I AM pleased to say that this week new laws to outlaw tobacco advertising finally completed their passage through Parliament.

In recent years, steps have been taken to make health warnings on tobacco advertising larger and larger.

Unlike the slick adverts themselves, the health message hardly changes and over time its impact diminishes.

In the end, the subliminal message from the tobacco companies gets through that there is some boring Government advice about the risks of smoking but actually you can have a great life if you go out and buy that packet of fags.

After Christmas we should no longer see hoardings enticing us to smoke.

I hope this will lead to fewer people taking up smoking, more people giving up smoking and, as a direct result, a reduction in the staggering number of early deaths caused by smoking.

WITH Christmas coming, the Credit Union, at the top of Unicorn Hill in the town centre, will be busy as their savers draw on the money they have put aside this year.

However, the Credit Union is also a great place to go if you need a loan or if you have money troubles just as the pressure to spend is at its greatest.

Taking out a "no questions asked" high-interest loan can lead to crippling debts for families for years to come.

A visit to the Credit Union could help prevent some of those problems.

I welcome Redditch Council's decision last week to back a motion by Greenlands Councillor Phil Mould to support Revocation Orders for the western route for Studley bypass.

Phil has worked with me for years, campaigning to lift the planning blight that hundreds of Redditch families have endured even though funding for the scheme was withdrawn in 1996.