UK spends £55m on disabled parking reform

The government is spending £55m on reforming the system of blue badges which allow disabled people to park for free on the street and for up to three hours on double yellow lines.

Tradesmen trained as council child abuse ‘spies’

Tradesmen working for local authorities are to be asked to report signs of child abuse and neglect as they visit the homes of council tenants.

Council cash in Icelandic banks tops £900m, says LGA

The sum of taxpayers’ money invested in collapsed Icelandic banks is now known to exceed £900m, according to the Local Government Association.

Tesco to gauge migrant number

Tesco and other supermarkets will be called in today to help work out how many immigrants have flooded into Britain.

Asylum rules ‘risk human rights’

Changes to Britain’s asylum and immigration controls could breach human rights, a European watchdog has warned. A report from the Council of Europe said UK officials should reconsider new fast-track processing procedures.

A Council is refusing to empty wheelie bins if dustmen cannot pull them with just 2 fingers

The unofficial health and safety policy is designed to protect staff from heavy bins falling off lorries.

Town’s war on Gatsos

Civic leaders say the controversial Gatsos cost taxpayers £400,000 a year – but all money from fines goes straight into Treasury coffers. Swindon Borough Council in Wiltshire believes the money would be better spent on other safety measures, like road signs and sleeping policeman.

Fury over town hall knife act

A Council has been blasted for organising a knife throwing show.

EU chiefs have secretly banned Britain from using the acre

Ministers killed it off when they put up no objection to a European Commission directive outlawing its use. The orders were nodded through by a lowly Whitehall official – not an elected Minister – during a meeting in Brussels last week.

Ice-cream sellers have been banned from playing van chimes for more than 4 seconds

The traders face prosecution if tunes such as Greensleeves and Teddy Bears’ Picnic stay on beyond the strict limit. They say the rule – part of a new code of practice – is crazy and could drive them out of business.