IRRAL NEWS W BIRKENHEAD EDITION
www.wirralnews.co.uk
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
IN JOHN’S MEMORY
Legion in battle for survival
Family’s charity ball fundraiser See page 3
LIFEBOAT CEREMONY New station officially opened in Hoylake
● Malcolm Upton pictured with poppy wreaths ready to be placed at the cenotaph on Sunday
BIG FALL IN CAR CRIME
See page 5
POLITICAL UPDATE
EXCLUSIVE By MATT HURST
CAR crime in Birkenhead dropped by almost 50% between April and October this year, after officers disturbed an operation tar-
Lib-Lab pact’s progress See page 10
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THE world’s first Royal British Legion branch is fighting closure. Birkenhead British Legion, based in Birkenhead Park, is desperate to recruit new members to keep it open. Secretary Malcolm Upton said: “We’re trying to save the branch because over the last year some of our members have died and membership has dwindled.” The club, off Park Road East, does not have the same bar and social facilities as others in the area so struggles to attract younger members. The branch also had problems this year to recruit a Poppy Appeal organiser and volunteers to distribute poppies across the town; £35,000 was raised last year. A meeting to discuss the branch’s future will be held on December 16. ● Details of Remembrance Day services on Page 7.
Police foil scrap metal operation geting older vehicles to logy made them almost impossible to steal. sell for scrap. Birkenhead neighbourhood inspector Mick Blease told the News thieves were switching their attention from modern cars, as new techno-
Instead, the force found reports of stolen vehicles seemed to concern a disproportionate number of pre-1998 cars - but when efforts were made to recover them, they were nowhere to be found.
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Inspector Blease said: “Previously, it would mainly be joyriders taking cars. “We’d find vehicles round the corner, and always recover them, because they aren’t worth more than a quick joy ride. “But we weren’t getting them back, so we started to
● Turn to Page 3
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look deeper and identified that it was all attributable to the increase in scrap metal prices. “We looked through the scrap dealers and found one in Wirral that was even taking vehicles from North Wales and outlying areas.” The discovery has made such an impact on figures that between April and Oc-
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