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Neil Elkes

Neil Elkes

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

Cyclists forced to close track

ONE of Birmingham's oldest sports clubs has been forced to close after inspectors ruled its cycle track unfit and a risk to riders. Read

Four year wait for new city park

IT WILL be at least four years before the people of Birmingham can stroll in the city's first new public park in more than a century. Read

Unveiling a winner

PICTURED is the exciting winning entry in a major competition to create Birmingham's first public park for more than a century. Read

Cycle club faces the axe

THE future of Birmingham's leading cycle racing club hangs in the balance because of the shocking state of its council-owned track. Read

Cutting edge of circus skills

ROLL up, roll up...the best acrobats, jugglers and martial artists from behind the Great Wall of China are in Birmingham for a festive treat. Read

Police halt store wars demonstration

POLICE were called to Birmingham's Council House yesterday as demonstrators protesting over a Tesco store on their doorstep brought a meeting to a standstill. Read

City games pool is in a China crisis

BIRMINGHAM'S bid for a money-spinning Olympics training camp was hanging in the balance today. Read

Crazy rules that keep street cleaners off the grass

'CRAZY' rules are preventing Birmingham's road cleaners from picking litter from grass verges and pavement sweepers from plucking sweet wrappers out of bushes. Read

Nine held after police swoop on pubs

POLICE made nine drug arrests following a series of weekend raids on pubs in Sutton Coldfield and Kingstanding. Read

Emergency care pledge as merger announced

BOSSES behind the merger of two Birmingham NHS hospitals have pledged to retain Accident and Emergency services in both areas. Read

Police swoop after baby death mystery

POLICE swooped on a Birmingham street following the unexplained death of a baby early yesterday. Read

Digby: I want to be mayor

FORMER British business chief Sir Digby Jones will consider standing as Birmingham's first directly elected mayor, it emerged today. Read

Hospital gun siege terror

A CRAZED gunman held terrified nurses and managers hostage as he stormed a Birmingham hospital ward and demanded drugs. Read

Abusive acloholic is locked up

A DRUNK has been jailed for six months for causing a constant nuisance in a campaign of intimidation and abuse against his neighbours. Read

Bare faced cheek of the calendar boys!

CHEEKY staff at a Birmingham cleaning company who bared all for a charity calendar have been swamped by demand. 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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