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Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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2 FOR 1 ENTRY AT Cash-strapped council hopes to save £40k
BY ALEX CAMPBELL
alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
TRADERS and businesses are being asked to pay for Hanley’s Christmas lights to help cut costs for the cashstrapped city council. Stoke-on-Trent City Council currently spends about £40,000 installing and powering Christmas lights in the city centre. But the authority wants to remove the cost by asking businesses to pay for or sponsor the lights as it looks to save £21 million in 2013/14. Talks over the issue are being held between council officials and city centre traders at a private meeting today. The move comes two years after the council stopped funding Christmas lights in Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke, Fenton and Longton to save £84,000-a-year. Hanley trader Anthony Turner, who runs Terraces Menswear, in Piccadilly, said: “Given the amount of rates we have to pay each year, surely the council can put their hands in
their pockets just once a year to help jazz the place up a bit? They want to spend £55 million to build a new civic centre in Hanley, so I’m sure they can afford a few light bulbs.” Scott Minshull, aged 31, who runs The Traditional Barbers, in Piccadilly, said: “The Christmas lights should be paid for in full by the council. We have to pay enough as it is with business rates and rubbish collections, as well as spending a fortune just to park our cars. “If it came down to it I think businesses would be willing to pay for Christmas lights, but it’s the last thing we want.” The council’s financial contribution to public events is already under
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review – including payments of up to £175,000 a year to pay for a Potteries leg of the Tour of Britain cycle race. Doug Wardle, chairman of the City Centre Partnership traders’ group, said: “We are aware of the council’s difficulties and are currently considering the issue.” The £40,000 budget for Hanley’s lights is separate to the cost of the annual switch-on event, which last year featured Stoke City boss Tony Pulis and Olympian Imran Sherwani. The switch-on event is already part-funded by traders. Councillor Mark Meredith, cabinet member for economic development, said: “The council is consulting with businesses in the city centre on how Christmas lights are to be funded from 2013 onwards. A meeting will be held between retailers on the City Centre Partnership and representatives from the council to consider various options.”
Should the council stop paying for Hanley’s Christmas lights? Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk
(1932 - 2013)
Two held over factory blaze TWO men have been arrested on suspicion of FIREBALL causing a major factory fire which destroyed a number of businesses. A 27-year-old and a 45-yearold, from Stoke-on-Trent, were yesterday being questioned in connection with the blaze at the Twyfords site at Garner Street, Etruria, in December. They were both arrested on suspicion of arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. At the height of the fire on December 28, around 80 firefighters battled the flames. An investigation later concluded the fire was started deliberately and involved a quantity of refuse. The suspects have been bailed until a date in March. 60p
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Reporting local life since 1854
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
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Explosions rock city as huge blaze destroys industrial units
INFERNO: Firefighters at last night’s blaze. Pictures: Mark Scott
BY DAVE KNAPPER
dave.knapper@thesentinel.co.uk
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THIS is the moment a huge blast shook the city as warehouses at a former factory site were engulfed by a fierce blaze. Today structural engineers and fire investigation officers will assess the state of the remaining buildings at the former Twyfords site at Garner Street, Etruria. More than 60 firefighters were called to the blaze which started around 4.30pm yesterday and crews remained at the scene throughout the night. Ten fire engines from stations as far afield as Stafford and Burton were involved and water from the nearby canal was used to battle the flames. Eye-witnesses reported charred and flaming debris flying through the air. It blew across the A53 to Festival Park causing hazardous driving conditions. Offices, trailers and forklift trucks were destroyed and businesses were today counting the cost of the city’s biggest blaze in recent years. Full story: See Page 4
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SHOPS ASKED TO PAY FOR XMAS LIGHTS
BILL BELL
SEE PAGE 18
Police release terror suspect
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A STOKE-ON-TRENT man arrested on suspicion of terror offences has been released on police bail. The 26-year-old man, from Burslem, was arrested in Undercliffe, Bradford, by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, police said yesterday. He was questioned on suspicion of possessing documents likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. Officers also seized a computer following the search of the man’s home address and another domestic property. The suspect was released until a date in March.
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