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Neil Elkes

Neil Elkes

Bid to create eco-village on city estate

SOLAR power and green energy measures will be installed in 300 Birmingham homes in the first project of its kind in Britain. Read

How many tragedies will it take

A BIRMINGHAM road which has seen six deaths in six years has missed out on the latest round of speed cameras. Read

Delight as cycle club is rescued

BIRMINGHAM'S oldest cycling club has been saved from closure at the eleventh hour. Read

Brum is the place to be for comic artists

COMIC strips used to be a solitary pursuit for the artists and writers beavering away in their bedrooms and studios. Read

You decide who governs Brum

CLEANER streets, more police, buses running on time and a personality to sell Birmingham to investors and tourists as a global brand. Read

Cash probe on charities

TWO Winson Green community projects for jobless and the elderly have had their council grants stopped following allegations of financial mismanagement. Read

Victory for Fred in fight to save home

BATTLING pensioner Fred Grove is celebrating after overturning the compulsory purchase order hanging over his canalside cottage. Read

Community centre funds frozen in cash probe

THE bank accounts of a high-profile Birmingham inner city community centre have been frozen following the launch of a financial inquiry. Read

Bendy buses are making my life hell

RETIRED factory worker Ted Whan's life has been made hell by queues of bendy buses blocking his drive. Read

Plea to end city poverty

ALMOST half the children being raised in part of inner city Birmingham are living in poverty putting it in the top ten of a UK list of shame. Read

The £500m reason you were late for work

THIS is what it's all for... the extensive roadworks headache which will affect the St Chad's Circus area of Birmingham is in preparation for a dramatic £500 million re-development. Read

Traffic headache for city centre commuters

THE closure of parts of a major Birmingham route caused a headache for thousands of motorists today as part of the city became clogged up with traffic. Read

Schoolboy airlifted to hospital after rugby clash

A SOLIHULL teenager was today being treated for concussion after a dramatic airlift from a school rugby field. Read

Homes to be built on college campus

CITY planners have given the go-ahead for the redevelopment of a college site as a major housing estate. Read

Arsonists strike at former hospital

A DERELICT former mental hospital building has once again been targeted by arsonists - despite extra security at the site. Read

Dame Mo takes up post at troubled school

A TROUBLED Great Barr school is to be taken over by one of Britain's top head teachers. Read

Drivers injured in city crash

TWO drivers were rushed to hospital after a van overturned on the busy A38 in Birmingham today. Read

'Birthday' spent in shackles

CAMPAIGNERS are to don orange prison suits to deliver a birthday cake to a Birmingham firm which they claim supplies chains and shackles to the notorious Camp X-Ray. Read

Family of nine flee blaze

AN 18-year-old Birmingham man jumped to safety from a first floor bedroom window after being trapped by a fire today. Read

Repairs bill shock for OAP

HOUSING chiefs have landed a Birmingham pensioner with a £1,000 bill for "routine repairs" to her apartment block, even though she pays an annual maintenance fee. Read

Author Profile

A local news reporter in the Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield and south Staffordshire area since 1995, Neil Elkes is the local government correspondent covering the activities of Birmingham CIty Council - Europe's largest local authority. An avid reader and collector of comics Neil is writing a column on this for the Birmingham Mail website.

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