MARCH: Elderly housebound after lift in flats break down MANY elderly people have been housebound for almost THREE weeks in their housing association flats as their lift has broken down. The only lift at Shaftesbury Court in Upwell Road, March, st

MARCH: Elderly housebound after lift in flats break down

MANY elderly people have been housebound for almost THREE weeks in their housing association flats as their lift has broken down.

The only lift at Shaftesbury Court in Upwell Road, March, stopped working on April 14 and is still out of order.

While tenants who can still use stairs have only been making essential trips out, others who need the lift have been stuck at home.

"It's a disgrace here," said one resident. "Some who live on the first floor can't even leave their flats.

"People have been out to try and fix the lift but it is still broken."

Another added: "We phone the housing group office in Ely and nobody knows what is going on. Everyone just wants to know when we'll have our independence back."

A Sanctuary Hereward Housing spokesman hopes the lift will repaired by today (Friday).

He said: "Residents have experienced problems with the lift and we have sent an engineer to the scheme twice in April in an effort to rectify the problem.

"He established that a control panel needed to be sent off for repair and it will be refitted this week.

"We do apologise to residents for any inconvenience the repairs to the lift and our upgrade works may have caused them.

"Clearly with a refurbishment project of this nature it is very difficult not to affect the residents in one form or another but we can assure them that the works will be completed very shortly and we are sure they will be delighted with the finished results."

In November, the Cambs Times reported that the housing association would foot electricity bills after window frames and communal heating were modernised.

Shaftesbury Court - a 24-year-old complex - is currently having a major £360,000 refurbishment.

WISBECH: Man caught drink driving twice jailed for four months<.b>

A MAN caught drink driving in Wisbech twice within five days was jailed for four months.

Ryan Wagg, 21, of Beechwood Road, Wisbech, was also banned from driving for five years after he failed a blood test and five days later he was twice over the alcohol limit when involved in a three car accident before 9am.

The court was told that Wagg had been a heavy drinker for a number of years. He had lost a £27,000 a year job with Knowles Transport because he could not get to work on time.

The drink driving offences put Wagg in breach of a three month suspended sentence and Fenland magistrates added an extra 28 days for the drink driving offences

FENLAND: Success for pupils who help encourage good citizenship

PUPILS from three Fenland schools have been awarded cups for their work in promoting and encouraging citizenship.

Cups, provided by the Fenland Links neighbourhood management programme, were awarded to one child in each class at Murrow Primary School, Wisbech St Mary Primary School and Parson Drove Primary School. Guyhirn Primary School will be starting their own scheme this term.

Staff and volunteers - in some cases helped by children - decided which child should be awarded a cup, based on behaviour, attitude and actions throughout the term. This ties in with several school initiatives within the curriculum and additional projects.

The cup is held by the award holder for one term, after which it is then awarded to another child. The school decides if cups are to be taken home or displayed in school.

The aims of the award are to make children aware of the cups, the ethos of citizenship and how they can contribute. They are also seen as an incentive to achieve in areas other than academia or sport.

EMNETH: Plea to bikers wanting to sign up for Queens Head Cruisers

The first ride out of the Queens Head Cruisers is due to take place on Sunday 18th May. All Cruisers should meet at the Emneth pub for 12 o'clock. The club aims to raise money for charity alongside having an enjoyable ride out once a fortnight. There will also be a meeting at the pub on Tuesday 20th May at 8pm for any further queries or for motorcyclists to air their views. We hope to see you all on Sunday 18th May, for further info ring Perry on 01945 465244

TURBINES: Fenland campaign group's statement following consultation meeting

MARSHLAND Wind Farm Ltd has yet again chosen to portray a hugely distorted view of events, claims anti turbine group FLAT.

"It is therefore necessary to set the record straight!" said a statement issued today.

"Lyndon Mason the Chairman of FLAT attended the consultation meeting at Marshland St James last Thursday with a view to try and find out the facts that the developers would rather you didn't know.

"Such as the turbines that they are proposing to build DO NOT YET EXIST!! The Enercon E82 is only currently available in a 2MW version with the 3MW model (the model proposed for Marshland Fen) only being at the prototype stage.

"This means that people in this locality will be "Guinea Pigs" for untried technology. Mr Mason was amicably discussing this fact with a representative from the Developers when Ian Robinson (the consultant who doesn't consult!!) rudely interrupted the conversation.

"He then continued in his usual antagonistic manner (as already shown to the 350 people at our first Public meeting last May) and was particularly rude to Mr Mason making a number of accusations against him. Mr Robinson continued to get even more aggressive and was actually told to calm down by his boss. Members of the public who were present told Mr Robinson exactly what they thought of his behaviour which seemed to wind him up even more.

"At this stage Mr Mason left the building to answer a mobile phone call and was then refused re-entry after being told he was being "disruptive". A conversation ensued between Mr Robinson and David Markinson (the local Borough councillor) who wanted to know why one of his Parishioners was being denied access to a Public Meeting. Mr Robinson in his usual insulting way, continued to try and lie his way out of the situation and concluded by calling Mr Mason "a silly bugger".

"However FLAT are pleased to be able to report that Mr Mason was allowed to attend the Tilney consultation meeting on Friday, where he was able to continue his previous conversation with the representative from the Developers without being interrupted by Mr Robinson. A lot of information was gained from this conversation and once the distraction of the behaviour of Ian Robinson has been put to bed, we at FLAT will be making this information public.

"We at FLAT (and probably the Press) would be interested to hear about your experience at the consultation events, especially what you thought of the "quality" of answers given to any of your questions. Did you have the opportunity to give your written views on Thursday or did you arrive after 6:30 by which time they had conveniently run out of consultation forms!!!"

FLAT can be contacted via our website i.e. www.flat-group.co.uk.

WISBECH: Man went shoplifting after release from jail

HUNGRY shoplifter Jonathon Holmes stole 10 packs of bacon after he ran out of cash after being released from jail.

"He came out of Peterborough prison, and by last week he had no money," solicitor Roger Glazebrook explained to Fenland magistrates. "He signed on, but will get no money until Thursday."

Forty-year-old Holmes - who has 100 previous convictions for theft -- admitted stealing bacon worth £26.90 from McColls in Wisbech on May 1.

Holmes, of Henson Close, Wisbech, had come off drugs before he was jailed for 28 days on April 9, said Mr Glazebrook, and has stayed off drugs since his release.

"He came out of prison trying not to commit further offences, but he ran out of people to help him," he said. "He stole the bacon to sell, to get some money."

BURMA CRISIS: Local churches say how you can help

Rev. Tiffany Conlin, chairperson of Wisbech Church Together and Mrs.

Margaret Cave, local Christian Aid organiser said today: "As we view the

scenes of devastation on our TV. screens from Burma this week we urge readers and listeners to remember that next Week May 11th-18th is Christian Aid week when collectors will be out knocking on doors.

"Christian Aid is a key player among the Aid agencies who are helping to alleviate the worse effects of this disaster. Please give generously confident that your contributions will be swiftly and expertly put to work."

TILECRAFT: Reader responds to installations problem re March firm

Hello, I am responding to your article in the Cambs Times dated Friday 2nd May, 2008, in which you ask for Tilecraft customers waiting for installations to contact you, writes Rosemary Holmes.

I am a very worried and upset customer who has not received the service which was promised by Tilecraft Interiors. This is my story:-

On 4th February I signed two contracts for a bathroom and cloakroom installation, by 'Tilecraft Interiors' and I paid a deposit of £1,250.00 (by cheque). I was promised that the work would begin as soon as possible and after several weeks of waiting, I later learned that Tilecraft Interiors Ltd., Peterborough, had been Dissolved on 19th February, 2008, and this started my alarm bells ringing.

I immediately sent a letter to Tilecraft Interiors, Unit 3, Station Road, March, Cambridgeshire on 13th March,2008, as this was the showroom that I went to, asking when the work would start and I also stated that if they could not give me a starting date, I wanted the return of my deposit. I still heard nothing and one week later I telephoned the March office and was told by Stephen Vanschagen (who said he was the Manager) that the work would start on 14th April, 2008.

Again, I heard nothing from this company and on 4th April, phoned the March office and spoke to Mark Shoesmith who said that there had been 'problems' but he assured me that there would be no problem in returning my deposit or completing the installation. He said that he would get back to me and explain what was happening within the week.

Mr Shoesmith never contacted me and I wrote to him on 10th April, explaining that the bathroom/cloakroom update was for a member of the family who was disabled and the installation was urgently required to help with his care needs. I asked him for the return of my money and I have heard nothing from this man or anyone else from his company.

I feel that my money was taken by deception, I believe that I was strung along to buy time while this firm folded and I do not think that this firm had any intention of supplying the services which they promised me when I signed the contracts. Can you help at all please?

* email news@cambs-times.co.uk with information.