Princess Royal in town Princess Anne is to visit the headquarters of the JCB company in Staffordshire. The princess will honour JCB's success in exporting its most famous product, the backhoe loader, on her visit to the factory at Rocester on Friday, November 11.


October

Start roaming The Rural Affairs Minister, Jim Knight, was at Milford Common near Cannock Chase for the opening of 'access land', which was previously off limits. The Countryside Rights of Way Act gives people new rights to walk on areas of open country and registered common land. It actually became law five years ago, but drawing up all the relevant maps means it's taken effect in stages. It came into force into the North West - including the Peak District - in September last year. Today it takes effect in what's officially called the West - a large area that includes Staffordshire and the rest of Derbyshire.31/10/05

Chief exec honoured One of East Staffordshire's leading figures will tonight be given a rare honour. William Saunders - who today retires after 25 years as chief executive of the borough council - will be granted the Freedom of the Borough. It's only the second time in the council's history that it's happened. Mr Saunders is the UK's longest-serving council chief executive. 31/10/05

Monkey magic Six baby monkeys born in Staffordshire are making good progress, their keepers said today. The Barbary macaques, now aged between four and six months, are integrating well at Trentham Monkey Forest, a 60-acre woodland park. The site, in Stoke, is a dedicated conservation project and allows the animals to roam freely. Barbary macaques were placed on the endangered species list because their natural habitats in Morocco and Algeria have been threatened by logging.

Charitable diggers Digger giant JCB has joined the global relief effort in India and Pakistan - by donating more than £500,000 worth of machines to the earthquake-hit countries. The firm, which has its world HQ in Rocester, Staffordshire, said four 20-tonne excavators would be used by the military in Pakistan, and two JCB backhoe loaders were being given to help rescue and clearing work in India. Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB Group, said: "We have a duty to help the people of Pakistan and India who have suffered so severely in this earthquake."

The Xmas first? Drivers on the A50 in south Stoke on Trent are reporting the first sight (they think) of a house decked out in Christmas lights for this year.
The house (see pic), in Meir's Warwick Avenue, looks down directly on to the dual carriageway.
If you spot any others, let us know!

Oldie but goodie A Staffordshire woman says she's launched her own internet business because employers thought she was too old to work. Gina Krupski, from Bradley near Stafford, decided she didn't want to go to Africa where her husband's now working, but says, as she's in her early 50s, she found firms wouldn't take her on. So now she's selling luxury night-wear on the web through her business Pink Camellia.

Skaters joy A unique skateboarding park is opening in Hanley’s Central Forest Parkin Stoke-on-Trent. The £500,000 facility, designed in partnership with city boarders, is the first of its kind in the UK. Based on city squares and streets, it includes handrails, grinding rails, steps, kerbed ledges, granite benches and seats for spectators.
Stoke on Trent City Council say it will be free to use, open seven days a week and floodlit for evening use. Mark Shenton, of the Stoke Association of Skateboarders, said: “This is arguably the largest and most original skateplaza in Europe, at 34,000 square feet, giving us a skate facility to be proud of and putting the city on the map.” 28/10/05

Carnival scrapped The annual Newcastle Carnival, on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, which attracts 40,000 people and is the biggest in the county, is going to be scrapped. The police have expressed concern for some time about public safety and borough councillors have decided to withdraw the £40,000 budget for the event. A report told them that too much of that was being spent on policing and crowd control. Instead other events will promote the town centre.

Staffords home The Staffordshire Regiment has returned home after its six months tour of duty in Iraq. 25/10/05 - See full story

Happy 60th! A giant birthday cake, shaped as a backhoe loader was cut today in honour of JCB's sixtieth anniversary at its World Headquarters in Staffordshire. The company has nine factories in Staffordshire as well as the firm's headquarters, and now employs six thousand people world wide.
Sir Anthony Bamford, the Chairman of the excavator and digger-making company will be by sixty employees, past and present - one for each year of JCB's existence - including Bill Hirst MBE who was the third person to be recruited by JCB in 1947. He started work as a tea boy and retired forty four years later as Service Director. 19/10/05

Staffords memorial Soldiers in Iraq have set up a memorial for officers from the Staffordshire Regiment who've lost their lives. The remembrance wall has been built at Camp Abu Naji in Basra; and was officially consecrated at the weekend.

Eagle eyes More than a thousand speeding drivers in North Staffordshire have been caught by volunteers with hand-held speed guns. Eighteen community Speedwatch teams are now operating in the area, taking down registration numbers of motorists and passing them onto the police.

Iron Man flexes muscles A civil servant from Staffordshire, Julian Read, who's 34 and from Longton, has qualified for the Florida Ironman World Championship next year. He will do a 1.2 mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and 13-mile run.

Give It Chess A children's computer club in Stoke on Trent has won a grant of almost £5000. The money for the Moss Green village activity club in Berry Hill has come from Robbie Williams' Give it Sum charity.

Flats Out Farmers say they've been banned from wearing flat caps at a Staffordshire pub. They say they can't drink at the White Hart Hotel in Uttoxeter on market day anymore, because they simply won't take their caps off. The rule came in originally to discourage younger people from wearing hoodies and baseball caps.

Public meetings Controversial plans to merge Staffordshire Ambulance Service are being discussed in a number of public meetings. The shake-up of ambulance services across the country could see the number of trusts go down from 32 to 11, to align with the Government Offices for the Regions. Staffordshire would be consumed into a vast West Midlands super-trust. In the first of a series of meeting regarding the proposals, people gathered at Cannock Chase District Council's Civic Centre. 12/10/05
See Ambulance Service Merger messageboard

Pupils work longer A school in Stoke on Trent says its longer opening hours are giving pupils the chance to learn more. Mitchell High School in Hanley started the extended hours to give working parents the chance to bring or take the children from school outside the normal hours. The earliest arrival is 7.30am, with some students staying till 9 at night. Debbie Sanderson, the headteacher says the extra time is well used.

Staffs story misses Booker The winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction is Irish author John Banville with his novel The Sea. The six contenders for the £50,000 award had included "Arthur & George" by Julian Barnes, a historical novel based on the true story of Sherlock Holmes's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a famous miscarriage of justice. In 1903, a half-Indian solicitor from Birmingham called George Edalji was jailed for mutilating horses in the Staffordshire village of Great Wyrley, a case known as the Great Wyrley Outrages. When Doyle read about the case he became convinced of Edalji's innocence and began a campaign to clear his name. 10/10/05

Freedom for horses Horse riders in north Staffordshire say they're being forced to use dangerous roads because of a dwindling number of bridleways. Members of the Freedom Bridleways Association in Kidsgrove took two councillors and their MP Charlotte Atkins on a horseback tour of the town as part of their campaign to save trails for them to use.

Newts home A new residence could be built right in the middle of a Staffordshire country park. But it's not breaking planning rules - it's for a collection of newts. The newts are being moved because their current habitat is to be destroyed to make way for the new Chatterley Valley Business Park. Their new home would cover around five acres of Bath Pool country park in Kidsgrove.

Radio Stoke gets gold BBC Radio Stoke has won a top award in local radio's big national awards ceremony for the second year running. The station won a Gillard Award for its schools' project "Making Waves" - see full story

Full Monty goes ahead The West Bromwich Operatic Society have been forced to find a new venue in Staffordshire for their amateur production of The Full Monty after residents of Sedgley complained that the show was too sexy. People living near to the Black Country's Mill Theatre, complained that the script should be toned down. Now, the cast of the comedy - which contains some nudity and sexual references - will perform the Midlands premiere of the musical stage version of the show at the Lichfield Garrick theatre later this month. WBOS marketing co-ordinator John Wetherall said that, exactly as the film, it does end with six guys getting their kit off in the final strip routine, but it is done in an amusing and entertaining way." See Stage listings


September

Etruria off track Etruria railway station in Stoke-on-Trent closed down today despite a long campaign to try to save it. The Department of Transport agreed to the closure because it was proving too costly to run and wasn't used by enough passengers. It's understood that several other stations in the area will also close over the next few months. 30/09/05
See our Etruria Station pages

Pete's about Security's been stepped up at the Stoke-on-Trent Underground club where rocker Pete Doherty is playing tonight. The Underground has hosted the hellraiser and his Babyshambles band many times before, but last year at one show a wall panel collapsed during a gig and police were called out. 27/09/05

Eardley wins prize A local author has won third prize in the Science Fiction and Fantasy World Short Story Contest. Mike Eardley from Sneyd Green in Stoke-on-Trent won the award for "Five Months On", an apocalyptical encounter set in space. Read his entry at http://www.sffworld.com/news/193.html

Uttoxeter's luvly loos The Bradley Street public toilets in the East Staffordshire town of Uttoxeter are officially the "Best Public Toilets in England" in 2005. The award, from the the British Toilet Association, judged cleanliness, hygiene, comfort and security. See also www.loo.co.uk. 27/9/05

Mitchell campaign There should be a change to the honours system so Stoke-on-Trent's Reginald Mitchell can get a posthumous knighthood, according to some MPs in the city. The Labour members Joan Walley and Rob Flello say they agree with the calls for the inventor of the Spitfire to he honoured.

Mother makes her protest When tens of thousands of people gathered for another anti-war demonstration in London today, Sue Smith, the mother of Peter Hewett who died in a roadside bomb in Basra two months ago, read out a letter she had already delivered to Downing Street earlier this afternoon. Mrs Smith, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, broke down in tears as she said: "Seven weeks ago we saw our son for the last time in a coffin at the chapel of rest. Looking down on the face of a son that I had given birth to and loved with all my heart, knowing that I would never see him again. "Since then three other families have known the same and 94 before. You can never know how that feels but you have the power to stop it happening again. You made the decision to go to Iraq and you can make the decision to get our sons and daughters out of there." 22/09/05

Herceptin disappointment A group of Staffordshire women with breast cancer were in London to lobby the government over funding for the drug Herceptin. They believe Heceptin could help prolong their lives, but are angry that it's not being made available to all patients. A spokeswoman for the campaign said: "The meeting was nice and the minister listened to what they had to say. But we were told that we would have to wait for the licence before the drug is more widely available."
Leader of the "Fighting for Herceptin" group Dorothy Griffiths said: "I would not be around today were it not for Herceptin - yet women are still being denied the chance of life in the UK. A generation of women are being taken away from their children because the Government refuses to fund Herceptin." See Hereceptin Campaign - 22/09/05

Mitchell unrecognised The Government says the North Staffordshire spitfire inventor Reginald Mitchell can't be honoured after his death. The American billionaire Sidney Frank says Mitchell was one of Britain's greatest heroes and says he's even asked Bill Clinton to mention it to Tony Blair. But the government says it doesn't give honours such as Knighthoods or OBEs after death. The army also says posthumous awards are only given for acts of bravery.

Golden boots A pair of Sir Stanley Matthews' football boots have been sold at auction for £560. They're the ones he wore in his last game for Stoke City against Fulham on February 6th, 1965, at the Victoria Ground. The man who sold them was Paul Oliver, whose father had been given the boots by Sir Stan while working as a porter at the North Staffs Hotel. They were bought by Neville Evans from Aberystwyth who says he got them for a bargain price. 20/09/05

Monster swim Six naturists, including one from Stafford, have completed a sponsored swim of Loch Ness. The event has been organised by the nudist organisation, British Naturism, in aid of Cancer Research UK. Pat Thompson from Stafford , president of British Naturism, said: "We hope this shows naturists are not
the secretive people they are often perceived to be, but are keen to support the outside world and be part of a wider community." 17/09/05

Alison revealed An artist born in Burton can be seen, naked, in London for the next eighteen months. A twelve foot-high marble statue of the naked, pregnant Alison Lapper, who has no arms, has been unveiled on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. The artist, Marc Quinn said he chose his friend, Alison, as a model because disabled people were almost invisible in the art world.
Alison, who has an MBE for services to the arts, was born with no arms and legs as the result of a condition called Phocomelia. So far the staue has stirred up controversy with some loving it and others hating it. However, Ms Lapper herself says that the image is "a modern tribute to femininity, disability and motherhood. It is so rare to see disability in everyday life - let alone naked, pregnant and proud." 15/09/05

Cobbles to the council Work to remove cobbles dating from the 1820s from a street in the Staffordshire Moorlands has stopped after people living there objected. Neighbours in Albion Street in Leek were furious when workers turned up to start removing the stone setts. Staffordshire County Council said the cobbles were in a poor condition and need replacing with modern materials to make the surface safer. But now its been told the street surface is inside a conservation area. The leader of the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council Ron Locker says he's been assured the cobbles will be restored.

Emma's worth a mint A Stoke-on-Trent pottery designer is being insured by her bosses for £1,500,000. Emma Bosson, who's 29 is the youngester designer at Moorcroft. The company say it's taken out a life assurance policy for her because she's responsible for 40 per cent of its £6m annual sales. She started her career on a £40 a week government training scheme, as a decorator at Wedgwood.

Happy birthday JCB Nearly 30,000 people gathered at the JCB headquarters in Staffordshire for an open day to mark its 60th birthday. Families of employees past and present were at Rocester together with JCB enthusiasts from across the country. One of the highlights of the day was a series of synchronised displays by the so-called "dancing diggers". 10/09/05

Remember them A beer has been named in honour of two local soldiers killed in Iraq in July. The "In Memoriam Ale" was dedicated at the Tamworth Beer Festival as a mark of respect for Private Leon Spicer and Private Phillip Hewett. All profits raised from the sale of the beer will be donated to the Staffordshire Regiment's benevolent fund. Festival Chair, Geoff Cross said: 'We wanted to do something as a mark of respect to the two soldiers and their families'.

Yew tree in Top 20 Only three of England's 20 top pubs are based in the capital, according to a poll of industry experts - but one of them at least is in Staffordshire. More than 500 judges nominated their favourite pubs in the trade newspaper The Morning Advertiser. The Yew Tree in Cauldon Lowe, in the Staffs Moorlands, famously has a collection of historical artefacts including Queen Victoria's stockings. 8/9/05

Staffs water A Staffordshire farm is producing and bottling its own spring water - using a method the owners claim is a world first. "Staffordshire Spring" near Uttoxeter has a windmill as its only source of power, and uses bottles and labels that can be recycled. The water comes from two wells beneath the fields. Owner Arthur Badham says his green values are essential to the project.

Animal rights "victory" Around two hundred people took part in a demonstration in the centre of Burton, celebrating the decision by a local farm to stop breeding guinea pigs for medical research. Animal rights protesters say there's still widespread support for their five-year-long campaign against the owners of Darley Oaks farm near Newchurch. Sarah Dickinson, from Save The Newchurch Guinea Pigs, says it was partly a victory celebration, and they now want the owners of the farm to hand the animals over into their care. 3/9/05

....Banned Home Secretary Charles Clarke banned an American animal rights activist from entering the UK to speak at the Animal Rights event in Burton. Mr Clarke used his non-statutory, personal powers as Home Secretary to deny Dr Steve Best a visa on the grounds that his presence was "not conducive to the public good". The powers have also been used in the past to block visits to the UK by the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, and the Reverend Moon, of the Unification Church.
Dr Best, from the University of Texas, El Paso, has written a number of articles on vegetarianism, environmentalism and animal rights. One, called "You Don't Support the ALF Because Why?", begins: "I support the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). I support property destruction against industries that massacre animals and rape the planet. Since when do implements of death and devastation fall outside the range of legitimate attack? "I do not believe that property destruction is violence, but even if it is, violence is defensible in certain cases and I will always defend the lesser over the greater violence."
Do you think Dr Best should have banned from entering the country? See our messageboards

Have guitar, will travel A rock band's played twelve gigs in one DAY across Burton and South Derbyshire to raise funds for a local hospital. The members of "Rockaholic", who're from Swadlincote and Burton, played fifteen minute sets of Bon Jovi songs at the venues from eleven o'clock on Saturday morning until eleven at night. It's to raise money for Burton's Queens hospital's stroke unit. 3/9/05


August

Recyclable oil Used oil is to be the latest fuel to power a Staffordshire Moorlands factory. The Cauldon Cement Works near Waterhouses already gets more than half its energy from greener sources, incuding dried sewage pellets and the burning of old tyres to fuel kilns. The company which runs it, Lafarge, wants to try Recovered Fuel Oil, which is made from waste oils from garages, boat-yards and car firms. If trials are successful it could be a major step towards the works running without any virgin fossil fuels at all.

Happy days at V A 75,000-strong crowd enjoyed top acts including Oasis, Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand in festival sunshine at the Staffordshire V Festival site this weekend.
Other bands playing the festival at Weston Park included Super Furry Animals, The Streets, The Chemical Brothers and Kaiser Chiefs. Insiders have also revealed some of the strange requests asked for by the stars performing over the weekend. Hardcore dance group The Prodigy wanted six bowls, six spoons, a packet of Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and a bottle of champagne to wash it down with, Oasis allegedly asked for a couple of strippers as a surprise for their tour DJ and soul sensation Joss Stone wanted a dozen purple roses.
See full story of the weekend - with photos. 21/08/05

Ghostly centre Tutbury Castle has just smashed the record for the largest-ever ghost walk - more than doubling the previous record with 2000 people taking part. Since being featured on the satellite television programme "most Haunted" the castle has been inundated with requests for people to sleep in the grounds and experience any ghostly goings on themselves.

Terry's having a laff Council bosses in Staffordshire have been demanding an audience with Terry Wogan after the star mocked the authority live on air. The BBC radio star lampooned the introduction of a £30,000-a-year "energy tsar" at the county council on his Radio 2 show. Now officers at Staffordshire County Council are demanding an apology. They claim climate change is not something to be laughed at.

Back to their roots Port Vale's new away kit for the 2005 season sees the return of the club's old crest. See story

Top 50 for St Joe's One Staffordshire school made the Top Fifty for A-Level results for 2005 achieved by state schools - St Joseph's College in Trent Vale, Stoke on Trent. 18/08/05

Ban smoking?
Staffordshire County Council's calling on the government to ban smoking in ALL public places. It says a ban just where food is being prepared or served isn't enough. The Council says there would be health issues for people living in poorer areas because that's where most premises that would be exempt are concentrated. It's also asking the government to increase the age people can buy cigarettes from 16 to 18 years.

Cassy is top dog
Cassy the border collie from Pattingham has beaten off 3000 other young dogs at this year's "Wag and Bone Show" to be crowned Pup Idol. As a pup the five year old sheepdog was found wandering the Welsh hills - abandoned and starving. 9/08/05

These pavements are made for walking
People in Uttoxeter are being asked to "vote with their feet"! The paving in the town centre is part of million-pound improvement scheme, and people are being invited to walk on samples and vote for the one they like the best.

Craig & Kevin to tie the knot
A gay couple from Stoke on Trent are to become one of the first in England to get married. Craig and Kevin Ashdown from Hanley will wed on December the 21st in a small, private ceremony. A new law allowing gay marriages comes into force at the beginning of December. 9/08/05

Teenager wants out of Stoke
A teenager left with facial injuries after being glassed with a bottle has vowed to leave the country as soon as his wounds have healed. Johnathan Chadwick, aged 19, from Meir, was attacked in Broad Street, Hanley at about 3.15am last Tuesday. He had only returned from a two-month trip around the world two weeks before the unprovoked attack on his first night out in the city centre following his return.
Johnathan said: "I had been around the world and never had any trouble at all, then came back and was attacked in my home town. I just want to get out the country forever now, I won't go out again here. What's the point when you're just looking over your shoulder all the time? Now I want to save up money and maybe do work abroad for charities, just see which countries are nice and choose one to live in. But I definitely don't want to live in this country anymore."
See Stoke messageboard

M6 horrible
A busy stretch of the M6 motorway in the West Midlands has been branded one of the most congested roads in the whole of the country. The section between Junctions 4 at Coleshill and 10A at Cannock have been highlighted in a survey by car navigation company Trafficmaster as being amongst the worst in England. Motorists regularly face lengthy tailbacks on the road as vehicles collide or catch fire. 8/08/05


July

G4 feel G-force 26/7/05
Chart-topping pop act G4 felt the G-force - when they launched a rollercoaster fitted with "big boy" seats for larger-than-average fun-seekers. G Force is, the first ride in the world to use a revolutionary hip restraint system. Crowds gathered below the £3 million ride at Drayton Manor Theme Park, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, to watch G4 sing from the front car of the rollercoaster.

Sexy Stoke? 22/7/05
Is Stoke on Trent Britain's Sexiest City? It has been nominated as one of the sexiest of UK destinations. "Young Persons Railcard" asked 18-25 year olds which city offered the best eye candy for lads and lasses on the lookout. It's now up to the public to choose a winner by logging onto www.sexyinthecity.co.uk

Bins emptied less frequently
Fourteen thousand households in Stoke-on-Trent could go to fortnightly bin collections as early as next month; on the alternate weeks, city council workers will collect garden waste instead. The controversial plans have been criticised by a number of councillors, who think the move will confuse residents and increase fly-tipping. But the local authority says it wants to bring in the changes so it can meet its recycling targets. Two areas of the city will be used to trial the idea.

Burntwood gets its bypass 20/7/05
The opening of the country's newest road has been marked with a cavalcade of some of the oldest vehicles in the land. Classic sports cars, buses, vans, lorries and vintage motorcycles all queued up to join the procession along the £6m Burntwood bypass in Staffordshire. The road will connect Burntwood with the M6 toll.

Democratic art
After Stoke-on-Trent City Council asked local citizens to vote for four art pieces to be displayed across the Potteries, a pair of large-scale outdoor sculptures are now set to be commissioned and will appear in before March 2006, subject to chief officer decision.
A winding steel tree by sculptors Denis O'Connor and Bernadine Rutter - set for the Trentham roundabout on the A34 - won 159 votes. Oliver Barratt's 3D multi-coloured design, inspired by the city's historic bottle banks, pulled in 115 votes. It is set to appear by the A50 on Whittle Road.
More designs are being sought for a further two locations, on the A500 at the Tunstall Northern Bypass and at the roundabout of Junction 15 of the M6, before a decision is taken.
See our gallery of some of the original entries 18/07/05

Soldier remembered 18/7/05
The mother of one of the three British soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq paid tribute to him today, remembering him as a "lovable rogue" who was intensely proud of his regiment. Bridie Spicer said Private Leon Spicer, 26, loved the ordinary people of Iraq and wanted to help build peace in the country.
Pte Spicer, from Tamworth, and two other members of the Staffordshire Regiment - Private Phillip Hewett and Second Lieutenant Richard Shearer - were killed in south-east Iraq early on Saturday. Speaking from her home in Tamworth, Mrs Spicer described news of her son's death as a nightmare. She told BBC WM: "He was full of life and he lived life to the full. "We hope our son died for a reason - for peace for those who really want it. Our hearts go out also to the other two families and to people in Iraq who have lost their children, some much younger than ours. We are not the only ones mourning at the moment."
The grieving mother added: "He was very proud to be a Stafford, very proud of the regiment and proud to serve his country. He wanted to be in Iraq - he had broken his leg last year and he fought to get fit - he wanted to be with his mates. He said the people of Iraq were lovely."
Pte Hewett, also from Tamworth, was driving one of three Land Rovers on patrol in the Risaala neighbourhood of central Al Amarah when the device was detonated. The 21-year-old died at the scene from his injuries, while Pte Spicer and Second Lt Shearer, from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, were killed instantly.
All three men served with the 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment, based at Tidworth in Wiltshire, and had been deployed in the area as part of Task Force Maysan. Their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Williams, said the loss of the three soldiers had proved "simply devastating" to the close team they left behind. "Our thoughts and prayers are with their families through this terrible, tragic time," he said. Second Lt Shearer, 26, was from Nuneaton.

Biggest curry attempt 16/7/05
A curry chef is attempting today to regain a place in the record books today by rustling up a 10-tonne chicken tikka masalla! Abdul Salam, who owns Lichfield's Eastern Eye restaurant, says: "I was pleased with my three-tonne curry in 2000, but I want this record to stand for tens, if not hundreds of years." Portions of the curry will be sold to raise money for a Bangladesh-based charity.

Unborn child cleared 13/7/05
An East Staffordshire family who received a letter of complaint about their unborn son are to have their record cleared, according to their housing association. Julie Brown, who's thirty five, and her partner Sean Mizon, from Harper Avenue in Horninglow, Burton on Trent, warned their son had been riding a scooter - but he's not due for another eight weeks!
Trent and Dove's Director of Housing Service's David Jones says things will change.

***

Staffordshire response to London bombings
Four explosions ripped across central London on Thursday 7th July 2005, killing more than 50 people and injuring 700. Staffordshire politicians, religious and community leaders and ordinary members of the public expressed a mixture of horror, grief, sympathy and defiance. Here's a round up of just some of the responses from Staffordshire...

Searching for missing partner A man from Staffordshire is hoping to find his girlfriend who has not been seen since the bomb blasts in London. Richard Deer, who is from Tamworth but lives in London, is distributing pictures of his Polish girlfriend, Karolina, in and around Russell Square. He said she was travelling from Finsbury Park tube station on the Picadilly line to Russell Square but she did not arrive for work. See photo of Karolina

Silence to remember London victims 14/07/05
At noon on Thursday 14th July, thousands of people across Staffordshire joined Londoners in a two-minute silence in memory of the dozens killed and hundreds injured the London bombings.

A special mass was held at the Sacred Heart Church in Hanley where the parish priest is the Dean of North Staffordshire, Father Peter Weatherby. He said: "This terrible outrage has touched us all. It is hard to know what to say. It is best, perhaps, to come together in silence and to pray."

There is a book of condolence at the church for people to write their messages.

Bombings backlash? 13/07/05
Wasim Ahmed needed stitches being after being beaten up in College Road in Shelton on Tuesday night (12th July). The 14 year-old Asian boy said his 3 attackers made comments about the bombings in London.
CLICK HERE to watch the video about the attack

Bishop urges community bonds 10/07/05
The Bishop of Lichfield gave his thoughts on the horrific terrorist attack in London. Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke's Glyn Johnson, the Rt. Reverend Jonathan Gledhill spoke of his sorrow, but hoped that bonds would be forged between different communities. He also called for people not to target local Islamic faiths in the wake of the bombs.
CLICK HERE to listen to the interview

***

Vandalism
The war memorial in Hednesford has been attacked by vandals.

See - Memorial Vandalism A video report from BBC Midlands Today's Liz Copper (You need Real Player to watch)