KATHLEEN Edwards, aged 68, and her sister Janet, 65, were dismayed to learn that the were to be turned out of the bungalow they had shared at Lickey End for close on 50 years. They were given the grim news that the land was needed for the M42 slip road by two men from the ministry who visited them.

THERE were doubts that Bromsgrove High Street would be traffic free even after the completion of the much-vaunted inner relief road. It now seemed there was no cash available to "de-trunk" the part of the A38 which ran through the town centre. It would mean local traffic could still use the stretch between New Road and Stratford Road.

A STORY in the Messenger indicating that Bromsgrove's Register Office was to close sparked fury in the town. Many, including the district council, saw it as another important facility lost to Redditch. There had been a Register Office in the town since the 18th century.

A BRANCH of the national cut-price supermarket chain Kwik Save opened in New Road, Rubery. Among the opening offers was whisky at £3.99 per bottle and packets of 20 Players cigarettes at 53p.