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Wednesday 11 January 2012
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Wanderers tough T20 start
Races a winner again Page 3 and 15
2012
See Pages 11 - 13
Page 18
Fire strikes real estate business Andrew Board
A fire that appears to have been deliberately lit was mere minutes away from destroying a Richmond business, says its owner and the fire service. Businesswoman Lydia Heyward received a
phone call shortly after 4am on New Year’s Day to say the back of her Queen St-based real estate business had been set on fire. The fire caused thousands of dollars worth of damage and cut phone lines to several Richmond businesses for more than a day. It also melted cables, destroyed aluminium
joinery and plumbing. Work to repair the damage was still on-going this week. Richmond fire chief Ralph Lonsdale says the building was just minutes away from being totalled. “It could have been disastrous; we arrived just in the nick of time.”
The alarm was raised by members of the Richmond Community Patrol who were out keeping an eye on the town in the early hours of the morning. Lydia says she was gutted when she arrived
SEE PAGE 3
Return of the ring Phillip Rollo Bubbles Narbey thought the last ring given to her by her late husband had been lost forever. But thanks to one Richmond Mall customer, it was returned home to its grateful owner. Shopping in Richmond before Christmas, the Nelson resident believes two of her rings had fallen from her fingers when trying on clothes in the mall. Bubbles always wear gold rings because she says they help with arthritis. But these two rings in particular had more of a sentimental value because of who they were bought by and losing them was “very, very terrible,” she says. Desperate phone calls to Richmond businesses she had visited were welcomed by helpful locals keen to track down the missing rings, but it was still nowhere to be seen. “We rang everywhere we went. Everyone was very nice. My husband was with me when they were bought and this was the last
one he bought me,” she says. “I was quite upset. I know they’re only things but deep down I must be a bit sentimental or something.” Days later she received a phone call from the customer service desk at the Mall, saying two rings have been handed in after they were found in Farmers. Bubbles was overjoyed when she received the phone call confirming the finding of the two gold rings. The finder of the rings did not leave their contact details, but Bubbles says she couldn’t thank them enough. “I’m so grateful to whoever found two rings. I hope they rewarded themselves in some way.” Richmond Mall manager David Hill says it was great that the mall had all the right systems in place to find the ring, and acknowledged the efforts of the Farmers staff and some honest shoppers. He says he will invite Bubbles back to the mall for a coffee and a piece of cake to celebrate the return of the rings.
Bubbles Narbey lost two rings in the Richmond Mall, but they were found days later by an honest customer. Photo: Phillip Rollo.
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