THIS WEEK IN 1969:

SIR Gerald Nabarro, the flamboyant MP for South Worcestershire, claims in his new book Nab 1 – Portrait of the Politician that he spends considerably more than his parliamentary salary in representing his constituents at Parliament.

He writes: “I am practically the only Member who does this and it is a fallacious belief that MPs can perform their exacting, complex and supremely important role in penurious circumstances.”

He reports that this year, his Parliamentary salary and car allowance amounted to £3,250, but he spent £1,500 on secretarial and typing support, £300 in postage, £825 on a second home in London, £500 in motoring, £575 on his office at Westminster, and £300 in other expenses – total £4,000, leaving him with a deficit of £750 to find from his own pocket.

“And there are many additional expenses which an MP cannot avoid such as entertaining his constituents modestly at the House of Commons, having my wife in London with me at times and a host of incidental costs disallowed by the Inland Revenue. These added up to a further £750 in the past year – in other words, I worked for nothing in 1969 and paid my South Worcestershire constituents the sum of £1,500 to represent them.”

THIS WEEK IN 1979:

THE most spectacular fire in Worcester for many years has ravaged the Woolworth store in High Street. It took scores of firemen more than 12 hours to extinguish the flames, by which time most of the upper part of the building had been gutted and the sales area on the ground floor and basement extensively damaged and blackened.

The first estimate of the bill for the damage, loss of trade and repair work is put at £8 million. Fortunately, in contrast with the Woolworth blaze in Manchester where nine people died, there was no loss of life nor injury at Worcester.

A company spokesman said there was no question of any of the 100 staff being made redundant. Marks &Spencer and other adjoining and nearby stores were all evacuated as firemen tackled the blaze.

THIS WEEK IN 1989:

ROYAL Worcester Porcelain has produced a special plate to commemorate the 800th anniversary this year of the granting of Worcester’s first Royal Charter by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart).

The Mayor, Councillor Brenda Sheridan gratefully accepted the plate at a presentation in the Mayor’s Parlour at the Guildhall.

The anniversary of the granting of the charter is being celebrated in a big way later this month with a Royal visit by the Queen and Prince Philip who will spend a day in the city and attend a celebration lunch in the Guildhall.

● Local youngsters are being asked to save their empty drinks cans as part of a major conservation scheme to recycle 200 million cans which are wasted each year in the West Midlands alone. The scheme is being launched by Barclays Bank in conjunction with the Conservation Foundation and the Aluminium Can Recycling Association. The campaign follows the example of the USA, Canada and Australia where more than 50 per cent of aluminium cans are now being recycled. Barclays will offer cash incentives to schools to encourage their pupils to bring in aluminium cans for recycling.