THE secret, which had been closely guarded for months, was finally out.

From a short list of seven, Fine Fare supermarket had been chosen by Bromsgrove council to build a departmental type store on the former cattle market site in the town centre.

Tesco would be second choice if negotiations with Fine Fare fell through.

Council leader Henry Chattin said he believed traders fears that the new store would lead to them losing custom was unfounded.

THERE were doubts about the long-term future of Bromsgrove's annual music festival.

Organisers were not prepared to book artists for next spring until outside sources of funding had been secured.

However, both Bromsgrove District Council and West Midlands Arts Association had indicated they intended to reverse an earlier decision to cut their grants to the festival.

THREE hospitals in the Bromsgrove district could be forced to close because Birmingham Area Health Authority could not afford to keep them open.

They were the Forelands, Blackwell Recovery and Rubery Hill operating theatre and surgical ward.

A PLAN to spend £300,000 on providing Waseley Hills High School with a further 300 pupil places was announced.

Extra space was needed to accommodate youngsters from the expanding Frankley area.

A 24-HOUR marathon "Folk In" held in Bromsgrove raised £400 for the Silver Jubilee Fund.

The ten musicians who took part sang 360 songs repeating just 100, an average of 15 per hour.