Another slow news day in Newbury, 3 cheers for these public sector workers.... Options

[spartacus]

A housemartin is seen flapping around near it's nest in Richmond Avenue, Thatcham. In the excitement a local twitcher inadvertently rings WBFRS Red Watch instead of BBC's Spring Watch.....

Cue a 999 call and West Berkshire Fire Service's finest (Red Watch) is dispatched at great expense to deal with the feathered friend in distress. Chuck in a couple of RSPCA officers to add to the 'drama' and include a happy ending (said bird was cut down and flew away unharmed) Don't forget to personalise the story "...the whole thing was very emotional" said Red Watch Crew Manager Bob Mitchell..

And Hey presto!... we have another great story to add to the next edition of the Newbury Weekly News

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=13855


BTW... has the price of the NWN gone up recently? The rise is justified in my view if we can continue to have such local news items..... Copies with such explosive content will simply just fly off the newstands next Thursday....
Local News for Local People.....

"READ ALL ABAHT IT!! Firemen in dramatic rooftop rescue....."

Instead of asking whether the bird was OK and going for the fluffy angle, why didn't the reporter ask why the fire service even responded to such a call? It must have cost something to stage this rescue... even if it was just the fuel..... We're told money's too tight to mention. Why wasn't the response from the fire service call centre more along the lines of "If the birds's annoying you madam, hit it with a stick till it stops squawking...."

All the same, I do hope Red Watch recover from the emotional trauma of this rescue and I can't wait to get the full details next Thursday

[Biker1]

BTW... has the price of the NWN gone up recently? The rise is justified in my view if we can continue to have such local news items..... Copies with such explosive content will simply just fly off the newstands next Thursday....
Local News for Local People.....

Last price rise of NWN was a 20% rise from 50p to 60p.

Probably due for another one.

(Anyone on here had a 20% pay rise lately? )

[Iommi]

I'd like to thank the fire service for their effort. I couldn't give a stuff about the cost to tax payer in this regard, but then again, I have a soft spot for our feathery friends. I also couldn't give a sh*t about the increase in price of the NWN. 5p for Christ's sake!!!!

[Strafin]

I agree 5p (I believe it went from 60p to 65p) is a small price to pay, especially as we get this forum for free as well!

[GMR]

I agree 5p (I believe it went from 60p to 65p) is a small price to pay, especially as we get this forum for free as well!

If it wasn't for free nobody would join. Most, if not all, forums are free anyway. It is for their benefit that we are on here. They trawl this forum seeing if they can pick up any good stories.

[Berkshirelad]

Any call out like this provides a good practice scenario for the fire personnel concerned.

I am sure that had a 'real' call come in necessitating the attendance of the crew, then they would have been directed to it.

[user23]

Newspapers tend to report more negative things than positive because it's easier and they're deemed more newsworthy.

If this is amongst the worse things that's happened in Newbury this week should we count ourselves lucky?

[JeffG]

Surely a neighbour with a ladder could have achieved the same outcome?

[Iommi]

Surely a neighbour with a ladder could have achieved the same outcome?

But it didn't.

[Guest_Newburymafia_*]

Last price rise of NWN was a 20% rise from 50p to 60p.

Probably due for another one.

(Anyone on here had a 20% pay rise lately? )

What a load of tosh. If you cant afford 65p a week I would suggest you have bigger problems on your hands than worrying about the cost of the local newspaper.

You'd miss then NWN if it were gone. Trust me, as someone who spends his days trawling through newspapers for a living, the NWN is one of the best in the country and the website is superb (despite the odd spelling/grammar mistake).

Paying 5p more a week to keep it alive is pretty good value in my opinion.

As a former journalist, you're accused of being a cynical harbinger of death if you file copy berating council services or "fluffy" non-journalism if you write a positive piece about the rescue of a bird.

You cant win.

[Mark NWN]

The copy has been updated for anyone interested, mistakes in the print were mine and have been corrected. A picture of the rescue has also been added...

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=13855

[Stewyc]

Surely a neighbour with a ladder could have achieved the same outcome?

Unfortunately the nest is in the eaves at the top of a 3 storey block of flats and is surrounded by mainly flats so it's highly unlikely that one of the neighbours would have a ladder that length knocking about. A few phone calls were made but again no one that we know that has a ladder had one of sufficient length to be able to reach the stricken bird.

As much as the OP would like to think this was NOT a 999 emergency call and one was never made, it was in fact myself who called the RSPCA after being alerted to the birds plight by my girlfriend on coming home from work. The bird was in obvious distress and was hanging upside down caught by one of it’s legs.

I phoned the RSPCA and they took my details and told me they would try to send someone out to help the bird. On arrival it was quite clear to the RSPCA officer that there was no way of reaching the bird without assistance from the Fire Brigade who were then subsequently called and responded by coming out and freeing the poor animal. After a thorough inspection of the bird it was able to be set free seemingly unharmed.

Are we supposed to just do nothing and let a helpless animal suffer and die a slow and painful death? This was actually an adult House Martin that has young in the nest so doing nothing would almost certainly seal their fate too. I would personally like to thank both the RSPCA and the Fire Brigade for doing such a marvelous job in freeing the House Martin from it’s perilous plight.

Now, if anyone is stupid enough to actually think that the Fire Brigade would put a situation such as this before a real emergency where peoples lives or property are in danger then they are sorely mistaken and dare I say extremely naïve. As someone posted above these sort of incidents are treated as very good exercise for the Fire Brigade.

Oh, and to the OP……. I am not a “Twitcher” as you might say just a compassionate person who was trying to do the right thing……..

[Bloggo]

Unfortunately the nest is in the eaves at the top of a 3 storey block of flats and is surrounded by mainly flats so it's highly unlikely that one of the neighbours would have a ladder that length knocking about. A few phone calls were made but again no one that we know that has a ladder had one of sufficient length to be able to reach the stricken bird.

As much as the OP would like to think this was NOT a 999 emergency call and one was never made, it was in fact myself who called the RSPCA after being alerted to the birds plight by my girlfriend on coming home from work. The bird was in obvious distress and was hanging upside down caught by one of it’s legs.

I phoned the RSPCA and they took my details and told me they would try to send someone out to help the bird. On arrival it was quite clear to the RSPCA officer that there was no way of reaching the bird without assistance from the Fire Brigade who were then subsequently called and responded by coming out and freeing the poor animal. After a thorough inspection of the bird it was able to be set free seemingly unharmed.

Are we supposed to just do nothing and let a helpless animal suffer and die a slow and painful death? This was actually an adult House Martin that has young in the nest so doing nothing would almost certainly seal their fate too. I would personally like to thank both the RSPCA and the Fire Brigade for doing such a marvelous job in freeing the House Martin from it’s perilous plight.

Now, if anyone is stupid enough to actually think that the Fire Brigade would put a situation such as this before a real emergency where peoples lives or property are in danger then they are sorely mistaken and dare I say extremely naïve. As someone posted above these sort of incidents are treated as very good exercise for the Fire Brigade.

Oh, and to the OP……. I am not a “Twitcher” as you might say just a compassionate person who was trying to do the right thing……..

Well done mate. I think you did exactly the right thing. I would have done the same.
The RSPCA did what they were supposed to do and the Fire Brigade also responded because they were able too.
This is just a fine example of people being "human" and showing compasion for a creature that was unable to help itself.

[pinkfluffyclouds]

Unfortunately the nest is in the eaves at the top of a 3 storey block of flats and is surrounded by mainly flats so it's highly unlikely that one of the neighbours would have a ladder that length knocking about. A few phone calls were made but again no one that we know that has a ladder had one of sufficient length to be able to reach the stricken bird.

As much as the OP would like to think this was NOT a 999 emergency call and one was never made, it was in fact myself who called the RSPCA after being alerted to the birds plight by my girlfriend on coming home from work. The bird was in obvious distress and was hanging upside down caught by one of it’s legs.

I phoned the RSPCA and they took my details and told me they would try to send someone out to help the bird. On arrival it was quite clear to the RSPCA officer that there was no way of reaching the bird without assistance from the Fire Brigade who were then subsequently called and responded by coming out and freeing the poor animal. After a thorough inspection of the bird it was able to be set free seemingly unharmed.

Are we supposed to just do nothing and let a helpless animal suffer and die a slow and painful death? This was actually an adult House Martin that has young in the nest so doing nothing would almost certainly seal their fate too. I would personally like to thank both the RSPCA and the Fire Brigade for doing such a marvelous job in freeing the House Martin from it’s perilous plight.

Now, if anyone is stupid enough to actually think that the Fire Brigade would put a situation such as this before a real emergency where peoples lives or property are in danger then they are sorely mistaken and dare I say extremely naïve. As someone posted above these sort of incidents are treated as very good exercise for the Fire Brigade.

Oh, and to the OP……. I am not a “Twitcher” as you might say just a compassionate person who was trying to do the right thing……..

I would like to think that most people would have done the same and obviously if the bird could have been reached by the householder or neighbour then they would have done so. It might "only be a bird" but like you say how can you just stand by and watch the poor thing suffer? I also like that Newbury Today reported on this story it is nice to have a story that puts a smile on your face when there is a happy ending.

[JeffG]

Thanks for explaining the situation. I would have done exactly the same.

Perhaps the OP will get his facts right next time, before fabricating such a sensationalist story.

[Biker1]

What a load of tosh. If you cant afford 65p a week I would suggest you have bigger problems on your hands than worrying about the cost of the local newspaper.

You'd miss then NWN if it were gone. Trust me, as someone who spends his days trawling through newspapers for a living, the NWN is one of the best in the country and the website is superb (despite the odd spelling/grammar mistake).

Paying 5p more a week to keep it alive is pretty good value in my opinion.

You miss my point.

Of course 65p is not a huge amount in itself and yes, I could afford it.
My point was the percentage rise.
20% when inflation is around 3.5% is too much.
And now another 5p on top of that.

And no I don't miss it - havn't bought it since the huge percentage price rise.

[Iommi]

No-wonder we have to pay so much with tight wads not paying-up, yet are free to use the site!

[Jacklets]

Shame that the Housemartin upstaged the pink grasshopper - - a much more newsworthy story I thought ,,,,,

[Biker1]

No-wonder we have to pay so much with tight wads not paying-up, yet are free to use the site!

[ossy1]

Thanks for explaining the situation. I would have done exactly the same.

Perhaps the OP will get his facts right next time, before fabricating such a sensationalist story.

I thought that was what this forum was all about...