shropshirestar.com

Fed up of the winter doom and gloom? Start the year laughing with our guide to comedy nights across Shropshire and the West Midlands this spring.

LETTERS: I didn’t even really want to go as the thought of having to climb Bridgnorth theatre’s dark steep steps on a cold night in order to sit for a few hours watching amateurs perform some rubbish adaptation of a pantomime seemed distinctly less appealing than a night in the pub.

This week’s selection of pictures from the past include a photo of Coalbrookdale Old Boys FC and a pioneering group celebrating their climb up the Wrekin in a Chevrolet truck in 1929.

The worsening economic climate has left British confidence at its lowest level in 16 years, a new survey has confirmed.

Shropshire beautician Deborah Mitchell lists Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Schiffer among her A-list clients . . . and now has her sights set on expansion into Dubai.

They may be more au fait around a pool table – but Craig Reynolds and Kevin Uzzell went head-to-head in the second round of the 2009 Shropshire Star Snooker Knockout.

The FTSE 100 slipped down 1.42 per cent as the crisis in the banking sector gathered pace.

Shropshire huntsman Otis Ferry was today freed on bail after spending the last four months in custody awaiting trial on witness ‘nobbling’ charges

Video journalist James Shaw took his mobile phone on an early-morning train journey from Wellington to Birmingham in a bid to find out whether overcrowding is still a problem.

A fish and chip takeaway in Powys has been fined £5,000 for employing a failed asylum seeker. UK Border Agency officers targeted The Quality Fish Bar.

Up to 400 jobs are to go at the biggest employer in Powys in a bid to cut costs.

Shropshire fans of Patrick McGoohan, star of the cult TV series The Prisoner, have been paying tribute to the actor after his death was announced.

Only a handful of lenders have passed on the full 0.5 per cent interest base rate cut so far to mortgage customers, but those that have are now offering very attractive rates, experts say.

Lenders have warned the government's scheme to keep people facing repossession in their homes could put further pressure on new lending.

More retailers today announced a drop in sales as a result of the current economic downturn.

Calling all Shropshire cricket clubs – Sri Lankan bowler Dinesh De Silva is back on the market and has his sights set on a return to the county this summer.

Shrewsbury Town’s new hot shot striker Nick Chadwick has vowed to put 18 months of disappointment behind him and fire the goals to take the club into League One.

A top waste boss today defended the safety of a proposed £60 million incinerator in Shrewsbury as plans were unveiled to the public for the first time.

Assistant manager Larry Chambers insists AFC Telford United will have “nothing to fear” from a trip to Kettering Town in the last 16 of the FA Trophy.

A Shropshire footballing legend who won the FA Cup more than 100 years ago is due to be inducted into a sporting hall of fame this evening.

Shropshire schools were riding high in Government league tables today after setting more GCSE records.

A teenage girl has been found hanged in an area of woodland in Shrewsbury. The body of the girl, who has not been named, was discovered in woodland off Kingsland Road in the town.

A clock on the tower of Shrewsbury’s Market Hall is running more than 30 minutes slow.

Business leaders insisted today that Oswestry was bucking the trend and “very much open for business” despite the credit crunch.

A Russian billionaire may be on the verge of buying London's Evening Standard newspaper, reports suggest.

A 12-year-old girl who left her north Shropshire home after an argument has been found safe and well in Telford, police said today.

Roadworks along one of Shrewsbury’s busiest roads are causing chaos with queues of up to a quarter-of-a-mile at peak times, it was claimed today.

Car insurance premiums are forecast to soar by 12 per cent over the year, the AA has warned.

Enthusiasts across Shropshire have been busy saving the iconic red phone box by restoring them and finding new uses in their gardens.

LETTER: Labour advises there are still 500,000 jobs vacant. Scanning newspapers, these appear to be mainly professional. We import foreign labour to pick strawberries, surely that doesn’t need a degree?