That was the year that was...

January

CONCERNED Droitwich Spa town councillor John Cook (Lab, Droit.West) blasted bus company First Midland Red which left Westlands pensioners stranded over the holiday period. He was disgusted when he saw elderly and disabled people waiting for buses, which never arrived. The bus company said there was confusion because the bank holiday period was longer than usual.

A DEVASTATED Westlands mum called for help to catch thugs who broke her kitten's leg. Latasha Pagett, of Hunters Close, found her five-month-old kitten in shock, unable to walk and with a muddy boot mark on his back leg. Neighbours told her he had been seen earlier with three youths

A FUNDRAISING cabbie said it with flowers when he commended the Droitwich Spa Advertiser for help and support over the past year. Paul Williams works for Spa-based NY Taxis which raises cash for good causes in the town. Your No.1 newspaper was thanked for coverage of the money spinning events.

OUTRAGED Droitwich Spa families turned out in force at council headquarters to call for a convicted sex attacker to be moved out of the area. They demanded Droitwich Spa Town Council took action about Kevin Milton, aged 34, of Bourne Close. The calls came just days after he was hauled before Worcester Crown Court where he admitted exposing himself to children.

February

A DEFIANT 81-year-old Spa woman, jailed for not paying her taxes, vowed to fight on after spending two days behind bars. Nellie Copson was sentenced to 14 days in prison by Droitwich magistrates because she refused to pay Wychavon District Council £2,726 in rates on her empty premises, in High Street. The decision sparked a national outcry and friends and traders launched a "free our Nellie" campaign. She was welcomed home with a champagne reception.

TWO wheelchair-bound sisters spent a day with the stars when they received a national award. Six-year-old Lily Hughes and Annie, aged seven, of Hanbury Wharf, both have spinal muscular dystrophy and earned the Millennium Child of Achievement Award. The brave pair were whisked off to London where they were presented with a trophy by TV stars Gaby Roslin and Richard Wilson and introduced to former Prime Minister John Major and Conservative Party leader William Hague.

WORK began on a £30m dairy, which was expected to bring more than 500 jobs to Droitwich Spa. Robert Wiseman Dairies started work on its development at the huge Stonebridge Cross Business Park, in Hampton Lovett.

March

POLICE launched a murder inquiry after a mum-of-five was found stabbed to death in her Spa home. Sue Gethins, of Paddock Way, Westlands, was found in an upstairs bedroom. Her husband, Paul Gethins, aged 50, was charged with murder.

FURIOUS residents demanded answers from Droitwich Spa Town Council about a controversial community centre set to be built in the south of the town. Around 30 people attended the authority's meeting to ask why families were being kept in the dark over plans to build the facility on the Ridings estate. Many families were opposed to the centre being built.

April

LIGHT problems at Cutnall Green First School were sorted out thanks to an Elmley Lovett-based company. The pupils, in School Road, could not read their new computer screens because of the amount of sunlight flooding through huge windows. Old venetian blinds were beyond repair so staff were facing a huge curtain bill until Egbert H Taylor Co stumped up the cash.

OUTRAGED civic leaders called for "trash to be kept off the streets" after the National Front applied to march through Droitwich Spa. The event, organised to mark St George's Day, was eventually held in neighbouring Bromsgrove.

A TASTE of Europe came to Droitwich when sellers from more than seven countries gathered in Victoria Square for a three-day event. French cheeses Greek olives and Italian leather goods were among the wares for sale.

A MUSICAL which caused a race row sold out in Droitwich Spa. Studley Operatic Society's production of Showboat at the Norbury Theatre, in Friar Street, was packed out on opening night. The group chose to stage shows in the Spa because Redditch Borough Council refused to let white actors "black up" for the production.

May

AN advertising campaign making fun of ginger haired people was described as "upsetting and irresponsible" by Droitwich Spa MP Peter Luff. The Tory MP for Mid-Worcestershire, who is married to a red head, hit out at Worcester-based npower. The company's "There are some things in life you can't change" campaign showed a ginger haired family. Mr Luff said the advert suggested red hair was a disability.

OUTRAGED campaigners had their pleas to turf a convicted child sex offender out of their village ignored. Cutnall Green residents sent a 50-name petition to Droit-wich magistrates calling for Ronald Green, aged 75, to be removed from his 73-year-old brother Christopher's home, in Elmley Lane. He was bailed to the address to await sentence after appearing at Worcester magistrates where he admitted a series of sex offences against a ten-year-old boy. He was later jailed for two years.

A GRIEF-STRICKEN Droitwich Spa couple, who lost their son to cancer, launched a fundraising campaign to buy equipment for the hospital where he was treated. Six-year-old Alistair Wainwright died on May 12 after a year-long battle with a brain tumour. His parents, Nigel and Deborah, of Charles Dickens Close, have now raised £9,000 for the Diana, Princess of Wales Children's Hospital, Birmingham. They aim to raise a further £25,000 next year.

WOMEN gathered at the town's war memorial on May Day to celebrate their own landmark in history. The parade organised by Droitwich Royal British Legion Women's Section marked the group's 45th anniversary and the Millennium.

June

A FORMER Droitwich Spa High School pupil had a lucky escape when he walked unscathed from a blaze which killed 15 people in Australia. Adam Gutteridge, aged 26, was stopping at the Backpacker Palace, in Queensland, when a fire broke out. The Cambridge University graduate, who had lived in The Holloway for 20 years, walked through the smoke to safety.

LOVE was in the air when a Droitwich man married a woman from the Spa's German twin town. Nick Brownjohn and Sandy Reiff, from Bad Ems, met during an exchange to Germany four years ago. They married at St Peter's Church, in The Holloway, watched by guests from both countries. They have set up home in the Spa.

A SENIOR teacher was sacked amid claims she bullied fellow staff at Droitwich Spa High School. Ruta Rusenieks, head of languages at the Briar Mill site, was dismissed following an 11-hour hearing before three governors.

VANDALS attacked a Droitwich church for the second time in four weeks. Seven gravestones at St Augustine's Church, Dodderhill, were knocked over during the wrecking spree.

A WAR hero rubbed shoulders with royalty during a trip when he was made an honorary citizen of the French town where he miraculously survived a Nazi massacre in a barn. Alfred Tombs, of Doverdale Park, survived the atrocity in Esquelbecq, in 1940. He was one of only five out of 50 men to escape with his life. He returned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation and met the Prince of Wales. The mayor of the town gave him a plaque and two bottles of local beer.

July

TOP level talks were set to take place to breathe life into a historic hotel which has stood derelict for more than 15 years. Town-based developer Bryant Homes Mercia sent a letter to Wychavon District Council asking to meet with planning bosses to discuss the Worcestershire Brine Baths Hotel.

A WAR veteran from Droitwich Spa was devastated after discovering the camera he used on an emotional trip to Dunkirk had no film in it. Percy Williams, of Camp Hill, had saved up his pension for five years so he could meet up with old comrades to mark the 60th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation.

DROITWICH Salvation Army launched a £250,000 fundraising project to extend its premises. The group wanted to extend the ground floor of the Ombersley Way headquarters.

August

AMBITIOUS plans to reopen the Spa's landlocked canals were backed as part of a multi million pound British Waterways scheme. At the waterway giant's annual London meeting, it pledged to use some of the cash to fund the proposed creation of a 22-mile cruising ring.

ELDERLY and disabled residents who feared they could lose two long-running day care centres were given a lifeline. Droitwich Spa Age Concern stepped in with a £30,000 rescue package to save Droitwich Fellowship for the Handicapped and the Mayflower Club, which were facing closure because of a lack of funds and volunteers.

AN internationally acclaimed healing minister announced he was coming to town to help the sick. Evangelist the Rev Melvin Banks claims he uses the power of God to perform miracles. He planned to visit Emmanuel Church, in Blake Avenue.

September

WE launched an appeal to Keep the Pamela May Afloat. We stepped in to help shipmates on the Pamela May - a narrowboat moored at Hanbury Wharf, which runs trips for the elderly and disabled. Readers were asked to raise £5,000 for the maintenance and running of the boat. They exceeded all expectations by donating more than £7,000.

QUEUES of panic-stricken drivers drained pumps at Droitwich Spa filling stations causing chaos across town. Sold out signs were put up outside forecourts as drivers raced to fill their tanks before blockades at depots and refineries brought the country to a halt.

October

A GERMAN soldier who was held as a prisoner of war in Droitwich revisited the camp for the first time in fifty years - thanks to Spa historian Nellie Copson. Josef Nohlen, aged 75, from Cologne, was imprisoned in Britain from 1946 to 1948 and spent more than a year at Camp 54 - now Doverdale Park, in Hampton Lovett. When he returned to the town he could not work out where the camp would have been. He was directed to Nellie who remembered the site and took him on a trip down Memory Lane.

CHEWING gum was blasted from Droitwich streets as part of a clean-up campaign. The gum fighters came to town armed with high pressure water jets and detergent after the Spa was identified as a chewing gum blackspot.

November

DROITWICH Spa MP Peter Luff said the town's main post office could be in danger. The Tory MP feared counters in Ombersley Street East would shut as part of a national restructuring scheme. The Post Office said it had no plans to change its location or how the service was run.

A SPA business was counting the cost of the stormy weather. An employee at Droitwich Land Rover, in Hanbury Street, arrived at work on a Monday morning to discover three crushed vehicles. They had been hit by an uprooted horse chestnut tree.

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THE naked and battered body of 25-year-old Rosemary Corcoran, from Birmingham, was found by a man walking his dog in Rashwood, near Droitwich. Police launched a major inquiry and days later Phillip Smith, of Sparkbrook, was charged with murder. The 35-year-old has since been charged with the murders of two other women.

December

FAMILIES from Westlands were disgusted to find their streets piled high with household junk after a mix-up over rubbish collection. Mounds of broken furniture, fridge freezers, sofas and boxes of rubbish were strewn across the Droitwich Spa estate. Wychavon District Council had organised a collection for half of Westlands but was forced to organise another round to clear the mess.

A RETIRED Droitwich nurse told the nation about a near death experience in a television documentary about angels. Dave Barber, of Berrill Close, featured in BBC 1's Everyman documentary. He spoke about seeing his dead gran who helped save him when he was drowning at the town's Lido Park, in 1981.