AS a mark of respect the flag at the Council House in Bromsgrove was flown at half mast following the death of Marshal Stalin, the Russian premier, on the orders of the chairman Councillor Watterson. But it was hastily pulled down when it was pointed out public flags are only flown as a tribute to the heads of nations.

A SIDEMOOR council house tenant was disappointed when his plea to be allowed to keep pigs in his garden was turned down, despite him having built a new sty. The Tories voted against the plan but Labour supported him. Councillor Jack Hudson said it was a clear case of victimisation as people renting privately owned premises were allowed to keep the animals.

FOR the second time in under seven years tragedy struck Stoke Prior woman Georgina Biggs. Her husband Thomas, aged 46, a lock keeper, during thick fog, fell into the canal and drowned. Her first husband James, Thomas' brother, had died as a result of a road accident at Sharpway Gate in April 1946.

THE clock on the spire of St John's Church, Bromsgrove, was going to be stopped for a week for an overhaul which was to cost £25.

THE savings committee in Bromsgrove came up with the idea of giving all babies born on Coronation Day five National Savings Certificates, courtesy of the town's rural district council. But the authority said it was spending enough on the big June event as it was and would not back the idea.