Archive

  • Hell driver caged

    A TEENAGE driver who led police on a terrifying chase around Hereford streets has been sentenced to 12 months' detention. Mark Crichton snatched a parked Vauxhall Astra in the early hours but was seen jumping red traffic lights. He careered past bollards

  • Scanner boost for new wards

    A NEW ultrasound scanner is the centrepiece of two new wards which have been opened at Worcester's Newtown Hospital. Oak and Elm wards, which each have 28 beds, are now fully operational and are taking patients of all ages directly from the Medical Assessment

  • Art at a price

    A PAINTING by a Pershore-born 19th Century sporting artist is expected to fetch up to £200,000 in an auction next month. Thomas Woodward's picture titled Huntsmen and Hunters on Bredon Hill was painted in 1834 and goes under the hammer at Christie's on

  • Rail enthusiasts meet to improve lines

    RAIL enthusiasts promoting the Cotswold line are holding their 23rd annual meeting this Saturday. The Cotswold Line Promotion Group was founded in 1978 to safeguard, improve and promote train and bus feeder services in the area. Members will meet at the

  • And finally... Good clean fun at concert

    VACUUM cleaners and a floor polisher blew a 600-strong audience away at a concert staged at Malvern Theatres. The unusual ensemble had it in the bag when they starred in the musical extravaganza at Malvern's Forum Theatre to celebrate Worcestershire's

  • Facing cleaver charges

    A CHARGE of having a meat cleaver illegally in Habberley Street, Kidderminster, is to go before a crown court judge. Kevin Witten, 32, from Martley, Worcester, elected jury trial when he appeared before Kidderminster magistrates. He was bailed to await

  • Woodland helpers earn praise

    PEOPLE living in Wyre Forest have been congratulated by a woodland conservation charity for their part in creating a new wood. Three Cornered Wood, Areley Kings, is one of four new areas planted by the Woodland Trust in Worcestershire with the help of

  • Murdoch says he stays

    WORCESTER Rugby Club captain Alistair Murdoch said he was disappointed that coach Adrian Skeggs was leaving but would not be following him though the exit door. Murdoch, who brought Skeggs to Bedford as his assistant coach last season, is keen to stay

  • Worcs must learn from their errors

    DIRECTOR of Cricket Tom Moody wants his Worcestershire players to learn from their recent mistakes when they take on Derbyshire in a County Championship Division Two match which opens at New Road tomorrow. The County have lost their last five games, but

  • 15/5/01 - Worcs must learn from their errors

    DIRECTOR of Cricket Tom Moody wants his Worcestershire players to learn from their recent mistakes when they take on Derbyshire in a County Championship Division Two match which opens at New Road tomorrow. The County have lost their last five games, but

  • Swifts ready for promotion joy

    STOURPORT Swifts stand on the brink of promotion glory with the club just two wins away from a place in the Dr Martens Western Division. The club is locked in a three-way fight for the Midland Alliance title with rivals Rushall Olympic and Barwell. Tonight

  • Election race set to be close contest

    EVERY vote will count in Wyre Forest in what promises to be the hottest General Election campaign in years. The district looks set to buck national voter apathy as it gears up for a thrilling three-horse race. Sitting Labour MP David Lock, Tory hopeful

  • Champions crumble as Shipston turn the tables

    A LOW scoring encounter at Exhall saw Shipston inflict an opening day defeat on the reigning Cotswold Hills League - sponsored by Readers and John Shepherd - champions. Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Elmley Castle showed their title claws with a 142

  • 15/5/01 - Barton pulls no punches at Lane

    SUPPORTERS quizzed Worcester City boss John Barton at a fans' forum at St George's Lane last night. The manager pulled no pun-ches with a frank assessment of City's fortunes in the 18 months since he took over. He conceded inconsistency had let the club

  • Simple explanation

    PERHAPS one simple solution to the BMA's complaint that GP contracts are no longer reasonable with possible days of action planned on the subject would be to think the apparently unthinkable and arrange for them to be salaried rather than fee-claiming

  • We do our best

    AFTER reading Paul Stammers's County Commentary (Monday, May 7) I am not surprised Evening News readers are "world-weary". However, they can take heart from the fact that my objective is to get as many of the police officers available to me out on patrol

  • Pilgrim's progress

    PROFESSOR Anthony Clare recently wrote that there is a significant link between manic depression and artistic creativity. I think that, in a modest way, I bear this out. I spent most of my 20s and 30s in hospital with manic depression. In 1960, I had

  • This isn't Worcester theatre's swansong

    IN her theatre column of Friday, May 4, Jenny Stephens writes at length about the new writers' initiative. This is to be applauded but it is unfortunate that in noting that "the professional season has come to an end", and "the set has been dismantled

  • Scheme aims to put a stop to flooding

    RESIDENTS in a Broadway street who fear their houses will be flooded every time there's heavy rainfall, could soon get relief. Wychavon District Council has put aside £77,000 to carry out flood alleviation works for Mill Avenue. So far nearly all landowners

  • Musical guide book lacks crucial depth

    Walk On By by Alan Lewens (HarperCollins, £17.99) THIS latest history covers a century of popular music, a task that must surely have taxed and tested the stamina of its creator. First things first. The plus factor is that this volume - a coffee table

  • "Spuff" the magic drag man fires up the fans!

    TOP drag racer John Spuffard entertained several thousand motorsport fans who flocked to the Shakespeare County Raceway on Bank Holiday Monday for the opening round of the Super Series National Drag Racing Championships. Spuffard, an engineer from Northampton

  • Warning Bell

    RICHARD Taylor, the retired doctor challenging David Lock for his Wyre Forest seat, is not without friends in the Commons. It has emerged that one of his old classmates from the Leys School, Cambridge, is already a popular Member of Parliament. Of course

  • Such a good story!

    PETER Luff's old friend Sir Ted Heath bid farewell to the Commons in his own inimitable way this week - with a rant about the failings of the Tory policy on Europe, and an anecdote which raised roars of laughter from MPs. He told the tale of how, in 1951

  • Pupils' grip on title

    CARRIER bags cutting into your hands are a thing of the past thanks to entrepreneurs from a Worcester school who won a prestigious business award - and are hoping for another. Bag-It, run by 20 pupils from The King's School, was voted company of the year

  • Justice not being done

    THE mother of a young girl subjected to an horrific paedophile assault has branded her attacker's jail term as "pathetic". Rapist Shaun Hayes - who filmed his barbaric crime - was jailed for six years at Worcester Crown Court yesterday. Hayes admitted

  • Man denies rape attack in park

    A WOMAN was raped in a Worcester park as she made her way home from a party, a jury was told. She was pounced on from behind near a children's play area and forced to the ground face down, where her lower clothing was ripped down. The terrified victim

  • Youngsters to benefit from art gallery grant

    WORCESTER schoolchildren will benefit from a grant made to the Worcester City Art Gallery. Around £500 has been awarded to the Foregate Street gallery to support projects working towards the Museums and Galleries Month (MGM) running during May . The grant

  • Pupil chosen to follow the military path

    A WORCESTER schoolgirl is getting ready to be examined on her drilling, after being accepted by a prestigious military college. Kirsten Thompson, who is a year 11 pupil at The Alice Ottley School, The Tything, will be transferring to Welbeck College to

  • Rovers and Rangers reel in a pair of Sunday final successes

    Salford Rovers U-12 2, Malvern Wanderers 1 ROVERS, playing in their first ever final, were celebrating at the final whistle after goals from Matt Layton and Tom Barber earned them victory. The Ron Handy Memorial Trophy final, one of a handful of Mercian

  • Scots deal for DERA

    THE Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) has secured a contract worth nearly £800,000 to launch a centre of excellence in Scotland's "silicon glen". The Scottish Embedded Software Centre, which was officially launched on Monday, May 14, at Livingston

  • No penalty for MP over lapse

    WEST Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer will face no action over failing to declare an interest during a debate. The House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee said Sir Michael had committed only a "minor and inadvertent" infringement of parliamentary

  • Skeggs axed by Worcester

    ADRIAN Skeggs has been axed as Worcester Rugby Club coach after less than a year in charge. The Australian, who signed a one-year contract as director of coaching last July, has paid the ultimate price for failing to bring Premiership rugby to Sixways

  • Barton pulls no punches at Lane

    SUPPORTERS quizzed Worcester City boss John Barton at a fans' forum at St George's Lane last night. The manager pulled no pun-ches with a frank assessment of City's fortunes in the 18 months since he took over. He conceded inconsistency had let the club

  • United duo sign contracts

    HEREFORD United have received a boost with the news that skipper Ian Wright and defender Matthew Clarke have agreed new contracts with the club. Both players have signed two-year deals and Bulls Director of Football Graham Turner believes the announcement

  • Board hit as rain holds up trophy tie

    NO Play was possible before lunch in Worcestershire Cricket Board's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy second round clash against Cumberland at Kidderminster's Chester Road Ground today. Heavy overnight rain had seeped under the covers making it impossible

  • Make sweet Celtic music

    Godolphin sounded a Classic warning with Noverre in France on Sunday and Celtic Silence could have the boys in blue smiling again in the Convergent Communications Dante Stakes at York tomorrow. The Group Two event is a major trial for the Vodafone Derby

  • These days we all dance to the same tune

    A FEW weeks before the announcement of the General Election, a music journalist was interviewed on daytime television and asked for his views on pop songs and their relevance to politics. No contest, said our friend in ubiquitous baseball cap, fleece

  • 15/5/01 - Murdoch says he stays

    WORCESTER Rugby Club captain Alistair Murdoch said he was disappointed that coach Adrian Skeggs was leaving but would not be following him though the exit door. Murdoch, who brought Skeggs to Bedford as his assistant coach last season, is keen to stay

  • 15/5/01 - Skeggs axed by Worcester

    ADRIAN Skeggs has been axed as Worcester Rugby Club coach after less than a year in charge. The Australian, who signed a one-year contract as director of coaching last July, has paid the ultimate price for failing to bring Premiership rugby to Sixways

  • The price of failing to reach the top

    THIS season, Worcester's ambitious rugby club has been within touching distance of promotion to the top flight. But, after a period of unbroken success in which the club has climbed from the depths of the lower leagues, the Premiership is still out of

  • Broadband to the rescue

    CRISIS-hit farmers were raising a glass to the Government this week after hearing their woes were at an end, thanks to the internet. Ministers are fine-tuning a strategy to "catalyse broadband roll-out in rural areas". The strategy is to ensure that the

  • 15/5/01 - United duo sign contracts

    HEREFORD United have received a boost with the news that skipper Ian Wright and defender Matthew Clarke have agreed new contracts with the club. Both players have signed two-year deals and Bulls Director of Football Graham Turner believes the announcement

  • His indian isn't running

    MY thanks to George Cowley for his election plug, albeit 19 days later. Too much ginger sauce with his chicken tikka masala has obviously slowed him down. R A BULLAND,

  • Swollen with pride

    LAST week, a group of primary teachers, heads, and teacher trainers from Germany left having spent a fortnight in Worcester. They all said how much they enjoyed their time in the city and how they were made to feel welcome. I felt hugely proud that they

  • Majority wants to quit Europe

    I HAVE been delighted to see so many letters in the Evening News recently with regard to our membership of the EU. Over a period of time the British people have become increasingly anti-EU mainly because the facts about Europe have become increasingly

  • The need for debate

    N TAYLOR'S wildly inaccurate claim that "we are about to be governed by a West Midlands Regional Assembly which we haven't voted for" amply demonstrates the need for informed, rational debate on the subject of regional government (You Say, May 3). A directly-elected

  • Help one another

    ALMOST three years ago, my mother collapsed and died on a train to Nottingham after having to change trains unexpectedly at New Street, Birmingham. My sister had taken her to the station at Worcester where she lifted mum's case on to the train and her

  • Questions require answers

    THE We Say column in the Evening News (Tuesday May 1) made it very clear that we must have a public inquiry into the spread of foot-and-mouth. It must be totally independent and get all the facts out into the open. If the Government fails to do this they

  • Protect our Wilde life

    IN her most recent letter to the Evening News (Tuesday, May 1) Anita Knittel tried to blame the spread of foot-and-mouth on hunting. This must be her most desperate attempt yet - does she feel the need to blame hunting or every problem in the world today

  • The Force was not with Foster

    WHEN Mike Foster heard that Alan Titchmarsh was due to visit Worcestershire, he finally thought his luck was in. The City MP - or, more to the point, his good wife - had known for some time that his garden was in need of a spruce up. And this week he

  • Still on the ban-the-hunt trail

    THERE was bad news followed by good for Mike Foster and the campaign to ban hunting with dogs this week. Mr Foster has been pushing for hunting to be outlawed since he was elected in 1997. But the tiny chance of the Hunting Bill becoming law in this Parliament

  • Police squad set to tackle e-crime

    A NEW police squad has been set up after a Worcester security organisation revealed half of companies it questioned had suffered information breaches in the past two years. The region's Cyber-Crime division has been launched to deal with the problem following

  • Plea for energy-efficient buildings

    ARCHITECTS in Worcester are being challenged to design energy-efficient buildings to help save the planet. The West Midlands Region of the Royal Institute of British Architects wants the city's designers to play their part in cutting carbon dioxide emissions