Rooftop rescue after
scaffolding collapses
by John Hendon
TWO men were rescued from the roof of a three storey building at Warrington after the collapse of scaffolding they were working on.
Fire crews from Warrington, Stockton Heath and Knutsford were called to the scene in Horrocks Lane, at the rear of Horsemarket Street, after the men were stranded on the roof of the British Heart Foundation charity shop.
A hydraulic platform was used to pluck the pair from the roof and a line rescue team also stood by while the operation went on. Horrocks Lane was closed to traffic.
The men, who had been working on a faulty chimney, were shaken but unhurt.
A Fire Service spokesman said: “They were not on the roof for half-an-hour and were never in any danger. But there was no way they could get down.”
Tragic police officer’s
body is flown home
by David Skentelbery
THE body of the Warrington police officer tragically killed in a road accident in Thailand, has arrived back in the UK.
Police colleagues, including senior officers and the Cheshire Police chaplain met the body when it was flown into the country.
PC Kevin Brinkman, 33, was a member of the Warrington Community Action Team and had previously served as a uniformed patrol officer. He had been a police officer for 11 years and before that had served as a Special Constable.
He was due to have married his long term partner, Diana, in September and the couple have a two-year-old daughter, Chloe.
PC Brinkman, also known as Kevin Nicholson, originated from Scotland.
He went to Thailand as a member of the British police response team to help with relief work following the Boxing Day tsunami disaster.
He died after being involved in a road accident in which two other Cheshire police officers were injured.
A police spokesman said all the Cheshire officers working in Thailand had returned to this country, except for one who remains seriously injured in hospital.
In 2002, PC Brinkman received a Chief Constable’s commendation for bravery when he arrested two armed robbers who had held up a jeweller’s shop in Stockton Heath.
Soldier wins personal
battle with dyslexia
by Terry Johnson
SOLDIER Jason Grindley won a personal battle with dyslexia to prove his potential as a junior non-commissioned officer.
Jason, from Birchwood, joined the 1st Battalion, the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, from Warrington’s Priestley College and operates out of Fulwood Barracks, Preston.
He has just completed a seven-week Army exercise in Cyprus, where he was selected as showing potential to become a junior NCO.
He gained his BTEC First Diploma in Sport at Priestley College, where his tutor, Paul Hopper, said: “Jason showed himself as a very hard-working pupil, firmly set on an Armed Forces career”.
Residents win battle
to block nursery plan
by David Skentelbery
NEARBY residents have won a battle to block plans to convert a detached house into a 50-place day nursery at Grappenhall, near Warrington.
The borough council’s development control committee has thrown out the scheme after hearing of strong objections from neighbours and from Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council.
Members decided the development would damage residential amenity and cause parking and traffic problems.
The property involved adjoins the Grappenhall Motor Company premises in Knutsford Road and councillors were concerned that the nursery would attract more car-borne visitors who would park on the busy A50 close to a junction which is already dangerous.
They said parking provision would be inadequate and the site was unsuitable for a nursery because it is next to a garage which creates fumes and noise.
Planning officers had recommended the scheme be approved.
Raiders grab safe
in raid on shop
by John Hendon
RAIDERS got away with a substantial amount of cash and property from a Co-op store at Warrington.
The raid was at the Late Shop in Cotswold Road, Orford after breaking in through the rear of the premises.
They manhandled a safe out of the building and stole cash, cigarettes, phone and electricity cards. The value has still not been established.
Police are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area.
Anyone who can help should call PC Jackie Daniels on 01244 613836.
Pub landlord wins
renewal of licence
by staff reporter
LICENSEE Mark Walker has been granted a renewal of the entertainment licence at the Walton Arms in Chester Road, Walton near Warrington after residents who had been opposing his application withdrew their objections.
Originally, Mr Walker’s application brought a storm of protest from nearby residents who claimed their lives were being made a misery by loud music and drunken, foul-mouth revellers late at night.
But the majority withdrew their objections when they discovered there had been a misunderstanding.
Mr Walker was in fact intending to provide public entertainment at the pub on no more than two days a month.
The borough council’s licensing committee decided to renew the licence after hearing that most of the objections had been withdrawn and that there were no objections from the police or fire authorities, nor the environmental health and public protection section of the council.
Councillors were told the premises had held a licence for several years and there had been no reported incidents of complaints about noise from the premises.
[ 13.04.2005, 08:51: Message edited by: DS ]
