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UNIONS DISCUSS CAR FIRM ACTION Union leaders are meeting to review industrial action being taken by workers at Land Rover in the West Midlands in a dispute over pay. Members of the TGWU, GMB and Amicus trades unions in Solihull and Gaydon, Warwickshire, have enforced an overtime ban and halted flexible working. Workers want more than a 6.5% pay increase over two years. WOMAN HURT IN 'RELIGION' ATTACK An 18-year-old Staffordshire woman has been slashed in the face during an attack by three teenage girls who made reference to her religion. The victim was struck on the head and face and pushed to the ground where the teenagers punched and kicked her. She suffered bruising and suspected broken ribs. The attack happened in an alleyway in Newcastle-under-Lyme. MAN KILLED AS CAR HITS TREE One man was killed and three others were injured when a car hit a tree in Warwickshire, police have said. Four Birmingham men were travelling in a silver Volkswagen Passat which left the road and collided with the tree on Coppice Lane, Middleton. One 29-year-old passenger died after the incident. Warwickshire Police are appealing for witnesses. BLAIR DENIES DELAYING BRITONS Tony Blair has denied delaying the return of Moazzam Begg from Birmingham and eight other Britons being held at Guantanamo Bay. The Prime Minister said he expected the matter to be resolved within weeks, but warned the nine would not be brought back if they posed a terror risk. "I can't say exactly at this juncture how it will be resolved," he said. DIOCESE HITS BACK AT CLAIMS The Diocese of Lichfield has hit back at claims bishops in the Midlands lead luxury lifestyles costing £1.1m a year. The clergymen were accused of running up huge bills to pay for chauffeurs, gardeners, cleaners, and refreshments. Gavin Drake, director of communications for the Diocese, denied the claims and said their £13m budget was spent wholly on Episcopal matters. FUNDING SECURED FOR SQUARE European funding has been secured to add the finishing touches to Dudley town centre's new civic square. A £80,000 grant has been awarded by the European Regional Development Fund to complete the project in addition to £600,000 Government funding. Work to extend the paving in front of Dudley Museum and Art Gallery is due for completion in March this year. MEP ATTACKS POST OFFICE PLANS A Staffordshire-based Euro-MP has attacked Government plans to close 28 post offices across the county. The West Midlands MEP said sub-postmasters should be given more of a choice than to take compensation and close or face financial ruin. Liz Lynne said: "The government seems to think that modernisation simply means less post offices". MUSEUM BUYS POTTERY COLLECTION A large collection of British pottery worth £80,000 has been bought up by a Stoke-on-Trent museum. The privately-owned post-war pottery was collected over a 40-year period and includes 150 pieces by 47 potters. A spokesman for the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery said the Lindridge Collection would be exhibited at the end of the year. COUNCIL WORKERS HELP BEETLE Staffordshire council workers are giving a rare beetle a helping hand to improve its living quarters. Work is under way at Park Hall Country Park, Stoke-on-Trent, to cut back heather and bushes on heathland which is home to the green tiger beetle. The clearance of gorse helps stimulate the growth of heather which provides a habitat for plants and animals. TOWN HOSTS HOLOCAUST DISPLAY Bromsgrove is to host an exhibition later this month to commemorate the UK's fourth annual Holocaust Memorial Day. The display, entitled Another Time -Another Place, tells the story of the holocaust as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl. The exhibition will open at the town's Birmingham Road Museum on January 27. JOBS BOOST FROM BUSINESS PARK Up to 300 jobs will be created as a slice of Oldbury's industrial heritage is turned into a £14m business park. Apollo Park in Rounds Green Road was formerly the site of world-famous steel tube manufacturers Accles & Pollock. The 12-acre site was acquired two years ago by the Alfred McAlpine Group and work has commenced on the first phase of new industrial and office units. OPPOSITION TO EU FLAG PROPOSAL A West Midlands MEP has pledged to vote against legislation proposing that the EU symbol be placed on all flags flown by the British Merchant Fleet. Tory Philip Bradbourn said the aim is to eliminate barriers to the transfer of ships between member states. "There is no justification for the compulsory display of the EU symbol on the Red Ensign," he said. PROBE INTO WOMAN'S DEATH The death of a woman who was found collapsed on a footpath in Cannock is being investigated by police. The woman, who has not yet been named, died at Staffordshire District General Hospital after being treated at the scene in Barnard Way by paramedics. The death is being treated as unexplained and a post-mortem examination is due to take place. LAND ROVER STAFF TO STRIKE Workers at the Land Rover plant in Solihull are to stage a 24-hour strike in a dispute over pay. Union leaders have announced that staff will walk out on January 26 in protest at a two-year pay offer worth 6.5%. The TGWU said workers will also continue with a ban on overtime as part of a campaign to persuade the firm to reopen talks and improve its pay terms. CHURCH IN ABUSE PAYOUT The Roman Catholic Church is to pay £330,000 to a former Coventry altar boy who was sexually abused by a priest. The settlement was reached before Simon Grey, 38, was to sue the Archdiocese of Birmingham for failing to act on claims a priest was dangerous to children. Mr Grey was abused while attending Coventry's Christ The King Church, where Father Christopher Clonan worked. SMOKING SURVEY RELEASED Smoking is becoming less socially acceptable in the West Midlands, according to a survey of local adults. About 74% of people think smoking is less acceptable, according to research conducted for the NHS "Don't Give Up Giving Up" campaign. Currently, 26% of adults in the region smoke, but the study showed more than half of them are considering giving up. YOUNGER CHURCHGOERS ON THE INCREASE The number of children and young people attending Diocese of Worcester church services has risen, according to figures by the Church of England. The average weekly attendance for 11 to 25-year-old in Worcestershire and Dudley rose to 3,500 in 2002. The church findings were warmly welcomed by the Rev David Morphy, diocesan director of education. PASSENGERS SENT TO DATING SITE West Midlands bus passengers surfing the internet for timetable information have been left baffled after being directed to a dating website. Travel West Midlands bosses are said to be furious that the domain name has been hijacked and its customers redirected to the lonely hearts site. Phil Bateman, of Travel West Midlands, said the firm will take legal advice. MAN 'CONNED CASH FROM STUDENTS' A car salesman posing as an undercover policeman conned hundreds of thousands of pounds from three Shropshire students, a court in London has heard. Robert Hendy-Freegard, 32, duped the students from Harper Adams Agricultural College in Newport by saying contracts were out on their lives, a jury heard. Hendy-Freegard, of Nottinghamshire, denies 21 charges including kidnapping. REPRIEVE FOR TRAVELLERS Travellers on a Warwickshire site have won a temporary reprieve after bailiffs instructed to carry out an eviction were ordered to abandon the operation. The six-hour stand-off between 400 protesters and the authorities ended when Nuneaton and Bedworth District Council asked its team to stand down. Forty officers sealed off Wolvey Road, Bulkington, as protesters assembled. MP'S FEARS OVER JAILBREAKS A Tory MP has expressed concern over the number of prisoners escaping from Sudbury Prison. West Derbyshire MP Patrick McLoughlin said 56 prisoners - including murderers - had escaped from Sudbury Prison between April and December 2003. He urged the Government to tighten the guidelines stating which convicts are able to transfer to open prisons. RAPE CHARGE MAN FACES COURT The trial of a 49-year-old man accused of the kidnap, indecent assault and attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl in Birmingham has got under way. Antoni Imiela, from Kent, denies the charges, along with nine counts of rape against three girls under 16 and five women in 2001 and 2002. The trial at Maidstone Crown Court is expected to last up to 12 weeks. JCB GIVEN REDUCTION ON FINE Staffordshire-based construction equipment firm JCB has received a £6.25m reduction in a £25m fine for anti-competitive practices. The manufacturer had appealed against the penalty imposed by the European Commission three years ago. The Court of First Instance, sitting in Luxembourg, quashed three of five charges made against the firm. CALL FOR TREE-SAVING CAMPAIGN Conservationists in Worcestershire are calling on Britain's leading tree experts to support a campaign to save the county's remaining orchards. Figures released recently showed that traditional orchards, equivalent in size to 90 football pitches, were being chopped down in the county every year. A county council spokesman said 80% had been lost in the past 100 years. CAR PARK REPORT RELEASED The partial collapse of a Wolverhampton multi-storey car park was blamed on inadequate maintenance in a report by the Health and Safety Executive. It found the car park had a history of structural defects before a 120-tonne slab fell from the top in 1997. No-one was injured in the incident and the multi-storey block was subsequently demolished by owners NCP. WOMAN'S BODY FOUND IN LANE Warwickshire Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was discovered next to a bridlepath. Detectives said that a man out walking found the corpse in Snitterfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon. An area around Heath End Lane had to be sealed off while inquiries were carried out. A spokesman said: "At this stage we are treating it as suspicious." DEER CARCASS GOES MISSING Police have issued a warning after a deer carcass contaminated with drugs and unfit for human consumption was taken from a roadside in Staffordshire. The red stag, which is thought to weigh a fifth of a ton, was put down by a vet after being struck by a car on the A460 near Cannock Chase. When rangers came to remove the carcass they found it missing. MOTORCYCLIST DIES IN CRASH A motorcyclist was killed when his bike was in collision with a car in Kidderminster, police have said. The victim, who has not yet been named, died at the scene of the accident in Stourport Road, opposite the Loom and Shuttle pub. A West Mercia Police spokesman has appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact them. BISHOP TAKES UP NEW JOB The Bishop of Warwick is to take over as the new Bishop of Hereford after an unusual recruitment process. Newspaper adverts canvassed public opinion on potential candidates before the Queen approved the nomination. The Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, the Suffragan Bishop of Warwick, is taking over from the Rt Revd John Oliver, who retired in November. RESEARCHERS UNEARTH RARE FINDS Birmingham University researchers have helped to unearth the most important archaeological site discovered in the last 50 years - in a Croatian riverbed. Swords, helmets, jewellery and axes were discovered which could hold the key to 8,000 years of Balkan history. Project leader Dr Vincent Gaffney said the finds included swords, a Roman dagger and 30 Greco-Illyrian helmets. SCHOOL TOPS A-LEVEL TABLE A private all-girls school in Birmingham has topped the 2003 national league table for A-level results. Pupils at King Edward VI High School for Girls averaged 520 points, one of only six schools to average above 500. • The city's International School and Community College had the worst "value-added" GCSE score, which ranks how much a school helps its pupils progress. SCHOOL IS 'BEST OF THE BEST' Lordswood Girls' School And The Sixth Form Centre in Harborne, Birmingham, has topped the 2003 "best of the best" value-added Government league table. The school had a score of 107.5 in the GCSE "value-added" table and 102.6 for pupils aged 11-14 where a figure of 100 indicates above-average performance. Lordswood offers eager pupils extra lessons, including Latin, after school. TRAVELLERS' BATTLE RESUMES A legal battle between a Warwickshire council and travellers facing eviction from an unlawful campsite is resuming at the High Court in London. Families living in field in Bucklington are applying for a judicial review against Nuneaton and Bedworth District Council's decision to evict them. But barristers acting for the council will attempt to resist the application. JAIL DEATH OF TWO-DAY INMATE A man jailed earlier this week for supplying drugs has been found hanged in his cell at a prison in Redditch. Phillip Taylor, 32, was convicted of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs and jailed for 18 months at Warwick Crown Court on Monday. He was found by staff at Blakenhurst Prison hanging by a ligature made from torn bed sheets. M6 TOLL ROAD CLOSED FOR REPAIRS A stretch of Britain's first toll motorway in the West Midlands has been closed for repairs less than five weeks after the £900m route opened. Two lanes of the southbound carriageway have been closed on a 100-metre section of the M6 Toll near Sutton Coldfield. A Midland Expressway Ltd spokesman said the lane closures are to correct an "unevenness" in the road surface. ORIGINAL 1740s PARK SOUGHT Archaeologists are hoping to uncover original features of an historic Halesowen park during the first phase of a £1.8m restoration project. The 18-month scheme to revamp Leasowes Park includes plans for the creation of a series of pools and water features. Archaeologists will attempt to uncover the original dam built by poet William Shenstone in the 1740s. COUNCIL TO HONOUR LOCAL STARS The leader of Sandwell Council has expressed delight after Julie Walters, Cyrille Regis and Frank Skinner agreed to accept the Freedom of the Borough. Councillors voted to bestow the honour on the actress, former footballer and TV star as part of the authority's 30th "birthday" celebrations. Council leader Bill Thomas said no date has yet been set for the ceremony. STEPFATHER SHOOK BABY TO DEATH A stepfather from Wolverhampton who admitted shaking his partner's eight-week-old daughter to death has been given a nine-month suspended jail term. Robert Penn, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after shaking Louise Hall repeatedly, in an effort to resuscitate her after she began choking. Penn, of Low Hill, cried throughout the hearing at Birmingham Crown Court. POLICE APPEAL OVER MAN'S MURDER Detectives investigating the murder of a retired music teacher found dead in his bed in Shropshire are appealing for help in tracking his last movements. Philip Cieciora, 53, was discovered at his home in at the top of a three-storey block of flats in Shrewsbury. A 25-year-old man arrested in connection with the inquiry has been released without charge. DEAD TEENAGER NAMED A teenage girl found dead next to a bridleway near Stratford-upon-Avon has been named by police. Warwickshire Police suspect 19-year-old Aleesha Nedic was murdered and her body dumped in the village of Snitterfield. The teenager, of no fixed address, came from the Wolverhampton area and her body was discovered in Heath End Lane. A post-mortem has proved inconclusive. CITY COULD HOST OLYMPIC SOCCER Olympic football could be coming to Birmingham as part of London's bid for the 2012 games. If the bid is a success, Aston Villa's Villa Park ground would host matches in earlier rounds, with the new Wembley hosting the men and women's finals. Other proposed venues include Hampden Park in Glasgow, Old Trafford in Manchester and Belfast's Windsor Park. FORMER GOALKEEPER GRANTED BAIL An ex-Kidderminster Harriers goalkeeper has appeared in court charged with dishonestly retaining almost £980,000 belonging to Sir Terence Conran. Darren Steadman, 33, of Kidderminster, was granted conditional bail after appearing before magistrates. Steadman was ordered to reappear at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on January 29. CLUB HIT BY SEVERE BLAZE More than 50 firefighters were called to tackle a severe blaze which broke out at a Black Country social club. The fierce flames, fanned by high winds, swept through three quarters of the Millfields club in Chester Road, West Bromwich. A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said they were concerned there may be some people still in the building. VEHICLES REMOVED IN CRACKDOWN Police have hauled nearly two dozen illegal cars off the streets of Birmingham in the latest swoop on untaxed and abandoned vehicles. Officers removed the vehicles from an area around Hampton Row in Newtown. Their owners had been warned in notices issued last week that stringent action would be taken if they did not scrap or tax the vehicles. ILLEGAL NIGHTCLUB OWNER JAILED The owner of an illegal Birmingham club where two people were shot dead has been jailed for 28 days after flouting an injunction to close the premises. Arnold Salmon's sentence set a legal precedent for police and the council, who have started using civil courts to speed up their efforts to tackle crime. Salmon, 43, owner of Plazza Cafe, was convicted at Birmingham County Court. MOTOR SHOW WINS £1.2m GRANT This summer's British International Motor Show in Birmingham has received a boost after organisers were awarded a £1.2m grant to promote the event. Advantage West Midlands said the event at the NEC hopes to attract 600,000 people - 150,000 more than last year. The European Regional Development Fund grant will fund an advertising campaign to lure motor fans from across the UK. GUN OWNERS WARNED OVER NEW LAW Gun owners in the West Midlands are being warned to heed changes in the law governing air weapons which come into force next week. The change makes it an offence "to manufacture, sell, purchase, transfer or acquire any air weapon using a self-contained gas cartridge system". West Midlands Police said that guns can be kept on a firearms certificate. MAN INJURED IN TRAIN ACCIDENT A pedestrian is in a critical condition in hospital after he was in collision with a train near Coventry. West Midlands Ambulance Service said the man, thought to be in his 60s or 70s, suffered multiple injuries at a level crossing near Canley station. A spokesman said the man was taken to Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital for treatment following the incident. GALLERY SHORTLISTED FOR PRIZE Birmingham's Millennium Point has been handed a boost after it was shortlisted for a £100,000 national award. The Futures Gallery at the embattled science and technology centre is in the running for the Gulbenkian prize for Museum of the Year. The £90m Millennium Point is struggling against dwindling attendances and the loss of the area's only Imax cinema.
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