The getaway driver for a gang of burglars has been jailed after he admitted being involved in raids on homes across Worcestershire netting a total of 100,000.

The gang targeted empty properties during the day and broke in through back windows and doors, Worcester Crown Court heard. Many of the homes were ransacked as the burglars carried out searches for jewellery and other valuables.

In one raid, they stole jewellery worth more than 45,000 and in others, they took a number of items of sentimental value including a young mum's engagement and wedding rings and a grandmother's locket containing family pictures, the court heard. Few of the items have been recovered. One woman victim said she felt "violated" after discovering clothes strewn all around her bedroom as they hunted for valuables and some said in impact statements they were considering moving home.

Wyngrave Allen, of Hadley Court, Edgbaston, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob and was jailed for three years and nine months.

Nazreen Sultan, prosecuting, said he had been involved in 14 burglaries and one attempted burglary on various dates in November and December last year. On one day, the gang had driven to carry out raids on four homes in the Worcester area.

They made sure the property was empty to avoid confrontation and to give them more time and the victims only discovered they had been burgled when they returned from work or, on one occasion, from a two-week holiday. The raiders gained entry by breaking windows in back doors or conservatories or by forcing patio doors.

Targets included homes in Dilmore Lane, Lansdowne Crescent, Winchester Avenue, Bicton Avenue and Bevere Close in Worcester. On the last of these, they were disturbed when neighbours spotted two men acting suspiciously.

They also struck at homes in Upton Road, Powick and Leigh Grove in Droitwich, two cottages in Ombersley and one in Hindlip and houses in Elm Road, Evesham and Defford Road in Pershore. A raid on a home in Mason Ryde, Pershore, netted more than 45,000 worth of jewellery, almost half the total haul. They also struck at two homes in Stratford upon Avon.

The value of items taken ranged from several hundred to several thousand pounds, mainly made up of jewellery and electrical items including computer consoles, TVs and games, Miss Sultan told the court.

Allen was caught when he took some of the stolen computer games to sell at a store in Birmingham and his Ford Fiesta was spotted on number plate recognition systems around the areas of the burglaries.

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Jailed, the getaway driver for gang of house raiders

Residential Painting Contractors Portage MI
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The bus stop on Crow Lane, Henbury Picture: Michael Lloyd BRML20141009C-003_C

FIRST city council contractors managed to misspell the word 'bus' when painting road markings in Old Market, now they have painted a bus stop in Henbury the size of a car parking space.

The busy bus stop, opposite Henbury Library in Crow Lane, has been recently repainted to make it so small that only half a bus can fit into the space.

The lay-by originally designated for the bus stop, could comfortably accommodate a bus as it pulls in to let passengers on and off.

But it has now been cut in half, making it impossible for a bus to fit into the designated area.

And not only have the workman miscalculated the length of buses in Bristol, but also the width, as when buses pull out from the Henbury stop, the new bus lane markings running along the road are no wider than a standard cycle lane.

This is not the first time there has been a problem with bus stop markings in the city. In August, blundering workmen managed to misspell the word 'bus' while undertaking road works in Old Market.

"Bup stop" was painted onto the road surface in large yellow lettering, with the stencilled letter P used instead of S.

Chris Evans, from Henbury, was the first to spot the mix up in Crow Lane and sent his pictures into the Bristol Post.

He said: "Following the recent "Bup Stop" farce, Bristol City Council and its contractors or associates seem intent on producing yet another bus stop howler outside of Henbury Public Library in Crow Lane.

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The Bristol Post commented First there was BUP stop - now there's the Bristol bus stop that...

FITCHBURG More than $17 million is on the line for Great Wolf Resorts Inc., as the New England Regional Council of Carpenters' application to revoke state and local tax relief approved last spring for the company's latest resort in Fitchburg takes another step forward.

At the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council's meeting Sept. 24 at Worcester City Hall, the EACC agreed to create a special panel to review the carpenters union's request, which was brought after allegations surfaced that some contractors hired by Great Wolf to renovate and expand the former Holiday Inn and CoCo Key Water Park off Route 31 were paid in cash and did not carry workers' compensation insurance.

Great Wolf, based in Madison, Wisconsin, owns and operates a dozen family resorts in the U.S. and Canada under the Great Wolf Lodge brand that feature specialty restaurants, arcades, spas, fitness rooms and children's activity areas in addition to water parks at each resort. The Fitchburg resort opened in June.

In March, the EACC approved Great Wolf's application for a 20-year tax increment financing deal with Fitchburg granting the company a personal property tax exemption totaling $16,464,000 and another $680,000 in state investment tax credits.

In April, the carpenters' council sent a letter to Greg Bialecki, secretary of the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, asking his office to rescind approval of that 20-year TIF after violations were discovered at Great Wolf three months earlier.

The Department of Industrial Accidents had issued eight stop-work orders to eight contractors working on the project for not having Massachusetts workers' compensation insurance, according to DIA documents.

The stop-work orders automatically place the contractors on the DIA's debarment list, the carpenters' council said, and allegedly make the company ineligible for TIF approval.

In Great Wolf's application for the TIF, the company agreed it would not knowingly hire subcontractors or other third parties that did not have workers' compensation insurance, and the company affirmed it had not hired subcontractors within the past five years that had been debarred by a government agency.

Great Wolf did not inform the EACC of the stop-work orders before the council's meeting to approve the TIF, the carpenters' council alleges.

The company also stated in its application that it would rely on local subcontractors for much of the construction work, but instead used multiple contractors from Wisconsin, where Great Wolf is headquartered, that employed out-of-state residents, the carpenters' council alleges. It says those workers were misclassified as independent contractors.

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Labor issues bedevil Great Wolf Resorts in Fitchburg

MISSION VALLEY Michael Shames, the longtime Utility Consumers Action Network director who left amid a federal probe of his charity business practices, has been recalled from his homeowners association board.

The decision to remove Shames and two other members of the Fashion Hills HOA board closes an acrimonious year for residents of the 226-unit community just north of Fashion Valley Mall.

In a record turnout, homeowners voted to remove Shames 112 to 15. Residents said Shames was instrumental in awarding a flawed painting contract and perpetuating other problems within the neighborhood.

He was creating a lot of the difficulties, Chris Morgan, a Fashion Hills homeowner who supported the recall, said about Shames. We couldnt continue to operate that way.

Shames declined to discuss the recall. In an emailed statement, he said he left the board months ago and had no involvement with the group since.

I never attended another board meeting after July and was not involved in any activities after that meeting, Shames wrote.

Last year the HOA awarded a $184,000 painting contract to a company owned by Robert Borrego, who also serves as the associations property manager.

Some residents complained that there was a conflict of interest, as the property manager should supervise the painting contractor. They also noted that Borrego was not a licensed painting contractor. But Shames said he was an attorney and there was no problem with the arrangement.

U-T San Diego reported the dispute last October. Earlier this year, the Contractors State Licensing Board cited Borrego for contracting outside of his classification. He has appealed that violation.

Borrego did not return calls from the U-T on Friday. One of the first actions taken by new homeowners board members was to give Borrego a notice to terminate his property-manager contract.

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HOA recall removes Shames

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