DON’T PANIC!
WALKERS CANE CENTRE
TP won’t rush into signings
Largest selection of cane furniture in Stoke-on-Trent
SEE BACK PAGE
Tel. 01782 541112 or
www.walkerswindows.co.uk
[P]
for showroom details
Reporting local life since 1854
©NM
Monday, August 1, 2011
37p
Hospital fails on waiting lists
Picture: Clare Jennings
BOOMER’S BRIDE & JOY! PAGE 5
SPEED CAMERAS SWITCHED OFF alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
Only 29 traps working as councils slash funding
JUST 29 of the 262 speed cameras in Staffordshire are switched on at any one time, new figures reveal. Scores of yellow Gatso cameras have been switched off after councils cut funding for them at the same time as maintenance costs soared. Active components which allow the cameras to flash and issue tickets to speeding drivers are moved around the yellow housings to prevent motorists learning which ones are out of service. But information obtained by The Sentinel shows 130 of the cameras – half of all of the cameras in the county – are never in use. Speed cameras are the responsibility of the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP), which has had
its funding cut. Staffordshire County Council has cut its contribution to the SSRP from £1.3 million a year to £368,000. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has also reduced its contribution from £335,000 last year to just £98,000 this year. At the same time the cost of maintaining the cameras, once regarded as a cash cow for road safety authorities, has increased due to the increasingly outmoded wet film technology. The partnership said it will review the 130 “low priority” cameras currently not in use and could switch them back on if the number of accidents increases. Carolyn Wheat, pictured above, lost partner Andy Taft, aged 50, to a road accident in Meir Heath, in
BY ALEX CAMPBELL
December, 2005. The driver of the car which was involved in the collision with Mr Taft’s motorcycle was later convicted of dangerous driving. Carolyn, aged 50, of Meir Heath – who set up the Andy Taft Charitable Trust to raise awareness of bike safety the following year – said: “It’s appalling. Speed cameras are there for a reason. They are not there to catch people out, or to raise revenue – they are there to save lives.” Retired engineer Tony Bloor was involved in a successful campaign for a speed camera to be installed in Trentham Road, Blurton, in the late 1990s. The 59-year-old said: “Speed cameras are required and they should be turned on.” But Sue Hardacre, aged 62, who lives on the busy A53 Leek Road at Endon and has been involved in community Speedwatch campaigns in the past, said: “I don’t think people speed as much as
they used to. I think people are more aware of the penalties.” The SSRP, which includes councils, police and the fire service, was asked to comment on the figures. But it was only able to reissue a statement released several months ago when budget reductions were being finalised when they vowed to “maintain standards”. Councillor Mike Maryon, the county council’s cabinet member for highways, also declined to comment. Funding for speed cameras in Cheshire has also been cut. Cheshire Road Safety Group is expected to have just £350,000 to spend this year on speed cameras. The Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership, which folded on March 31, spent £1.5 million in 2010/11.
What do you think? Email us at letters@ thesentinel.co.uk
THE University Hospital of North Staffordshire is one of the worst performing hospitals in the country because of the time patients spend on waiting lists. Figures show the hospital is among 16 trusts with the poorest records for guaranteeing people have operations and procedures within the time set by Gover nment. It is also one of only two in the West Midlands singled out by Whitehall for its nonemergency treatment delays. Patients are entitled to be under treatment within 18 weeks of being referred by their GPs. But the new statistics rank the hospital as failing in four out of the five performance indicators making up the target. See Page 3
Police officers under attack MORE than 1,400 police officers have been attacked while carrying out their jobs in the last four years. New figures reveal that so far this year 200 officers have been attacked. In 2008, there were 405 assaults on officers. The following year, that figure fell slightly to 387, but it rose again in 2010 to 412. The figures show three officers have been seriously hurt this year, two while investigating an offence of grievous bodily harm and one while dealing with an offence of malicious wounding. All the other attacks so far have resulted in either no injury, or only slight wounds. The bulk of the attacks, 121 since January 1, have been classed as assault. See Page 11
2-FOR-1 AT
SEE PAGE 20
Token collect, terms and conditions apply
SEN-eO1-S2 [P]