December 17, 1954

IN recent tests of air-raid warning equipment on the Batchley estate, Redditch, householders living in the far end of the estate said they could not hear the siren when it was set off, Redditch Civil Defence Committee was told on Tuesday.

Superintendent WD Gibson told the meeting that sirens and warning equipment had in some cases been reinstalled in the original position, as in the last war, but the estate had grown since then and as the normal siren could be heard at a range of 2,100 yards, it was quite possible that people living at the far end of the estate would not hear it.

The committee has decided to ask the county council to install a new siren at a point at the far end of the estate, somewhere near the new public house, in order to give adequate warning in the event of another war.