At this months meeting of the Borough Council's Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee Cllr Mike Heenan the Conservative Cabinet Member said that next years Council budget was already £1.1Million in the red.

Barry Stamp, along with other opposition Councillors questioned what that meant in real terms and whether or not services would be cut to help plug this gap. In his reply the Cllr Heenan said it was far to early to say that but nothing was ruled in and nothing was ruled out. He also said that Barry and the other opposition Councillors were just scare mongering.

This year the Conservatives have already scrapped bus tokens for most of the elderly who live in Stafford and Stone; they have raised car park charges in some cases by 140%; and are just about to close the neighbour housing offices at Highfields and Rickerscote as well as doing away with the door to door rent collection team.

Barry Stamp told the meeting that that the only way the Conservative run Council could balance the books was to either cut services and jobs or put up prices, and that what the Council was doing was giving the residents of the Borough notice that this was going to happen!

This year the Conservative run Borough Council have put up parking charges in Stafford by, in some cases, over 140%. Already next years budget is £1.1Million in the red. Barry Stamp is worried that to fill this gap prices are again going to rise. He is seen here checking the prices on the Doxey Road car park

Lib Dem Posters Go Missing After Euro Election Success

Did you see anyone taking Liberal Democrat posters down off lamp posts in the north of Stafford. Dozens of posters appear to have been stolen following the Euro Elections. The worst effected areas were the traffic islands at Bristol Street Motors and Parkside, while posters were also taken from Sandon Road and Beaconside. Whoever took the posters would have needed ladders or some other method of reaching quite high up the posts. The poster went missing after the Liberal Democrats were the only one of the three main political parties in Stafford to increase their share of the vote.

"I cannot understand why anyone would want to take down dozens of posters. They are not much use to anyone and will probable end up being thrown away. Stafford Police have been notified of the theft. If anyone did see these posters being removed I would be grateful if they could give me a ring," said Barry Stamp