region's main shopping centres could face dwindling sales as the effects of the cruel summer weather begin to hit home. Richard Ratner, a market expert with...

I Wish I Could Turn Back Clock, Says Lee Hughes ; Having Served Three Years for Causing Death by Dangerous Driving, Former West Bromwich Albion Striker Lee Hughes Yesterday Set About Trying to Rebuild His Life.

The shame of causing the death by dangerous driving of a father- of-two will stay with Lee Hughes for the rest of his life. As he was officially unveiled yesterday as an Oldham player, the former Coventry and West Brom striker apologised publicly for the first time for the crash in which Douglas Graham was killed. Hughes, 31, has been signed by the League One outfit on a two- year deal after he was freed last Monday, having served three years of his six-year sentence.

Club Makes No Judgments

Oldham chairman Simon Blitz insisted the club did not make any moral judgments in deciding to sign controversial striker Lee Hughes. After claiming to have beaten off other clubs to capture Hughes on a two-year deal, Blitz was adamant his only considerations had been footballing ones. "We don't make a moral judgement. We don't condone what happened in the past, we have respect for the family and for us it is a pure footballing matter," he said. "We can't tell other people what to do if they w...

Rhys Police Search Woodland

Police hunting the killer of 11-year-old Rhys Jones sealed off a section of woodland close to the scene yesterday. Merseyside Police said the area, which lies between the Croxteth Park Estate and Croxteth in Liverpool, was being searched as a result of information received from the public. Rhys died after being shot in the neck as he played football with friends outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth at about 7.30pm last Wednesday. Police yesterday refused to rule out that he may have been caug...

Childcare Standards 'Falling'

Some toddlers are being abandoned to cry on their own and exposed to racism in nurseries amid a fall in standards of childcare in England, inspectors warned today. About 125,000 children are being left with childminders and nurseries that are no better than satisfactory, Ofsted said in a new report. But while most nurseries and playgroups offer good quality childcare, hundreds of parents have complained that their children are being treated badly. And some centres fail to teach children the d...

Politics: Cameron's 'Crime Crisis' Answers

David Cameron unveiled tough plans yesterday to tackle Britain's "crime crisis" by bolstering police powers and stamping out casual violence in popular culture. The Tory leader insisted it was time to draw "a line in the sand" after a series of high profile murders such as the shooting of 11- year-old Rhys Jones in Merseyside.

Politics: Warwick Uni Drops Out of Bright Young Brains Project

Warwick University has decided not to bid for a new contract to run a scheme nurturing Britain's brightest young brains. The university has run the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (Nagty) for five years.

Politics: Former South African President Nelson Mandela Arrives in Downing Street

Politics: Crusade to Help Remploy

The Government was urged yesterday to give more work to factories employing disabled staff in a bid to save 43 sites threatened with closure. Unions said the Remploy factories received just pounds 32 million worth of work out of a public procurement budget of pounds 136 billion.

Politics: Boris Sure Bet for Tories

Boris Johnson is on track to win the Tory nomination for London mayor by a landslide, according to a poll. Nearly 70 per cent of party supporters in the capital want the flamboyant Henley MP to take on Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone in next year's election, a survey found. His nearest rival appears to be ex-councillor Andrew Boff, who was backed by just under 10 per cent in the research by grass-roots discussion site ConservativeHome.com.

Politics: Lib Dems Want an End to Cars Powered by Petrol by 2040

The Liberal Democrats yesterday said they wanted to see the end of petrol-powered cars by 2040 as part of radical proposals to tackle climate change. Environment spokesman Chris Huhne said under his party's proposals, cars would be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, improved battery technology or other new technology not yet developed.