JOYOUS scenes greeted the Labour conference when Jeremy Corbyn urged agreeable delegates to "take on the Tories", but is the end nigh?

Worcestershire's Jemima Packington, Britain's famed 'Asparamancer' who predicts the future by tossing spears of the vegetable into the air to see how it lands, has been considering the Labour leader's future - and it ain't good.

She predicts both Mr Corbyn and his shadow chancellor John McDonnell should consider "alternative employment by the end of 2016".

Yikes!

* YOU'VE all heard of Worcestershire County Council turning to the private sector but nothing, it seems, is now off limits.

In an effort to make its PR operation slicker, County Hall bigwigs have turned to an outside publicity firm for 'extra help' in getting key messages across when it comes to road repairs.

Rather than rely on the overworked and underpaid in-house communications team, 'creative marketing' firm Gough Bailey Wright has been hired to assist with the PR on the £12 million Driving Home scheme.

How long will it be, we wonder, before the whole department is 'commissioned' off into the sunset?

* IT'S been a few years since John Buckley left County Hall, but it appears the cloud over his departure still lingers.

Mr Buckley caused sensations by quitting the Labour Party in 2009 despite being the opposition's group leader, citing a series of big fallouts with colleagues like then-MP Mike Foster.

He's resurfaced on social media now, telling people when he was Labour group leader he was "constantly abused".

Meow.

* FORMER England boss Sam Allardyce walks from the nation's football team a disgraced man, but he isn't getting much sympathy from our MPs.

Mid-Worcestershire's Nigel Huddleston, known for his tough grillings on parliament's culture, media and sport select committee, went onto Twitter to make a mockery of Big Sam's "entrapment" claims.

"Right move by the FA to sack Allardyce - I hope the next England manager has more staying power," he said.

* ONE of our MEPs has appeared to lose the plot, with Labour's Sion Simon saying the region needs a "super premium global football brand", leading to media outlets speculating that the man who could become the West Midlands' first ever mayor wants teams like Villa, Albion and Wolves to merge.

Mr Simon, a Baggies fan, quickly backtracked by insisting that wasn't his intention - but the fury it sparked among footy fans has spread to leafy Worcestershire.

One exasperated reader writes: "If only we could have one politician for the area."