THE Middle Battenhall Farm drama appears to have finally inflicted Worcester City Council's second most senior planning boss, Alan Coleman, who The Source has spotted an awful lot recently puffing on cigarettes around the Guildhall.

Never mind a nicotine habit, after three months of being harangued by the planning committee it's a wonder he hasn't resorted to snorting Columbian flour, as the young 'uns call it.

* HE may have virtually vanished, but Ed Miliband's Labour legacy isn't being forgotten by those cleaning up the mess left behind.

One regional party PR worker, still recovering from having to trot around on the Ed trail before the elections, puts it like this.

"Thank god I no longer have to go around pretending Ed could become Prime Minister."

* ROBIN Walker may rightly have spent the summer basking in the glory of a massively increased majority of 5,646, but it doesn't appear the rest of the world has caught on.

The city MP's Wikipedia page, which weirdly labels him a 'businessman', still says he's sitting on a 2,982 majority - the result he got back in 2010 when times were oh-so different.

* EARLIER this week we told you how Worcestershire County Council's £21 million mega-fast broadband project has led to just 6,000 households signing up so far, effectively costing the taxpayer £1,966 per customer once you strip out what BT has put in.

The only areas where take-up has really caught on have been near households featuring those garish, bright pink adverts wrapped around the green street cabinets - but there were just 11 posters in the whole of south Worcestershire at the last count.

Can't BT find a few quid spare from its billions to put a bit more effort in?

* THEY say standing for election to parliament often sends people round the bend, and that appears to be the case for former independent hopeful Mark Shuker according to Twitter.

The wise-cracker, who mustered 69 votes in Worcester, has taken to re-tweeting smutty messages from nearly naked women looking to "flirt" on premium rate numbers.

What a devil.