Reporting local life since 1854 40pThursday, January 19, 2012

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DON’T MISS YOUR 36-PAGE PROPERTY PULLOUT INSIDEDeceased namedafter road fightPOLICE have named a manwho died following a fight.

Peter Greene, aged 43, ofBeaconsfield Drive, Blurton,died in hospital on Monday.

He had been involved in an“a l t e rc at i o n ” on Sunday night.

But tests showed the minorinjuries he suffered wereinsufficient to have killed him.

More tests are now beingdone to find the cause of deathand three people arrested inconnection with the incidentwere bailed until Febr uary.

Coates deniesoffer for JonesSTOKE City chairman PeterCoates has dismissed claimsthe club has been approachedwith a bid for strikerKenwyne Jones.

He said reports of a£5 million offer from Al-Hilalin Saudi Arabia were“s p e c u l at i o n ”.See Back Page

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Free trips would help force cut £900k from travel budgetBY ALEX CAMPBELLalex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk

POLICE in Staffordshire are to betold to use buses while out on patrol –to cut back on the cost of cars.

Talks are under way betweenStaffordshire Police and public trans-port firms about allowing more uni-formed officers and PCSOs to travelf re e.

The force wants to cut £900,000from its £5.8 million annual trans-port budget and hopes puttingbobbies on buses and trains willcut the use of fuel and fleet cars.

Senior officers today reassuredresidents that officers will not usepublic transport to get to emer-gency calls.

Staffordshire Police Authority con-sidered the plan yesterday.

Selwyn Brown, of North Stafford-shire bus-users group ACES, saidtoday: “I applaud the plan.

“Anything that can help us feelsafer is good.

“Years ago, you used to see policeofficers on buses all the time. Theywere part of the community.

“If they are going to be seen on thebuses again it will improve

their standing in the com-munity, because the feeling isyou only see them when

t h e re ’s trouble.”Some officers already travel

on First buses for free, butpolice now want to formalise

and extend the arrangement.

First Midlands network managerPaul de Santis, pictured left, said:“Having officers on buses providesreassurance to passengers and alsoenables the police to go about theird u t i e s.

“Anything that can reduce theamount of fuel used and the numberof cars on the road is a good thing.”

Staffordshire Police are trying tosave £38 million by 2015 because ofrecent cuts in spending from theGover nment.

A police spokesman said: “Histor-ically, some local arrangements haveexisted in parts of Staffordshire toallow police officers to use publictransport free of charge.

“As part of our transport review,we ’ll be speaking to bus and train

companies with the aim of formal-ising and extending this.

“As well as reducing reliance onforce vehicles, it will increase officerand PCSO visibility and provide reas-surance for other passengers.

“T here’s no question of officersusing public transport to respond tocrime; it’s simply an extra option forwhen they attend appointments, orare out on patrol.”

Leigh Gothard, chairman of thepolice authority’s performance andresources committee, said: “If itassists in officers’ roles then they willuse public transport.”

Should more officers be using thebuses? Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk

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