DEAD AGAINST IT: Nottingham City Council decides to rebrand improvement plan because it abbreviates as R.I.P
Nottingham City Council has decided to change the name of a plan to improve the way it operates because its abbreviation reads ‘RIP’, reports Notts TV.
The council is nearly £1bn in debt and is being closely monitored by the Government after getting into serious financial difficulty.
As part of its efforts to pay off the debt they created a Recovery and Improvement Plan.
The plan will detail how the authority intends to control its spending.
The updated plan will be delivered at Full Council on Monday, January 10, but will now be called The Together for Nottingham Plan.
Cllr David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council, was asked at an Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting yesterday (Wednesday, January 5), why the name of the plan had changed.
He said it had a “rather unfortunate” abbreviation.
Police make appeal for information after Notts woman is harassed
Police investigating the harassment of a woman in Notts are appealing for help in tracing the man pictured in the image above, who could help them with their investigations.
The 35-year-old victim had been at work on October 24, 2021, when she was approached by a man at around 3.15pm asking her for her phone number. She then recognised him from another incident four months prior.
Police say the woman had also been approached while at a fair with her son by a man pretending to be her partner despite being told not to and then pulled her in for a hug against her will.
Constable Liam Gamble, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Both of these incidents have been very upsetting and worrying for the victim.
“We believe that the man pictured in this image may be able to help us with our investigation and would like to urge him to come forward or for any members of the public who recognise him to come forward and help us with our enquires.
Anyone with any information or who recognises the man in the image is urged to contact the police on 101, quoting incident 473 of 25 October or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Timetable changes for NCT services due to driver shortages
Nottingham City Transport (NCT) will adopt their Saturday timetables on weekdays from Monday, January 10, 2022, to help deal with cancellations and delays to services being caused by a driver shortage.
An NCT spokesman said: “Like most other transport operators, NCT is affected by the national shortage of bus drivers, with a shortfall of around 5% on the number of drivers we need to run our current timetable.
In recent weeks, a further 5% of drivers have been unable to attend work whilst they self-isolate because of COVID, resulting in short notice cancellations.
“‘We will be operating a weekday timetable, but short notice cancellations are still likely.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience caused by short notice cancellations and thank all customers and colleagues for their continued support and patience during this difficult time.”
Blogger launches quest to find Old General statue
A Notts blogger is on a quest to uncover the whereabouts of a missing statue of an eccentric local character.
The statue of the Old General stood over the door of a Hyson Green pub of the same name for more than 100 years.
The pub, situated on the corner of Bobbers Mill Road and Radford Road, has since been redeveloped into shops and flats, and the statue hasn’t been since.
Now the Nottingham and Beyond blog has launched a quest to discover the fate of the statue and also share more details about the life of the eccentric Old General, Benjamin Mayo.
Who was ‘The Old General’?
The Old General was an eccentric local character called Benjamin Mayo, who died in 1843.
Despite his nickname he did not come from a military background, and spent most of his life drifting between workhouses.
He was immortalised in the 1890s when the Old General pub opened in the Hyson Green area of Nottingham.
A statue of him was displayed above the main entrance and became a local landmark.
The statue was famously dressed as Father Christmas each year as part of a tradition dating back to the early 1900s.
Starbucks is now offering all milk alternatives for free at Notts outlets
Starbucks has announced that all dairy alternatives are now available at no extra charge at their branches across Notts.
Starbucks UK serves five dairy alternative options – oat, soya, almond, coconut, and its exclusive Starbucks Original™ Nut Blend, which specially crafted to pair with espresso and deliver “velvety foam with an oh so creamy flavour”.
But up until now, the only diary alternative free of charge was soya.
Starbucks says that that customisation of drinks is at its core and this latest menu change will not only provide more opportunities to personalise a drink to how you like it, but also make it even easier for customers to choose whichever dairy alternative or milk they prefer, all year round.
Cadbury has now hidden ‘half and half’ Creme Eggs worth up to £10,000 in shops across UK
We’ve only just packed away the Christmas tree so it may seem a little early to be talking about Easter-themed chocolate, but Cadbury has announced that Creme Eggs are back - with a bit of a twist
Fans of the iconic chocolate eggs could be in for an extra sweet treat of up to £10,000 if they’re lucky enough to find one of the 146 “rare” Creme Eggs hidden by Cadbury.
The special new eggs are made of half milk and half white chocolate, with the classic Creme Egg filling inside and have been hidden across the UK as part of Cadbury’s ‘How Do You Not Eat Yours’ competition.
Only six Creme Eggs of the 146 hidden by Cadbury are actually worth £10,000 and these can be found in supermarket retailers such as Asda, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Morrisons.
Then there are also three eggs worth £5,000, which can be found in Waitrose, One Stop, and Booker, four eggs worth £1,000 hidden in Boots and Iceland stores, and then finally, there are another 12 eggs worth £500, which can be found hidden in Poundland stores across the UK.
The prized hidden eggs won’t look any different from the regular Creme Eggs as they’re wrapped inside the same wrapper, so you’ll only know if you’ve been lucky enough to win once you opened it.
If you’re lucky enough to bag one of the half-and-half eggs, you will have to resist eating it and instead call the number on the tin foil wrapping to register the win.
The competition runs until March 17 and you can find a list of hiding place hints on the Cadbury website here.
Notts facts…
Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant wrote their number one hit ‘West End Girls’ while staying with his cousin in the Notts village of West Leake.