Police forensics studying Shawberry Avenue ‘explosive device’

Police have issued a brief statement about the incident in Shawberry Avenue at around 8.30pm on Monday night. Forensic experts are studying a device, thought to be an explosive, that was found outside a house after the explosion.
They say that a building received minor damage and that they are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry.

Brum swimming pool goes private: that’s the future, says Mullaney

A public swimming pool in Birmingham will be run by a private company when it re-opens in January. DC Leisure Management Ltd have a ten-year contract to run the £12.2m Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre.
It was closed down almost two years ago because it was in need of major repairs and refurbishment that the Council could not afford.
Martin Mullaney, Brum’s boss of Leisure and Sport says that private sector management of public baths  is ‘the future for public swimming pool provision in the city.’
Castle Vale campaigners are currently fighting to save Castle Pool in Farnborough Road.

Strikes close all Vale schools

Castle Vale School, St Gerards, Topcliffe, Pegasus and Chivenor School will all be closed on Wednesday 30th November because of industrial action by teachers and staff.
Castle Vale Nursery and The Children’s Centre in Yatesbury Avenue will both be open.

On this day twelve months ago, schools across Birmingham were battling to stay open with temperatures plummeting to -6 degrees in what was to be the start of a long spell of sub zero temperatures.

Police called to ‘explosion’ in Shawberry Avenue

Police tape seals off the house in Shawberry Avenue

Police had tonight sealed off part of Shawberry Avenue in the centre eight area of Castle Vale after neighbours had heard a loud bang in one of the houses. Witnesses say an ‘explosion’ occurred at around 8.30 pm. A relative of one of the occupants said that two adults and two children live in the house, but they were all away on a hospital visit at the time of the incident. He said that nobody had been injured, though there appeared to be some damage to the front door and porch of the house.
Police were interviewing one of the occupants outside the building in a police van, but would not give any comment about the incident.

Fame returns to Vale School

Jake Whitehouse and Laura Green, two of the stars of Fame

Pupils at Castle Vale School have been through their final dress rehearsal today before the opening night of their sell-out production of Fame tomorrow evening. Former pupils and members of the cast who performed Fame at the school in 2004 will be special guests in the audience.
The show is on for three nights, from 29th November -1st December, starting at 7pm.

Heather Kirk and Raza Hussain

Third man charged with Chelmsley Wood murder

A 39 year-old man will appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court this morning, charged with the murder of Harry Broadhurst in Chelmsley Wood last weekend. He was arrested on Thursday evening in connection with the stabbing incident on Nine Acres Drive on Sunday 19 November.
Two other men, Paul McAteer, aged 32 and from Kitts Green, and Liam Cole, aged 28 and from Shard End have already appeared in court accused of murder and wounding in connection with the incident.
They will be kept in custody until Monday 28 November when they will appear at Birmingham Crown Court.

Jack Dromey and Tezlin: Both In Labour

Tezlin Newell Harding receives her sport and fitness award from Jack Dromey MP.

Labour MP Jack Dromey tonight presented a trophy to a pregnant woman who had bravely turned up for the local community awards ceremony even though she was in labour.
When Heart FM’s Dave Clarke called her out as the winner of the sport and fitness award, Castle Vale singer and dance teacher Tezlin Newell Harding struggled up from her seat and made her heavy way towards the stage at the Residents Club to collect her trophy.
But father of three Jack Dromey gallantly stepped down from the stage to meet her at ground level so that Tezlin did not have to negotiate the shaky wooden steps.
Medical staff had told Tezlin just a few hours before the show that she was in the early stages of labour. But she had no need to go into hospital yet, they said. Their advice to her was to go home and take a few paracetemol.

Man charged with £71k Cincinatti metal theft

A 39 year-old man is to appear at Birmingham magistrates court in January charged with attempting to steal £71,110 worth of metal from the Cincinatti building on Kingsbury Road.
He and a 25 year-old man both pleaded guilty to trespassing into the building with intent to steal, and were both given 12-month conditional discharges.
Both men, of eastern European origin, required interpreters for their court hearings.
The Cincinatti factory produced machine tools for over 70 years before it was closed in 2007.

500 cannabis plants discovered in city centre drug factory

Police have discovered a secret cannabis factory growing 500 plants worth around £300,000 in the heart of the city, just 100 metres away from New Street Station, and a short walk from the Mailbox in Birmingham.
The smell of cannabis led police to search a vacant shop in Lower Seven Street where they discovered six large foil-lined tents, each containing approximately 80 mature cannabis plants warmed by a sophisticated hydroponic growing system.
Police say the electrics in the building had been tampered with to fuel the set-up and were so dangerous that specialist electricians had to disconnect the power supply to make the building safe.

Pedestrian accident in Tangmere Drive

A pedestrian was injured on Tangmere Drive, Castle Vale last night in the early evening when he was in a collision with a car. An eyewitness said that the man had just got off the bus when he was hit by a vehicle. He appeared to have sustained head injuries.
Paramedics attended, and the man, thought to be in his early twenties, was taken to hospital. The female driver of the vehicle was distraught, the eyewitness said.