FEARS for Bromsgrove’s future as a market town were being sparked by delays on the modernisation of the Market Hall. Traders and councillors were worried that the scheme to revamp the old hall might be under threat after proposals to shelve the plans for two years were presented at a council meeting. Many believed a twoyear hold up could be the final nail in the coffin in St John’s Street. Traders wanted the hall to be overhauled and turned into a more modern shopping arcade.

A ROW had blown up over a disused 50ft long party wall standing in the middle of a new 1,500,000 retail park in Bromsgrove housing Unipart and Payless DIY, which had been condemned as an eyesore by the managing director of the company constructing the stores. The wall had been owned by previous occupiers Conoco oil company, but they claimed they had sold it sometime beforehand. A row was ongoing over who was responsible for demolishing the wall.

A PROBE into reports of rats scurrying around streets near the centre of Bromsgrove was being c carried out by the town’s chief health officer. According to a Bromsgrove clergyman in a letter to the Advertiser, rats had been spotted in two places near takeaway shops by a local tradesman going to work in the early morning. The letter prompted a council probe into areas around Hanover Place and Worcester Road which supposedly attracted rats and foxes.