York | Archive | 2006 | May | 11
From the archive, first published Thursday 11th May 2006.
THEY are a rowdy lot those councillors at City of York Council.
Why else would the authority have needed a team of security staff to watch over the doors of Guildhall the other afternoon?
As far as we know, this is the first time bouncers have been needed to cover a council meeting - although this was no ordinary gathering.
In fact, the meeting was to discuss the relocation of the Arc Light homeless centre, and council chiefs maybe wisely thought tensions could run a little high.
With the gig being ticket-only, the doormen could also have been on hand to make sure the much anticipated event didn't attract any gatecrashers. But it seems another purpose was in mind. "The security team was brought in to assist the council receptionist in dealing with members of the public who were registering to attend the meeting and to ensure that they were not put in a vulnerable position," a council spokeswoman told the Diary. Seems they could become a regular fixture then.
WE'VE heard of coals to Newcastle but Godfrey Bloom, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire UKIP MEP, is taking the fight to protect the British pint to Brussels.
With terms such as `light' and `mild' ale under threat from the European Commission, Bloom is taking barrels of Yorkshire brewed bitter and mild to Brussels. Complete with hand pumps and glasses, he will be dispensing `proper' beer to fellow MEPs and locals in the Place de Luxembourg on May 31. He is even offering free pints for any journalist who makes the trip. Tempting offer, Godfrey.
ON an antique tandem in foul weather, two estate agency colleagues tested their teamwork skills to the limit when they joined a charity bike ride. Manager Rob Letts and valuer Leigh Wade, from the Otisdale agency, returned to work with their jobs intact after the mammoth fundraising ride.
They pedalled their way along the Great Selby Bike Ride's 45-mile course last Sunday on a 50-year-old hired tandem.
Rob, 32, of East Cottingwith, near Selby, said partnering his workmate Leigh, 31, had proved a challenge.
"There were a few scary moments," he said. "When you have to go up a hill you have to co-ordinate very well and we hit the verge a few times. Certainly stopping and starting were a challenge.
"We worked well together considering that a tandem causes more divorces than anything else."
The intrepid pair returned to their Selby office aching but happy in the knowledge they had raised £1,000 for a host of good causes.
Cash from the event - organised by Selby Lions - will go to the British Heart Foundation, Martin House Hospice in Boston Spa, St Leonard's Hospice in York, and Hearing Dogs For The Deaf, based in Cliffe.
Updated: 09:10 Thursday, May 11, 2006
© Newsquest Media Group 2008