A poor attendance was recorded at the meeting of Bromsgrove Farmers Club. Fewer than 30 of the 200 members turned out, prompting stern words from the president, Colonel Gray Cheape at the annual meeting at the Golden Lion Hotel.

He claimed that no-one had a right to complain about what went on during the year if they could not be bothered to attend the meeting. Despite the disappointing turn-out he promised to do his utmost to further the club's interests.

Dense fog and treacherous conditions in Bromsgrove made for a hazardous journey for three men named Jones. The victims, who were unrelated, included Thomas Jones, aged 53, of Chalet Rose, Finstall. He sustained facial injuries, a broken leg and fractured ribs when his pre-war Austin Seven was in collision with a utility truck near Barley Mow Lane. Belbroughton resident Cyril Jones was treated for minor injuries when he fell, getting off a bus and Arthur Jones, 56, slipped off his bike while riding past the King of Diamonds Pub in Marlbrook. The Birmingham Road resident was detained at the Cottage Hospital with concussion.

PERRY Hall, formerly the private residence of doctors and solicitors and later a country club, was sold to Holt Brewery Co. The vendor, Charles Wood, took early retirement and stated that he proposed to spend some months by the seaside before settling back in Bromsgrove.

NEARLY 50 people applied for the position of prospective Conservative candidate in Bromsgrove to replace the town's MP Michael Higgs. It was announced at a Selection Committee meeting that a shortlist of around 15 people would be drawn up and a decision would be made the following week.

A verdict of accidental death was returned at an inquest after the death of a Clent motorist. Philip Bernard Sutton, aged 26, was involved in a collision in Upton Warren and was taken to Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital but later died. At the inquest it was stated that the battery from his pick-up truck was discovered in a gutter thrown 50 ft away from the scene.