THE parents of eight-year-old John Birley, from Martin Close, Millfields in Bromsgrove, said they had complete confidence in staff at the town's General Hospital where John was to undergo an operation on his ear. Earlier surgeons had wrongly operated on the boy's stomach.

BROMSGROVE Royal British Legion's ambitious plan to build a £60,000 social club in Factory Lane looked set to be scrapped due to a serious defect found on the site. A 70-foot diameter pit, some ten to 20 feet deep which had formed the base of a long demolished gasholder, had been discovered. Filling it with hardcore would add between £18,000 and £35,000 to the final bill, a spokesman for the club had said.

A LANDSLIDE victory at the Sidemoor by-election saw Councillor Cathy Mole win the seat on Bromsgrove District Council. Mrs Mole polled 60 per cent of the vote in a four-cornered contest. A former councillor, she had lost her seat when the boundaries had been redrawn in 1979. The make up of the council was Conservative 35, Labour six. The by-election was called as a result of the death of Cllr Bill Small.

THE chairman of the county council's education committee, John Arnett, toured several schools in Bromsgrove to see for himself the problems faced by staff and pupils. His conclusion was that Bromsgrove was no worse than elsewhere, but promised that a vibrating boiler at Watt Close School, which had caused a wall to crack, would be fixed.