RUMOUR and speculation surrounded a plan to stage a punk rock festival at a venue in Bromsgrove on Bank Holiday Monday. The organisers said details were being kept secret to prevent an anticipated flood of objections.

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JOHN Devine, the head of Lickey First and Middle School, was astonished when he looked up from weeding his plot on Roundhill allotments at Marlbrook and saw a deer standing a few yards away. He planned to take a cast of its print and ask an expert to identify the species.

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DENNIS Norton, a Tythingman in Bromsgrove Court Leet, planned to do a sponsored ride from Bromsgrove to Worcester - on a penny farthing. The marathon journey was timed to coincide with Bromsgrove Fair Day and the Queen's Silver Jubilee.

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A DISPLAY by police frogmen was among the highlights at the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Society's annual boat rally at Stoke Works, which attracted visitors from all over Britain.

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TELEPHONE subscribers in Bromsgrove would soon be able to dial direct to 50 major countries in the world when a new state-of-the-art exchange in Redditch came on stream.

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BARNT Green Cricket Club won through to the West Midlands final of the prestigious Haigh Cup by beating Stratford by 26 runs. But Avoncoft would have to wait for another year. They were beaten by visitors Cookley to the Stoke Heath ground.