Archive

  • Art and scrap metal

    Hamish McKenzie, the steel spiral "artist" (January 14) should have made his snail life-size. My artist's eye sees a downward spiral in the art world. Perhaps it is a sign of the times and it will take another war effort to clear up Hamish's "art work

  • Dentists move me to prayer

    Further to my previous correspondence (Letters, December 19), a plea for research into modern dentistry. I want to know if all dentists use disposable injection needles and protective goggles when necessary. Do all dentists use blue filters or blue bulbs

  • Wave power: We've waited too long

    It is welcome to see Labour MP Des Turner speaking out on renewable energy (January 10) - and about time, too. The Greens have been championing this cause for years but are heartened to think Des might be able to persuade his political bosses at Westminster

  • Comedy shows aren't funny

    Vince Powell is right. Most TV comedy is inane and unfunny. My husband and I watch less and less and some evenings the TV is never on. It's not only the lack of good comedy. There is rarely a good film or detective thriller. We don't watch soaps, "make-over

  • Bodily functions

    How I agree with Vince Powell and his assessment of the sitcom situation today. Everybody I talk to is fed up with the lack of a real, happy, laughter-making sitcom. Most shows are crude and completely without humour of the feel-good sort we used to love

  • No festive spirit at phone firm

    On Christmas Day, I spent considerable time online, sending emails to friends and relations. When I received my monthly account from NTL, I was shocked to find I was paying a special rate. I was informed NTL does not recognise Christmas Day or bank holidays

  • How I deal with Jehovah's Witnesses

    Well done Jane White (January 16) for banging away at the door where the Jehovah's Witnesses had their meeting. They call on me, too, and I try hard not to be rude but they are so "in your face". Recently, I purchased a poster for my front door that reads

  • Money can't buy common sense

    With the gold leaf on the office door of the new Chief Constable of Sussex barely set, I note bleeding the public of more money is his idea of improving police efficiency. From my own recent experiences, I can assure the chief constable that Sussex Police

  • Restaurant goes smoke-free

    Chef Anthony Sturge has banned smoking from his restaurant in tribute to his father, who is dying of throat cancer. Smokers have been asked not to light up in Quentins Restaurant, Hove, since the beginning of the year and the new policy is already proving

  • Think Of It This Way, by John Parry

    Beware Big Brother slipping through your letter box. Do not be beguiled by the bogeyman in the envelope. Fanciful? Absolutely not. For more than a year, millions of letters, cleverly designed to look like some kind of official survey, have been included

  • Theatre boss to quit

    The chief executive of the Theatre Royal in Brighton is stepping down, the second key figure to depart this month. Mark Courtice will leave at the end of the month after a year in the post. In a statement, owners Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) said he

  • No juice for new trains

    New trains due to be introduced later this year will not be able to run properly because the network doesn't have enough power. It could be three years before the electrical supply is upgraded to enable the new trains to operate to their full potential

  • I held baby tigers

    I went to Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent last year and the zookeeper Damien Lenton and girlfriend Liz were good enough to let me hold their adopted Siberian tiger cubs, Lean and Tugar. There was only one word to describe them: "Adorable." A well-recommended

  • Council's so unimaginative

    The thought of the White Admiral pub in Lower Bevendean being turned into residential housing is both sad and predictable. If it cannot reopen as a pub, surely this is a good opportunity for Lower Bevendean to have its own community centre? Of course

  • Golf: Hilton receives early birthday gift

    Mark Hilton, who celebrates his 24th birthday next month, picked up a handy £2,350 for joint 50th spot in the Bell's South African Open in Durban. Gaining his Sunshine Tour card last year proved a big help for Lewes-based Mark as the other Sussex players

  • Golf: Turrell may return to amateur ranks

    Billy Turrell is at the cross roads on the road to becoming a professional. Having made the grade as a Sussex player four years ago, he decided to have a stab at trying to get a living from the game. He didn't get very far when coming up against the daunting

  • Brixton on Sea

    When will the planning department, together with get-rich-quick architects and builders, stop vandalising Brighton? The Marina is a concrete eyesore, Madeira Drive - once an attractive seafront walk - is now like a slum area. The Palace Pier should never

  • Hockey: Captain confident as Brighton face their toughest test

    Skipper Carlo Missirian claims tomorrow's Kent/Sussex Regional League showdown between Brighton and Holcombe is one of the biggest games in the club's history. Brighton were knocked off top spot last Saturday after just a week at the summit following

  • Keeper Royce may stay longer

    Brighton and Hove Albion could roll goalie Simon Royce's loan spell from Leicester into a second month, says boss Peter Taylor. Royce's stint with the Seagulls is due to finish after next Thursday's trip to promotion rivals Brentford. But Taylor is keen

  • Christmas cheer for QS

    Hove-based budget clothing retailer QS posted a spark in festive sales as shoppers snapped up low-cost women's and children's wear. Like-for-like sales over the seven weeks to January 12 improved 4.3%, slightly ahead of expectations. A spokesman said

  • Palmeira inquiry: Latest

    Council lawyers were not asked for help when a new service for children with severe learning difficulties was started. Jonathan Vernon-Hunt, a member of Brighton and Hove City Council's legal services team, told an inquiry into the Palmeira House affair

  • School no longer failing

    A college with a chequered history has been removed from the Government's list of failing schools. Inspectors confirmed East Brighton College of Media Arts is no longer in special measures. The secondary school in Wilson Avenue was deemed to be failing

  • Schools database under fire

    Angry parents have condemned the Government's new schools census - a database of pupil information - as an invasion of their privacy. Sussex opponents say the census amounted to a national identity scheme. Until now, the annual information schools have

  • OK for health trusts merger

    Two major hospital trusts are to merge, it was confirmed today. Brighton Health Care and Mid Sussex NHS trusts will join to create the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. Brighton chief executive Stuart Welling is expected to take over

  • Sad goodbye to traveller

    There could be no doubting the love and respect which road crash victim Robert Giles earned during his short life. The funeral yesterday of the 23-year-old from a family of travellers was one of the biggest seen in Sussex in recent years. Flowers really

  • Murder bid jury told of TV alibi

    A man accused of a horror knife attack on a teenage couple claimed he was at home watching television with his wife and children, a court heard. Ian Haywood, 37, allegedly tried to murder and rape a 17-year-old girl after dragging the teenager and her

  • Student suicide verdict

    A university student threw himself off 45ft-high scaffolding in a depressed state on the morning he was due to start lectures, an inquest heard. The body of 20-year-old James Pickford was found by a passer-by at the top of Black Boy Hill in Clifton, Bristol

  • Police camera action for estate

    A CCTV scheme to boost security on a Brighton housing estate is set to win approval next week. Six cameras costing £274,385 will monitor the North Moulsecoomb estate in east Brighton 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The scheme is expected to be approved

  • Upset as tree gets the chop

    Residents in a block of flats were furious to discover a 70-year-old tree had been chopped down without their being consulted. The 40ft tulip tree had stood outside Withdean Court, off Varndean Road, Brighton, since the flats were built in the Thirties

  • Outcry over traffic calming

    Residents are demanding the removal of road safety measures from their streets only weeks after they were installed. Traffic lights, speed bumps and built-out kerbs were introduced to slow traffic in streets near the new Peacehaven Community School. East

  • Night bus will link towns

    A bus service has been saved following protests from passengers who would have been stranded. Connex, which last year lost the contract to operate the main routes to the Sussex coast, had planned to stop running the Railbus link between Lewes and Uckfield

  • Poetry on the pitch

    Reading The Argus' special publication "Halfway There" (January 14) made me think of some verse I wrote in March 1983 for the Cup Final I attended, called Cup-Tie Fever: Here We Go, Here We Go ... -Jim Seal, Burstead Close, Brighton

  • Alternative site for stadium

    There is one alternative site to Falmer I have never heard mentioned. I understand it is jointly owned by the councils of Brighton and Hove, Shoreham and Worthing. It already has excellent road and rail services that could be easily extended right into

  • Art and scrap metal

    Hamish McKenzie, the steel spiral "artist" (January 14) should have made his snail life-size. My artist's eye sees a downward spiral in the art world. Perhaps it is a sign of the times and it will take another war effort to clear up Hamish's "art work

  • Dentists move me to prayer

    Further to my previous correspondence (Letters, December 19), a plea for research into modern dentistry. I want to know if all dentists use disposable injection needles and protective goggles when necessary. Do all dentists use blue filters or blue bulbs

  • It's all far too crude

    I quite agree with Vince Powell on the state of British comedy at the moment. In many cases, it is crude and entirely unsuitable for family viewing. The good comedy programmes years ago were funny and you could watch them with the children, not worried

  • Comedy shows aren't funny

    Vince Powell is right. Most TV comedy is inane and unfunny. My husband and I watch less and less and some evenings the TV is never on. It's not only the lack of good comedy. There is rarely a good film or detective thriller. We don't watch soaps, "make-over

  • Rail needs all-party rescue plan

    I am no lover of New Labour but to expect the Government to correct 30 years of under-investment in railways in three years is ludicrous. As with health, education and the integrated transport policy, only a long-term strategy agreed by all mainstream

  • Rail chaos is Tories' fault

    The disaster on our railways today is entirely due to the privatisation by the previous Tory government and I feel strongly it should be brought to account for the situation we now find ourselves in. For 18 years, the Tories underfunded British Rail because

  • Is your home a toxic trap?

    Walking home along the polluted city streets, you could be forgiven for thinking of your home as a sanctuary from the fumes. But when you get indoors you could be breathing in just as much pollution as you were outside. And it could be causing you as

  • Don't blame Sarah for fading fortunes

    We just do not understand how councillors can use the Sarah Payne murder as an excuse for why Littlehampton has lost visitors. The town has gone downhill for the past 12 years. The greed of the council is why shops are closing to make way for yuppie housing

  • No festive spirit at phone firm

    On Christmas Day, I spent considerable time online, sending emails to friends and relations. When I received my monthly account from NTL, I was shocked to find I was paying a special rate. I was informed NTL does not recognise Christmas Day or bank holidays

  • How I deal with Jehovah's Witnesses

    Well done Jane White (January 16) for banging away at the door where the Jehovah's Witnesses had their meeting. They call on me, too, and I try hard not to be rude but they are so "in your face". Recently, I purchased a poster for my front door that reads

  • Money can't buy common sense

    With the gold leaf on the office door of the new Chief Constable of Sussex barely set, I note bleeding the public of more money is his idea of improving police efficiency. From my own recent experiences, I can assure the chief constable that Sussex Police

  • Restaurant goes smoke-free

    Chef Anthony Sturge has banned smoking from his restaurant in tribute to his father, who is dying of throat cancer. Smokers have been asked not to light up in Quentins Restaurant, Hove, since the beginning of the year and the new policy is already proving

  • Theatre boss to quit

    The chief executive of the Theatre Royal in Brighton is stepping down, the second key figure to depart this month. Mark Courtice will leave at the end of the month after a year in the post. In a statement, owners Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) said he

  • Stabbed woman's funeral

    The funeral of a woman stabbed to death in her Eastbourne home was taking place today. A service for friends and family of Kim Baldry was to be held at St Michael and All Angels Church, Willingdon Road, Eastbourne, before a private cremation. Dozens of

  • Clean-up proves anything's possible

    We have seen a massive improvement in Brighton and Hove's street cleaning and rubbish disposal in the past few months. If this is solely due to the appointment of a new chief executive, then it's terrific - but how useless were the previous chief executive

  • Council's so unimaginative

    The thought of the White Admiral pub in Lower Bevendean being turned into residential housing is both sad and predictable. If it cannot reopen as a pub, surely this is a good opportunity for Lower Bevendean to have its own community centre? Of course

  • Brixton on Sea

    When will the planning department, together with get-rich-quick architects and builders, stop vandalising Brighton? The Marina is a concrete eyesore, Madeira Drive - once an attractive seafront walk - is now like a slum area. The Palace Pier should never

  • Boxing: Wayne is on track to be a Euro star

    Wayne Alexander's bid to rule the world is bang on course. The Hailsham-based light-middleweight has the chance to add the European title to his British crown when he takes on Italian Paolo Pizzamiglio at York Hall, Bethnal Green, tomorrow. The next step

  • Coach Nick will break the mould

    Nick Nurse is ready to break the mould at the All-Star game. The Brighton Bears coach will send his players out at Newcastle Telewest Arena on Sunday and tell them to play some defence. This is the 14th All-Star occasion and no team has ever scored less

  • Pupils like Pogo

    Pupils at a prep school are leaping into action to try to emulate their champion PE teacher's sporting prowess. Pogo Paterson, 29, hit the headlines a decade ago as one of Britain's top women rugby players. She became hooked on the game while studying

  • Creche course in economics

    I must be excessively naive. I had always assumed the Churchill Centre creche was a facility provided by the centre's owners or the shops therein to encourage parents with small children to shop in the centre. It turns out the creche is a private enterprise

  • Smoking out a bad habit

    If people could be taken back half a century, what is the biggest change they would notice? It might be the absence of traffic in many streets or the fact that there were only a few small black and white televisions about. But it's likely that they would

  • Cruel market forces

    I am amazed the Old Market in Hove appears to be "business as usual" when all the staff were so cruelly dismissed four days before Christmas. I was also shocked at the flippant response of Bob Minton with regards to the staff's outstanding money - "The

  • Gang attack puts man in hospital

    A man was left with six broken ribs and a collapsed lung when he was beaten up by a group of thugs in an unprovoked attack. He was set upon last night outside the Spar shop at the Southgate Drive shopping parade in Crawley. The gang repeatedly kicked

  • Schools in for £60m shake-up

    Parents are being asked their views on a £60 million shake-up of Crawley's schooling system. They have joined teachers, councillors and school governors in the first stage of consultations on proposals to create mainly all-through primary schools. It

  • £100,000 to ease homeless crisis

    Homelessness in the Arun district has reached crisis point, with the council spending more than double last year's sum on temporary accommodation. Arun District Council has had to push up its anticipated budget for 2002 to 2003 from £70,000 to £170,000

  • Pitch invader punches boy, 13

    A youth team football match had to be abandoned after an adult spectator ran on to the pitch and punched a 13-year-old player in the face. Police and the Sussex Football Association (SFA) are investigating the incident, which took place during an under

  • Lehmann for Motherwell

    Albion striker Dirk Lehmann is on his way back up to Scotland to sign for Motherwell for the rest of the season. The Premier League strugglers would prefer to take him on loan, but Albion want them to take over his contract which expires in the summer

  • Christmas cheer for QS

    Hove-based budget clothing retailer QS posted a spark in festive sales as shoppers snapped up low-cost women's and children's wear. Like-for-like sales over the seven weeks to January 12 improved 4.3%, slightly ahead of expectations. A spokesman said

  • Terror won't dent travel plans

    Britons' appetite for foreign holidays has not been dented by the war on terrorism, according to research published today. Two new surveys reveal holidaymakers preparing to splash out on trips abroad, with those planning trips to the US up on last year

  • Palmeira inquiry: Latest

    Council lawyers were not asked for help when a new service for children with severe learning difficulties was started. Jonathan Vernon-Hunt, a member of Brighton and Hove City Council's legal services team, told an inquiry into the Palmeira House affair

  • Convent flats plan on hold

    Plans to turn a former convent in Bexhill into flats have been postponed. Members of Rother District Council's planning committee met yesterday to discuss the application to turn Nazareth House in Bexhill into 93 flats. They decided the decision should

  • Schools database under fire

    Angry parents have condemned the Government's new schools census - a database of pupil information - as an invasion of their privacy. Sussex opponents say the census amounted to a national identity scheme. Until now, the annual information schools have

  • Girl, 17, in armed raid terror

    A teenage girl screamed for help when robbers tricked their way into her Brighton flat and threatened her with a gun. The 17-year-old girl let two men into her home in Brookmead flats, Albion Street, at 8.15am yesterday after they rang the door bell claiming

  • OK for health trusts merger

    Two major hospital trusts are to merge, it was confirmed today. Brighton Health Care and Mid Sussex NHS trusts will join to create the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. Brighton chief executive Stuart Welling is expected to take over

  • Sad goodbye to traveller

    There could be no doubting the love and respect which road crash victim Robert Giles earned during his short life. The funeral yesterday of the 23-year-old from a family of travellers was one of the biggest seen in Sussex in recent years. Flowers really

  • Crime victims' £1m car costs

    Innocent car crime victims in Sussex are paying almost £1 million a year to get their vehicles back from the pound. About 12,000 motorists face bills of at least £105 to collect their cars after they have been towed to pounds under police instructions

  • Student suicide verdict

    A university student threw himself off 45ft-high scaffolding in a depressed state on the morning he was due to start lectures, an inquest heard. The body of 20-year-old James Pickford was found by a passer-by at the top of Black Boy Hill in Clifton, Bristol

  • Police camera action for estate

    A CCTV scheme to boost security on a Brighton housing estate is set to win approval next week. Six cameras costing £274,385 will monitor the North Moulsecoomb estate in east Brighton 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The scheme is expected to be approved

  • School makes more room

    Teachers and pupils are celebrating the arrival of a new classroom to ease overcrowding at a village primary school. The mobile classroom was installed at East Hoathly CE School, near Uckfield. Head teacher Paula Duff said: "It's brilliant. We are a popular

  • Poetry on the pitch

    Reading The Argus' special publication "Halfway There" (January 14) made me think of some verse I wrote in March 1983 for the Cup Final I attended, called Cup-Tie Fever: Here We Go, Here We Go ... -Jim Seal, Burstead Close, Brighton

  • Alternative site for stadium

    There is one alternative site to Falmer I have never heard mentioned. I understand it is jointly owned by the councils of Brighton and Hove, Shoreham and Worthing. It already has excellent road and rail services that could be easily extended right into

  • MP should lose weight

    Reading about the Government's concern with obesity (The Argus, January 16), I was struck by a photo of Hove MP Ivor Caplin. I remember him being somewhat slimmer a decade ago. Perhaps he should lead by example and lose some weight - I am sure a local

  • Hove's shabby treatment

    Does anyone know where the new Hove General Hospital is? Jim Marshall (Letters, January 10) boasted about the Hove Polyclinic and the Mill View Hospital but where is the new Hove General we were promised? My friend has to vacate his allotment because

  • Made in Brighton: Sir Donald Sinden

    Sixty years ago next week, the actor Sir Donald Sinden made his stage debut at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. The 18-year-old apprentice joiner was nervous as he prepared for his performance. Little did he realise as he walked out under into the blazing

  • It's all far too crude

    I quite agree with Vince Powell on the state of British comedy at the moment. In many cases, it is crude and entirely unsuitable for family viewing. The good comedy programmes years ago were funny and you could watch them with the children, not worried

  • Dismal TV tripe

    How correct was Vince Powell in his article on comedy on TV these days. I agree 100 per cent with everything he wrote. Comedy is absolute tripe and my whole family cannot bring ourselves to give even a wry smile at today's offerings. Bring back the good

  • Rats thrive on takeaway food

    The boom in fast food outlets is fuelling a rat population explosion in Sussex, according to a national report. But the number of mice in the county is falling. The National Rodent Survey Report for 2001 found the number of brown rats across Sussex, Kent

  • Vince is right about comedy

    I fully endorse the comments made by Vince Powell in "It's a matter of laughter" (January 14). When I look at the scheduled programmes some evenings, I can't wait to switch to Sky or UK Gold to look at the repeats of some of the fantastic comedy shows

  • Rail needs all-party rescue plan

    I am no lover of New Labour but to expect the Government to correct 30 years of under-investment in railways in three years is ludicrous. As with health, education and the integrated transport policy, only a long-term strategy agreed by all mainstream

  • Rail chaos is Tories' fault

    The disaster on our railways today is entirely due to the privatisation by the previous Tory government and I feel strongly it should be brought to account for the situation we now find ourselves in. For 18 years, the Tories underfunded British Rail because

  • Is your home a toxic trap?

    Walking home along the polluted city streets, you could be forgiven for thinking of your home as a sanctuary from the fumes. But when you get indoors you could be breathing in just as much pollution as you were outside. And it could be causing you as

  • Don't blame Sarah for fading fortunes

    We just do not understand how councillors can use the Sarah Payne murder as an excuse for why Littlehampton has lost visitors. The town has gone downhill for the past 12 years. The greed of the council is why shops are closing to make way for yuppie housing

  • Clean-up proves anything's possible

    We have seen a massive improvement in Brighton and Hove's street cleaning and rubbish disposal in the past few months. If this is solely due to the appointment of a new chief executive, then it's terrific - but how useless were the previous chief executive

  • Community needs this pub

    I have to express my concern for residents of Bevendean and the possible loss of the White Admiral pub to housing (The Argus, January 14). Why do planners and developes always think they know what's best? Bevendean is a little "town" in its own right

  • Best care

    The proposal for flats in Carlisle Road, Hove (The Argus, January 11) is part of the partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton Housing Trust and South Downs Health to deal with the very pressing housing needs of people with mental health

  • Boxing: Wayne is on track to be a Euro star

    Wayne Alexander's bid to rule the world is bang on course. The Hailsham-based light-middleweight has the chance to add the European title to his British crown when he takes on Italian Paolo Pizzamiglio at York Hall, Bethnal Green, tomorrow. The next step

  • Coach Nick will break the mould

    Nick Nurse is ready to break the mould at the All-Star game. The Brighton Bears coach will send his players out at Newcastle Telewest Arena on Sunday and tell them to play some defence. This is the 14th All-Star occasion and no team has ever scored less

  • Pupils like Pogo

    Pupils at a prep school are leaping into action to try to emulate their champion PE teacher's sporting prowess. Pogo Paterson, 29, hit the headlines a decade ago as one of Britain's top women rugby players. She became hooked on the game while studying

  • Creche course in economics

    I must be excessively naive. I had always assumed the Churchill Centre creche was a facility provided by the centre's owners or the shops therein to encourage parents with small children to shop in the centre. It turns out the creche is a private enterprise

  • Dr Martens League: Carroll is injury worry for Crawley

    Goal-scoring midfielder Danny Carroll is Crawley's big doubt for tomorrow's home game against Welling. Carroll limped off during Tuesday's Senior Cup win over Rye with a hamstring injury and will need a fitness test. Stewart Holmes is fit after an ankle

  • Smoking out a bad habit

    If people could be taken back half a century, what is the biggest change they would notice? It might be the absence of traffic in many streets or the fact that there were only a few small black and white televisions about. But it's likely that they would

  • Cruel market forces

    I am amazed the Old Market in Hove appears to be "business as usual" when all the staff were so cruelly dismissed four days before Christmas. I was also shocked at the flippant response of Bob Minton with regards to the staff's outstanding money - "The

  • FA Vase: Rooks must be at their best

    Lewes return to Stoke tomorrow knowing another top shelf performance is necessary. The Rooks turned in an impressive display when losing to Stoke City in the first round of the FA Cup in November. Now they must play equally well to beat North West Counties

  • Harry was lucky. My girl didn't get help

    I was surprised at some of the responses concerning Prince Harry and his cannabis smoking and under-age drinking. It seems it has been accepted by some as either part of growing up or "isn't it funny when someone in the public eye does something wrong

  • FA Vase: Hill warm up for Vase clash

    Burgess Hill have been preparing for their most important match of the season at a Spanish training camp. The 17-man squad arrived back at Stansted Airport last night in buoyant mood after their four-day break at La Cala where they have been preparing

  • Pitch invader punches boy, 13

    A youth team football match had to be abandoned after an adult spectator ran on to the pitch and punched a 13-year-old player in the face. Police and the Sussex Football Association (SFA) are investigating the incident, which took place during an under

  • Lehmann for Motherwell

    Albion striker Dirk Lehmann is on his way back up to Scotland to sign for Motherwell for the rest of the season. The Premier League strugglers would prefer to take him on loan, but Albion want them to take over his contract which expires in the summer

  • Campaigners stake national park claim

    Environmentalists placed 30 wooden stakes around a nature spot in their campaign to get it included in the proposed South Downs National Park. The volunteers from the Friends of Whitehawk Hill put the stakes around the hill in Brighton today to mark out

  • £300,000 to fight child poverty

    Community groups are to be handed almost £300,000 to fight the "scar of child poverty". The cash will be made available from April from the Government's Local Network funding scheme. Groups will be asked to bid for a slice of the money by coming up with

  • Terror won't dent travel plans

    Britons' appetite for foreign holidays has not been dented by the war on terrorism, according to research published today. Two new surveys reveal holidaymakers preparing to splash out on trips abroad, with those planning trips to the US up on last year

  • Homes 'could boost leisure project'

    New homes would help finance the redevelopment of the ailing King Alfred leisure centre in Hove, it was suggested today. Property consultants CB Hillier came up with the recommendation in a report to Brighton and Hove City Council. It is considering the

  • Girl, 17, in armed raid terror

    A teenage girl screamed for help when robbers tricked their way into her Brighton flat and threatened her with a gun. The 17-year-old girl let two men into her home in Brookmead flats, Albion Street, at 8.15am yesterday after they rang the door bell claiming

  • Cancer ops axed in beds crisis

    Cancer patients have had their operations cancelled after NHS bosses in Brighton ran out of beds. Last week, every one of more than 800 beds in hospitals belonging to Brighton Health Care NHS Trust were filled. All non-emergency operations were called

  • Crime victims' £1m car costs

    Innocent car crime victims in Sussex are paying almost £1 million a year to get their vehicles back from the pound. About 12,000 motorists face bills of at least £105 to collect their cars after they have been towed to pounds under police instructions

  • Will plastic owls mean goodbye gulls?

    It may sound like a bit of a hoot, but office workers hope a pair of plastic owls will protect them from dive-bombing gulls. Staff at Southern Water in Durrington, Worthing, have turned to the "guard owls" in a bid to scare seagulls from the roof of their

  • MP should lose weight

    Reading about the Government's concern with obesity (The Argus, January 16), I was struck by a photo of Hove MP Ivor Caplin. I remember him being somewhat slimmer a decade ago. Perhaps he should lead by example and lose some weight - I am sure a local

  • Hove's shabby treatment

    Does anyone know where the new Hove General Hospital is? Jim Marshall (Letters, January 10) boasted about the Hove Polyclinic and the Mill View Hospital but where is the new Hove General we were promised? My friend has to vacate his allotment because

  • Made in Brighton: Sir Donald Sinden

    Sixty years ago next week, the actor Sir Donald Sinden made his stage debut at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. The 18-year-old apprentice joiner was nervous as he prepared for his performance. Little did he realise as he walked out under into the blazing

  • Wave power: We've waited too long

    It is welcome to see Labour MP Des Turner speaking out on renewable energy (January 10) - and about time, too. The Greens have been championing this cause for years but are heartened to think Des might be able to persuade his political bosses at Westminster

  • Dismal TV tripe

    How correct was Vince Powell in his article on comedy on TV these days. I agree 100 per cent with everything he wrote. Comedy is absolute tripe and my whole family cannot bring ourselves to give even a wry smile at today's offerings. Bring back the good

  • Bodily functions

    How I agree with Vince Powell and his assessment of the sitcom situation today. Everybody I talk to is fed up with the lack of a real, happy, laughter-making sitcom. Most shows are crude and completely without humour of the feel-good sort we used to love

  • Rats thrive on takeaway food

    The boom in fast food outlets is fuelling a rat population explosion in Sussex, according to a national report. But the number of mice in the county is falling. The National Rodent Survey Report for 2001 found the number of brown rats across Sussex, Kent

  • Vince is right about comedy

    I fully endorse the comments made by Vince Powell in "It's a matter of laughter" (January 14). When I look at the scheduled programmes some evenings, I can't wait to switch to Sky or UK Gold to look at the repeats of some of the fantastic comedy shows

  • Think Of It This Way, by John Parry

    Beware Big Brother slipping through your letter box. Do not be beguiled by the bogeyman in the envelope. Fanciful? Absolutely not. For more than a year, millions of letters, cleverly designed to look like some kind of official survey, have been included

  • Man hurt in store hold-up

    A shop assistant needed hospital treatment after he was hit over the head in a raid on a late-night grocery store. The man was later released from hospital after the assault last night at Costcutters in Franklynn, Road, Haywards Heath. He had been approached

  • No juice for new trains

    New trains due to be introduced later this year will not be able to run properly because the network doesn't have enough power. It could be three years before the electrical supply is upgraded to enable the new trains to operate to their full potential

  • I held baby tigers

    I went to Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent last year and the zookeeper Damien Lenton and girlfriend Liz were good enough to let me hold their adopted Siberian tiger cubs, Lean and Tugar. There was only one word to describe them: "Adorable." A well-recommended

  • Golf: Hilton receives early birthday gift

    Mark Hilton, who celebrates his 24th birthday next month, picked up a handy £2,350 for joint 50th spot in the Bell's South African Open in Durban. Gaining his Sunshine Tour card last year proved a big help for Lewes-based Mark as the other Sussex players

  • Community needs this pub

    I have to express my concern for residents of Bevendean and the possible loss of the White Admiral pub to housing (The Argus, January 14). Why do planners and developes always think they know what's best? Bevendean is a little "town" in its own right

  • Golf: Turrell may return to amateur ranks

    Billy Turrell is at the cross roads on the road to becoming a professional. Having made the grade as a Sussex player four years ago, he decided to have a stab at trying to get a living from the game. He didn't get very far when coming up against the daunting

  • Hockey: Captain confident as Brighton face their toughest test

    Skipper Carlo Missirian claims tomorrow's Kent/Sussex Regional League showdown between Brighton and Holcombe is one of the biggest games in the club's history. Brighton were knocked off top spot last Saturday after just a week at the summit following

  • Best care

    The proposal for flats in Carlisle Road, Hove (The Argus, January 11) is part of the partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton Housing Trust and South Downs Health to deal with the very pressing housing needs of people with mental health

  • Dr Martens League: Carroll is injury worry for Crawley

    Goal-scoring midfielder Danny Carroll is Crawley's big doubt for tomorrow's home game against Welling. Carroll limped off during Tuesday's Senior Cup win over Rye with a hamstring injury and will need a fitness test. Stewart Holmes is fit after an ankle

  • FA Vase: Rooks must be at their best

    Lewes return to Stoke tomorrow knowing another top shelf performance is necessary. The Rooks turned in an impressive display when losing to Stoke City in the first round of the FA Cup in November. Now they must play equally well to beat North West Counties

  • Harry was lucky. My girl didn't get help

    I was surprised at some of the responses concerning Prince Harry and his cannabis smoking and under-age drinking. It seems it has been accepted by some as either part of growing up or "isn't it funny when someone in the public eye does something wrong

  • FA Vase: Hill warm up for Vase clash

    Burgess Hill have been preparing for their most important match of the season at a Spanish training camp. The 17-man squad arrived back at Stansted Airport last night in buoyant mood after their four-day break at La Cala where they have been preparing

  • Keeper Royce may stay longer

    Brighton and Hove Albion could roll goalie Simon Royce's loan spell from Leicester into a second month, says boss Peter Taylor. Royce's stint with the Seagulls is due to finish after next Thursday's trip to promotion rivals Brentford. But Taylor is keen

  • Campaigners stake national park claim

    Environmentalists placed 30 wooden stakes around a nature spot in their campaign to get it included in the proposed South Downs National Park. The volunteers from the Friends of Whitehawk Hill put the stakes around the hill in Brighton today to mark out

  • £300,000 to fight child poverty

    Community groups are to be handed almost £300,000 to fight the "scar of child poverty". The cash will be made available from April from the Government's Local Network funding scheme. Groups will be asked to bid for a slice of the money by coming up with

  • School no longer failing

    A college with a chequered history has been removed from the Government's list of failing schools. Inspectors confirmed East Brighton College of Media Arts is no longer in special measures. The secondary school in Wilson Avenue was deemed to be failing

  • Homes 'could boost leisure project'

    New homes would help finance the redevelopment of the ailing King Alfred leisure centre in Hove, it was suggested today. Property consultants CB Hillier came up with the recommendation in a report to Brighton and Hove City Council. It is considering the

  • Murder bid jury told of TV alibi

    A man accused of a horror knife attack on a teenage couple claimed he was at home watching television with his wife and children, a court heard. Ian Haywood, 37, allegedly tried to murder and rape a 17-year-old girl after dragging the teenager and her

  • Cancer ops axed in beds crisis

    Cancer patients have had their operations cancelled after NHS bosses in Brighton ran out of beds. Last week, every one of more than 800 beds in hospitals belonging to Brighton Health Care NHS Trust were filled. All non-emergency operations were called

  • Care centres face the axe

    Elderly and vulnerable people could lose day centres and voluntary services if East Sussex councillors cut social services funding by £4.2 million. At least 11 volunteer-run centres or services face the axe because East Sussex County Council needs to

  • Murder bid jury told of TV alibi

    A man accused of a horror knife attack on a teenage couple claimed he was at home watching television with his wife and children, a court heard. Ian Haywood, 37, allegedly tried to murder and rape a 17-year-old girl after dragging the teenager and her

  • Upset as tree gets the chop

    Residents in a block of flats were furious to discover a 70-year-old tree had been chopped down without their being consulted. The 40ft tulip tree had stood outside Withdean Court, off Varndean Road, Brighton, since the flats were built in the Thirties

  • Outcry over traffic calming

    Residents are demanding the removal of road safety measures from their streets only weeks after they were installed. Traffic lights, speed bumps and built-out kerbs were introduced to slow traffic in streets near the new Peacehaven Community School. East

  • Will plastic owls mean goodbye gulls?

    It may sound like a bit of a hoot, but office workers hope a pair of plastic owls will protect them from dive-bombing gulls. Staff at Southern Water in Durrington, Worthing, have turned to the "guard owls" in a bid to scare seagulls from the roof of their

  • Night bus will link towns

    A bus service has been saved following protests from passengers who would have been stranded. Connex, which last year lost the contract to operate the main routes to the Sussex coast, had planned to stop running the Railbus link between Lewes and Uckfield

  • OAP trapped in lift door

    An elderly woman was stuck in the lift of flats in Hastings for half an hour after her foot became trapped in the doors. Worried onlookers initially feared the lift would start moving with her leg still stuck fast inside. She had been trying to stop the