COUNCIL OFFICIALS GIVEN WARNING
Two Wigan Council officials have been disciplined following allegations of accepting corporate hospitality in return for handing out a works contract.(See original report)
The employees who both work for the borough engineer's department, have returned to work after they were suspended pending an internal council investigation. It is believed that the investigation centred on claims that the pair accepted cprporate hospitality, alleged to include a day at the races, courtesy of an Astley-based firm of contractors.
It is further alleged that they falsified their expense accounts, saying they had been working at the time.
A council spokesman confirmed that the pair have now returned to their positions after they were suspended on full pay last November. He said, "An internal investigation was carried out and the two individuals involved have been disciplined in accordance with council procedures."
The spokesman said that the allegations were found to be "partially correct" and the disciplinary procedures took the form of formal warnings about their future contract.
THE FACE OF CHRIST ON A STEAK PUDDING.....?
For many Wiganers, tucking into a steak pudding is a divine experience but few have actually
found an image of Christ on the bottom of one!
Dinner lady Janet McPherson could not believe her eyes when she
finished cooking the delicacy at home and saw a Jesus-like bearded face looking at her from the bottom of the slightly burnt foil cup. Work
colleagues in the canteen at Nicol Mere Primary School in Ashton thought she was a crank until they saw the heavenly
image for themselves.
Janet, 29, of Landgate, said, "I had just cooked the pudding and when I turned it over to empty it on to the plate
I saw the face of Christ and thought, 'that's weird'."
Fellow dinner-lady Gillian Magee said, "I thought she'd gone doo-lally when she told us
about it. Now she's brought it in, we've seen the proof of the pudding!"
Janet bought the pack of four Holland's steak and kidney puddings for �2 from the
Heron store on Gerard Street, Ashton and cooked the dinner for herself and her two-year-old son Dominic Ryan.
Dilys Day, Sales and Marketing Director
at Hollands, which is based in Baxenden, near Accrington, said the company had never experienced anything like it before. She added, "Maybe it is a sign
a holy endorsement in what is a very special year. People from Yorkshire call mushy peas manna from heaven and our steak and kidney puddings are in very high
demand, maybe even from above!"
Deacon John O'Brien of St Oswald's Church on Liverpool Road in Ashton said he doubted the image was a sign from the Lord.
He said, "People see what they want to see. Some people look at the clouds and think they can see things."
YOUTH MUGGED BY 'GOOD SAMARITAN'
A youth was mugged twice within a matter of minutes when a Good Samaritan turned out to be one of the robbers.
The 18-year-old was held up in the street on Wigan Road Bryn, by two youths who forced him to hand over his mobile phone. After the robbery, a motorist who had apparently witnessed the incident stopped and offered to drive round looking for the young thugs and then take him to the police station.
The teenager got into the car and they soon spotted the youths further down the road. The driver called them over, promising to the victim that he would sort things out and get the phone back. He ordered the pair of thieves to get into the car, at which point the driver turned on the victim and told him to hand over any more valuables he had or they would beat him up.
As well as the original �70 mobile phone, the trio then stole a �60 jacket, �45 bracelet, a ring valued at �5, �1 in change and even the teenager's pens and cigarettes. The victim was then pushed shocked but unharmed from the car and all three robbers drove off.
Police have appealed for witnesses to the robbery which happened at 11pm on Tuesday evening and a reward was offered for information, leading to the arrest and conviction of the robbers. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Lay of Wigan CID said, "This must have been an unpleasant ordeal for the victim and we would like to speak to anyone who thinks they might have seen any of the three persons described."
The driver was white in his early 30, stocky with a shaved head and a stud in his left ear. The other two were white, aged 15, slim with short black hair. One was wearing a light blue sports jacket, dark coloured jogging bottoms and light coloured trainers; the other, who had noticeable burn scars on his face, wore a black jacket, dark joggers and light training shoes.
TRAVELLERS BATTLE WITH METRO MOVES TO HIGH COURT
A Wigan traveller is taking his battle with the metro to the High Court. John Evan's decision means that
his four and a half year long dispute to remain living on his own green belt land at Martland Mill is now to go before the highest legal authority in the
land.
Council chiefs thought they had finally won a hard-fought victory over the head of the gypsy family when government inspector Alan Upward announced at Christmas
that he had dismissed his appeal against being refused planning permission. But his planning consultant has since revealed that the determined traveller has now applied for
a judicial review of the decision at the High Court in London.
Mr Evans and his relatives have been playing a cat and mouse game of legalities since 1996 to prevent eviction
from the land between the canal and the River Douglas, and then latterly, a stable yard site in Martland Mill. The situation has been complicated by the fact that he owns
the land in question, Greenacre Farm, so formal trespass was not a factor.
Mr Evans has already won a partial victory over the town hall when the inspector granted him a further
nine months (To September this year) to find an alternative pitch. The council's original enforcement notice would have given him just seven days to quit.
But the inspector
still concluded: "Caravan site use of the land has had a seriously harmful impact on the openness of this tract of green belt, lying in a highly prominent and sensitive location
close to main roads and the canal towpath. Although it is located alongside long standing stable buildings which in many respects are unattractive, they were built for a use appropriate
with the green belt and reflect a rural character. The caravan is quite different in nature and is damaging to the green belt."
Mr Evans has fenced in a yard
between the canal and the River Douglas to make the gypsy caravan site with the vehicles pitched on specially laid hard standing. The site includes lighting
and eight power points were laid out on the inner side of the fencing with five caravans in occupation at the time of Mr Upward's inspection. Mr Evans had also proposed demolishing
two or three existing stable buildings and screening the camp with earth mounding plus tree and shrub planting. His planning agent, Philip Brown of Macclesfield based
Bolton Emery, accepted that the site was within a green belt. But he argued unsuccessfully that the accommodation needs of gypsies in the area justified 'the very special
circumstances' suitable for an exception.
WIGAN PUB BLAZE
160 people had to be evacuated from the Vale Royal pub on Gathurst Road while a fire raged in the kitchen.
Customers were enjoying
an early evening tipple when a grill fire in the adjacent kitchen took hold and threatened to engulf the entire room. The chef spotted the flames and raised the alarm and within minutes
customers and member of staff had been calmly evacuated from the Brewer's Fayre pub.
Loss adjusters and structural engineers are currently investigating the scale of the
damage to the kitchen, but pub chain bosses expect the doors to be open for drinks in the next day or so.
Brewer's Fayre area manager, John Payne said, "The staff did very well in
evacuating everyone from the pub in just a matter of minutes. There was no danger to the public and everyone understood the situation. People left so quickly that there are quite a few
personal belongings lying around where people left them. There has been no suggestion of any helath and safety issues in the kitchen, in fact, it had undergone a manufacturing deep clean
just four weeks ago. We don't know yet whether the kitchen will have to be demolished, but we are hoping to open the bar for liquor very soon."
Six firefighters from Wigan used breathing
apparatus to enter the Vale Royal and mamaged to extinguish the blaze with hose reels. Three fire crews worked on dampening down the building until 11pm, four hours after the blaze started,
and an engine stayed parked at the pub all night in case any small fires were found smouldering.
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