HomeAuthorsNeil Elkes

Neil Elkes

Neil Elkes

It's time to fight back!

STREET gangs turning parts of Birmingham into no-go areas for law abiding families were today warned: "Your time is up". Read

Pubs in red tape tangle

BIRMINGHAM pubs and clubs are struggling to fill in 220-page application forms under "chaotic" new licensing regulations, a city solicitor has claimed. Read

City backs new Tesco

TESCO has ended months of speculation by submitting its plans to rip up city playing fields to make way for a superstore. Read

Making space for a fun time

YOUNGSTERS who aim to boldly go where no-one has gone before are in for a treat at Birmingham's Thinktank Science Museum. Read

£20,000 fines alert to pubs

BIRMINGHAM pub landlords and restaurant owners face £20,000 fines if their new licence applications are not completed by an August deadline. Read

Shopping giants in store wars

A FURIOUS battle has broken out between two supermarket giants slugging it out for a Birmingham city centre site. Read

School masts legal warning

BIRMINGHAM schools which lease their rooftops for mobile phone masts could face future legal action from sick pupils, it was claimed today. Read

Pubs told to get a licence

HUNDREDS of city pubs and clubs are in the last chance saloon for getting new licence applications in and avoiding closure. Read

Chief rapped on bus 'bouncers'

BIRMINGHAM'S transport chief was today accused of stalling over a plan to put bouncers on the city's buses. Read

City vows to be tough on masts

CITY council chiefs today vowed they would not be a "soft touch" for the mobile phone industry by lifting a ban on masts. Read

Phone masts ban set to be lifted

A BAN stopping mobile phone masts being put on council offices and tower blocks is expected to be lifted following the publication of a report today. Read

Street booze loophole closed

CITY licensing chiefs have removed a loophole which left one side of a busy Birmingham road with a booze ban and the other side without. Read

No half measures!

BOOZY youngsters are openly snubbing an alcohol exclusion zone - by drinking on the opposite side of the road. Read

Mast joy soured

FAMILIES' delight at the removal of a mobile phone mast next to a primary school was short lived after another sprung up in its place just hours later. Read

Noisy dustmen disciplined

BINMEN in Birmingham have been disciplined for waking families with a 5am dawn chorus of clanking and banging. Read

Council job cuts fear

CITY council bosses today refused to rule out job cuts as they struggle to save £137.5 million over the next three years. Read

Get ready to pay £4 for a gallon of petrol

And they could rise further as the international price of oil yesterday reached a record 59 dollars a barrel and may filter through to the petrol pump. Read

OAPs use their head to see TV!

PENSIONERS had a brainwave when it came to dealing with interference jamming their television signal. Read

Clearly, this is a pane!

A GLASS-fronted office block planned for one of Birmingham city centre's oldest streets have been slammed as a "horrible carbuncle". Read

'Kept in dark' over library

BRUMMIES are being kept in the dark about the future of the city's Central Library, it was claimed today. 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.

Get involved

We want your local stories, videos & pics.