THE Chief Constable of Worcestershire announced record levels of convictions for drunkenness in the county, with Droitwich Spa being the third most intoxicated town where one in 73 people had been before magistrates for the offence.

100 years ago

March 9, 1901

THE Chief Constable of Worcestershire announced record levels of convictions for drunkenness in the county, with Droitwich Spa being the third most intoxicated town where one in 73 people had been before magistrates for the offence. Bromsgrove escaped the hall of shame, with only one in 146 people guilty. Good trade and hop picking, pea picking and fruit picking were blamed, and magistrates were urged to use new powers to send habitual drunks to inebriates' homes.

FOUR polling officials at the closely-fought county council elections went hungry after police officers ate all the food and drink meant for them. The two constables were stationed on the outer door of the polling booths and were pleasantly surprised to see two meals brought to them. Having finished these, they were amazed to see two more dinners brought, but tucked in anyway. The polling officials finally got another round of meals when the mistake was realised two hours later.

AN inquest into the death of nine-week-old baby Ernest Read returned a verdict of accidental death. At midnight his mother, Sarah, had fed her baby which she held close for warmth. She woke the next morning at 8am to find it lifeless. The cause of death was judged to be suffocation.

THREE boys, two from the Stoke Farm Reformatory, were remanded for a week after breaking into the house of Selina Potter, in Stoke Prior. Samuel Pytherick and Luther Charles, from the institution, with former inmate Thomas Langford stole four boxes of Woodbine cigarettes, sweets worth 2s (10p), a dozen matches and 9s (45p) cash.

50 years ago

March 10, 1951

BROMSGROVE was outraged by an attack of vandalism on a tombstone commemorating the town's rail pioneers. The Messenger said the 109-year-old memorial for Thomas Scaife and Joseph Rutherford, who were killed when a steam engine attempting the Blackwell incline exploded, was known throughout England for its unique lettering and embellishments. The headstone had been knocked over and a broken beer bottle left behind.

A HEADLESS human skeleton thought to belong to a woman who died 100 years earlier was unearthed by workmen digging in Worcester Road, Droitwich Spa. An excavator revealed the gruesome find preserved by the town's salt four feet under the surface. Police were called and the bones were taken to the West Midlands Forensic Science Laboratory, in Birmingham, for analysis.

AN Upton Warren man was involved in a chase with two car thieves after they stopped at the service station he owned. Albert Bell said "there was something fishy" about the two men who fled as soon as he asked them to move to the front of the forecourt. He followed them in his car until he saw their vehicle had gone through a hedge and turned over. The men escaped on foot and police said the car had been stolen from Birmingham a few days before.

A BROMSGROVE hotelier, who was one of the first men in the West Midlands to own a car, died aged 71, just 12 months after his wife. Robert Gillman owned the Coach and Horses for 30 years and a succession of pubs before that. He also was a keen cyclist in his youth, winning races at the Aston Lower Ground.

25 years ago

March 5, 1976

A ROW about parking charges broke out as the new pay and display system was approved by Bromsgrove District Council's planning and highways committee by just one vote. Charges of 5p a day would be introduced if the decision was ratified. Cllr E Gittus said the charges would harm trade in the town and drive people elsewhere.

PLANS for a "Disney-style" funfair in Rednal were abandoned by the landowner, Bromsgrove District Council's planning and highways committee concluded. Cofton Hackett tea rooms, the site for Flintstone Land which would feature ten small electric cars and a 24-seat Peter Pan railway, had been closed and left deserted. The committee had opposed any development which would disturb the peace of walkers and sightseers in the Lickey Hills.

A COUNCILLOR of 30 years standing, John Hudson, decided to step down because of the bickering and ineffectiveness of Bromsgrove District Council. He decided to spend more time on charity work.