BROMSGROVE farmer Len Wakeman was set to lose 20 of his 50 acre holding at Hinton Fields with the widening of the M5 and building of the M42 motorway. The land had been in his family since 1903.

THE Messenger itself made the news this week. For the first time in its 123-year history the paper went tabloid. It coincided with a change of ownership and would in future be run in conjunction with the Advertiser, a free weekly paper in Bromsgrove.

PUPILS at schools in Bromsgrove could soon be able to enjoy a daily breaktime drink of milk again. The county council was to gauge demand for the service, which had ceased and which would, in future, be subsidised by the EEC.