In brief
SOUTH CHESHIRE: More pensioners' support groups have expressed concerns about a council's plans to step up enforcement to chase vulnerable people who owe money for care services.
Cheshire East Council is discussing threatening pensioners who miss payments with court action after it was revealed 901 people in South Cheshire currently owe more than £2 million.
But pensioners' rights campaigners are calling for the council to resist taking a 'draconian' approach.
Andy Day, coordinator of the North Staffordshire Pensioners Convention expressed similar concerns for pensioners in Stoke-on-Trent.
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He said: "It's absolutely essential to handle each case sensitively and individually, rather than lumping all these people together. When people reach old age after paying their taxes all their lives they are expect a bit more help."
HARTSHILL: A meeting that aims to bring the police and communities together will take place on Monday.
The PACT meeting for residents living in Penkhull, Basford, and Hartshill will be held at the North Staffs Medical Institute, in Hartshill Road, on Monday from 6.45pm.
The event will include a talk by Paul Bicknell, a corporate fraud manager from Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
He will be telling residents about the 'spot the Cheater' campaign.
Barbara Andrew, chairman of Hartshill and Harpfields Residents' Association, said: "The meetings are lively, informative and participative, and everyone is welcome. It will address crime, community safety, traffic and parking problems, anti-social behaviour and residents' concerns."
STOKE: Plans to build 31 homes in a deprived town have been withdrawn.
The Sentinel reported last month how Devon-based Claymoss Limited had drawn up proposals to build two and three-bedroom homes on wasteland next to Woodhouse Street, Butler Street and Stamer Street, Stoke.
The scheme had been welcomed by residents who were keen to see much-needed investment in the town.
But Stoke-on-Trent City Council has now confirmed that the plans have ben withdrawn.
It is not yet clear whether a new application will be submitted.
The site used to be made up of a former PMT depot which included offices, garages and a workingmen's club.
But it was cleared more than 10 years ago after it was targeted by arsonists in 2000.
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