NORMANTON, Arboretum, and Derwent are wards which, for most people, are the "choice of last resort", Derby City Council's Conservative opposition leader claimed on Wednesday night.

Councillor Philip Hickson made the comment as he argued for the authority to scrap its plans to change the way neighbourhood boards in each of the city's 17 wards are funded.

The boards are made up of community leaders, councillors and local service providers, like Derby Homes and the police, and spend their budgets on projects to benefit their communities.

At last night's cabinet meeting, a furious debate concluded with the council's Labour leadership agreeing to change the amount each board receives – £36,000 in 2012-13 – so the sums were "based on need".

Mr Hickson argued that the boards which had been most successful were those from which money was being taken away.

He had previously accused Labour of declaring a "class war", saying that the wards benefiting from the changes were those with Labour councillors.

At the meeting, he said the system used to decide the level of need – which the council says is based on household income, crime and anti-social behaviour, housing standards and child poverty – for each ward had been "discredited".

And Mr Hickson said that extra money for boards inArboretum, Derwent, and Normanton would not make a significant difference.

Mr Hickson said: "It's like pouring tea into a cup and it remaining empty. They remain chaotic and unmanageable. For most people, those wards are a choice of last resort."

He said millions had been ploughed into the Derwent ward with no "significant outcomes".

He said: "The reality of this proposal is that it's got nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with political malice."

After the meeting, Mr Hickson said "most people in Derby" would agree that ploughing millions into Arboretum, Normanton, and Derwent had not made a big difference.

But he said that neighbourhood boards in areas losing cash had been extremely popular with 70 to 100 people turning up to meetings.

He said those people would say "what's the point?" of their work now they would have smaller budgets.

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Hilary Jones called the changes "electoral bribery", accusing it of being a postcode lottery "designed to prop up the Labour administration."

Labour councillors spoke of their outrage at Mr Hickson's comments, with the council's deputy leader, Ranjit Banwait, calling it a "shocking outburst".

He said he assumed that the "Tories wouldn't be fielding any candidates in those wards". Mr Banwait previously said the changes would be introduced in May.

He began the debate by saying it was a time for some communities to make "justified sacrifices and do their best to support those communities in our city that desperately need it".

He said it was a "complete absurdity" to suggest a "class war" and pointed to examples where the Labour party had helped better-off wards in the past, such as campaigning to keep open care homes.

Mr Hickson told the meeting his party would "call in" the neighbourhood budgets decision, meaning it would request it be referred back to the relevant scrutiny board.

chris.mallett@derbytelegraph.co.uk

A PENSIONER whose husband caught an intruder in a neighbourhood plagued by thefts was stunned to be told by police they were busy and could not send an officer straight away.

Mick Fletcher, 71, found the teenager snooping around in the garage at a house in Alvaston, and cornered the youth, calling to his wife Catherine, 68, to phone 999.

But she was amazed when police told her they were unable to send an officer straight away and instead asked her to remember what the intruder looked like.

Mr and Mrs Fletcher kept watch over him until police finally arrived. They estimated it took 30 minutes for an officer to come, although "it seemed longer".

Police insisted the officer had taken 23 minutes to get to the scene and said it was "regrettable" that they could not have responded sooner but they had been dealing with several emergencies.

Mrs Fletcher said: "We'd been targeted twice already and I was amazed when my husband caught someone, only for us to be told by police they could not send anyone straight away."

The couple had been looking after daughter Claire's home in St Michael's View while she was away because it had been targeted by thieves.

Grandson Callum's bike had been stolen from the garage in March despite being secured with three locks. To the family's amazement they received a further visit from an intruder the next day. When Callum, 17, returned from school he found the living room window smashed.

Police told the family that they believed that it may have been the same thief or thieves coming back for another bike they had left behind during the previous burglary.

Three weeks later, Mr and Mrs Fletcher were at their daughter's house while she was out and were surprised to hear an alarm – fitted after the previous incident – activate.

Mrs Fletcher said: "My husband said there was someone in the garage."

Mr Fletcher headed out to the garage and found a youth in there. His wife said: "Mick didn't touch him but he told me to call the police straight away. So I said to the lad 'Don't you dare move!' and phoned 999."

She said: "I was shaking as I called the police. I told them what happened and they told us they were a bit busy but would try and get someone to come out to see us.

"Then the line went dead but after that someone came back on and asked me to be sure we knew what he looked like. So I tried to take a picture of the lad with my phone but as I was shaking so much it was useless."

"We had to wait 30 minutes for the police to arrive. It seemed like ages. I asked him what he thought he was doing and who he was. The boy was shaking and fiddling with the gloves he was wearing.

"He was crying and kept saying how sorry he was."

"I didn't think about it at the time but he could have had a knife or something. But I was just so mad because he shouldn't have been there!"

When the police arrived, they arrested the youth and questioned him. Mrs Fletcher said: "They have since been in touch and told us that as he never took anything they won't be charging him! What more evidence do you need? He told them he was playing hide and seek with friends but that's just ridiculous."

Since the incident, a neighbour in Glastonbury Road has had four bikes stolen from a garage.

CHIEF Inspector Michelle Shooter said: "We always aim to respond to incidents as quickly and as safely as possible and it is regrettable that it took officers 23 minutes to arrive.

"When the initial call was received, all officers that respond to incidents in the Alvaston area were unavailable as they were dealing with other emergency incidents.

"This meant we needed to send officers based in a different area of Derby, which meant our response time was delayed. When officers arrived, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of burglary and later interviewed. A 13-year-old boy was also interviewed in connection with this incident.

"Unfortunately, there was insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute either of the suspects. The victim was fully updated about this at the time.

"Local safer neighbourhoods officers were made aware of this incident and other shed and garage burglaries in the area and patrols were increased. We continue to take action to tackle burglaries and bring those responsible to justice as well as working with residents to offer prevention advice and reassurance. I would like to reinforce that this was an exceptional set of circumstances that led to a very unusual delay."

Derbyshire police does not have required target times for attending incidents, only for the time it takes to answer 999 calls.

ONE of the UK's leading campaigners for nuclear disarmament has called for Rolls-Royce to stop building submarine reactors and move into green energy instead.

Bruce Kent, 84, the honorary vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), made the comment after giving a talk at Derby Cathedral yesterday.

Workers at the firm's high-security Raynesway site in Derby design, manufacture and provide technical support to the Royal Navy's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, known as Trident.

These are the only British nuclear weapons system in service. Work on a potential replacement for the Trident system has begun, although no final decisions have been taken.

In response to Mr Kent, a Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: "Issues relating to the Trident Successor programme are strictly a matter for Government and we do not involve ourselves in speculation. We have important work to focus on in support of our customer, the Ministry of Defence, whom we are proud to serve."

Mr Kent said it should not be the case that jobs would be lost if Rolls-Royce stopped working on the submarines.

He said: "In World War Two, five million people went from working in a war industry to other jobs because there was an overall Government plan."

Mr Kent said that the need to tackle climate change meant engineers were going to be needed for "wind farms, wave-power generation, all sorts of things"

He said the bosses at Rolls-Royce should "sit down with business leaders and discuss what is needed in this country".

He added: "At the moment we are paying people to make the world a more dangerous place."

During a question and answer session after his talk, Mr Kent also had a dig at Rolls-Royce over accusations that the firm did not pay UK tax on its profits last year.

According to research published last month by the Mail on Sunday, Rolls-Royce, which is Derby's largest private-sector employer, was one of 12 large companies that did not pay any corporation tax – a tax on profits – in 2011.

The company previously said 85% of its profits were made overseas – rather in the UK. And it added it was spending "hundreds of millions of pounds" on research in the UK, which had allowed it to reduce its tax bill.

Asked who was making money out of nuclear weapons, Mr Kent had said: "The company that runs the Derby Rolls-Royce affair is not paying tax in this country so (in that case) I don't know who is making money out of it."

During his talk, Mr Kent said of the North Korea situation: "If a student walks into a school with a grenade you don't give everyone else grenades, you try and get rid of the grenade the delinquent brought in."

AN ANGRY Derby woman says bins at the block of flats where she lives have sometimes not been emptied for three months.

Mary Dixon, who lives at the flats in King Street, said the problem had been ongoing since she moved there almost two years ago.

She said: "It's incredibly annoying and it happens in waves. Sometimes it's cleared away but then we can go for three months without the bins being emptied.

"Because it's a shared area you can't control who puts what there and it just overflows. Sometimes you can't get in the door to the place where the bins are kept.

"It's totally disgusting. Sometimes rubbish is just dumped around the area by people."

Richard Brown, city council assistant operations manager for refuse and recycling, said collections from flats could "pose a challenge".

He said: "We've been working with the housing association to help residents manage waste and recycling.

"We have carried out a number of clean-up days at the flats and have made sure that the bins are clearly labelled to show which material should go in which bin.

"We've also supplied residents with information about recycling in Derby and this week we delivered an additional larger bin to the property."

The Clean Up Derby campaign was launched in November and has helped in getting areas tidied.

The council recently put into action a plan to help keep neglected sites in Normanton clean, including the old Grange Hotel site on Ingleby Avenue, and is being backed by Derby Rotary Club.

A DERBYSHIRE woman has been jailed for five months for continuing to claim benefits after she had inherited more than £28,000.

Maria Higgins, 48, of Meadow Street, Ilkeston, failed to notify her change in circumstances while claiming benefits from the Department of Works and Pensions and Erewash Borough Council between March 2008 and January 2011.

The council launched an investigation after an allegation was made that Higgins had received the inheritance.

Higgins – also known as Maria Kennelly – denied the offence but was found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court.

As well as the custodial sentence, she was also told that she must pay £1,000 costs.

In addition, an order was granted by the court for the full recovery of Department of Works and Pensions benefit payments totalling £10,749 as well as housing and council tax benefit payments of £11,300.

The court was told that, at the start of the investigation, Higgins was interviewed and claimed that the inheritance money had been left to her children.

She was given an opportunity to provide the information to support her version, but failed to produce anything.

Higgins continued to deny the offence and pleaded not guilty.

When the case reached the crown court, a will was provided which showed that the money had been left to her but was then placed in accounts of family members.

THE new-look Derby railway station forecourt will "make the city more welcoming to visitors", according to the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin.

He spoke after unveiling a plaque to mark the opening of the £2.2 million redevelopment, which has created a fan-shaped covered entrance area, new bus terminus, taxi stands and 148 cycle shelters.

Mr McLoughlin said he was pleased to see the improvements.

"The development shows Derby as an attractive place to come to visit and work," he said. "It's the first time I've seen the refurbishment finished but it won't be the last because I use the station regularly.

"With the arrival of the HS2 link in the East Midlands and the creation of Ilkeston station, railways in this area are undergoing a renaissance, when not many years ago they seemed to be losing their attraction."

Welcoming Mr McLoughlin, Councillor Paul Bayliss, leader of Derby City Council, said the work had been the result of a partnership between the authority, Network Rail and East Midlands Trains.

He said: "The station gives a very positive first impression to anyone travelling to Derby."

Ahead of the work, a consultation took place asking people their opinions of the existing station and improvements they would like to see.

Among them was the youth group Voices In Action, which said it thought the old-look station entrance "made Derby look as if it did not take care of itself" and was somewhere "they wouldn't like to be after dark".

After seeing the finished work yesterday, they agreed it now looked "spacious, modern and elegant".

Kya Mackay, 16, of Derby, who uses the station at least twice a month, said: "Now you can step out of the station with confidence, find good maps and road signs and it is very welcoming.

"It always used to seem very dark at night and quite frightening but it has improved now."

David Horne, East Midlands Trains managing director, said: "We hope this encourages more people to travel on our trains. They will be able to access buses, cycles and taxis more easily, whether they are coming to visit or commuting."

Ahead of the opening ceremony, Derby Live staged a 15-minute dance show called Flash Mob, containing music with rail connections.

Taking part were three community groups – The Movement, Derbyshire Dance Artists Network and Spiral, a performance group of adult with learning difficulties from First Movement.

THE parents of a five-year-old boy have demanded to know why their son was allowed to pick up a used syringe in the playground of his school.

Kian O'Connell handed the syringe to staff after finding it at Hardwick Primary School in Normanton.

Parents Estelle Rouse and Dean O'Connell, of Randolph Road, Normanton, were alarmed when the school rang to report the incident.

Miss Rouse wants to know why the syringe had not been spotted by staff before pupils were allowed out to play at lunchtime.

She said: "Apparently, he gave it to a member of staff. He was inspected for prick marks and had disinfectant put on his hands.

"Despite trying to find out how the syringe was allowed to be in the playground with children, I wasn't given any answers.

"I was told it 'had happened before' but if that is the case then surely that should make the school extra-vigilant."

Mystery also surrounds whether or not the syringe had a cap on it. Miss Rouse said the school stated it had but Kian told her it had "a pointy end" when he gave it to an adult.

Mr O'Connell said: "Ironically, afterwards the children received a talk about not picking up objects they spot and telling an adult instead but at five it can be difficult to instill that idea in a child's head."

Kian was taken by his mother to the Lister Street walk-in centre and checked out by a doctor.

Miss Rouse said: "She said she could not see any obvious marks where he had been pricked and he seemed to have suffered no ill-effects but that I needed to keep an eye on him and take him to hospital if his health deteriorated."

Head teacher Jonathan Gallimore said: "In the distant past, bottles, cans and syringes have been found in the school grounds. But in the past two years I have been here there have been no incidents.

"But we carefully inspect the grounds each morning and before break and lunchtimes. Something could occur between the checks though.

"No-one has been on to the site so the syringe must have been thrown over the fence because it was found near the perimeter. Whoever did this has no regard for our children's safety.

"I understand Kian's parents' frustration and have spoken to his father to reassure him we have done our best to keep the children safe.

"This was obviously a close call and it has led to us carrying out additional risk assessments and checking our procedures.

"We have also informed the police so that they can keep an eye out on the streets around the school."

MICK Philpott's sister has said her family are regularly taunted and abused because they share the same name as the killer dad.

Charmaine Philpott said she hopes the 56-year-old dies in prison.

The 48-year-old said: "I went to the doctors recently and, when my name was called out, someone shouted 'scum'.

"Others have said it as I've walked past. It's devastating."

In an interview with The Sun, she said: "I want to turn round and say 'Don't dare blame me for something my brother did!' but I just walk away in tears.

"They call us names, they taunt us and it's not fair."

She now wants to distance herself from her brother, who was jailed for life for the manslaughter of his six children in a fire at his Allenton home, and doesn't want the rest of her family being compared to him.

She said: "Don't you think we've suffered enough? I want to walk down the street with my head held high but it's difficult. My mum and my dad gave me my name. They're good people. I have always and will always be a Philpott."

Father of 17 Philpott was sentenced earlier this month for the manslaughter of his daughter Jade, ten, and her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, and 13-year-old Duwayne. His wife Mairead, 32, and friend Paul Mosley, 46, were sentenced to 17 years for their part in the fire.

Charmaine, who lives in Derby, said: "He's no longer part of our family. You have every reason to hate my brother. I do, and so does the rest of my family. We're desperately trying to move on and want to blank out what has happened but we just can't. More than anything my heart goes out to my mum."

Peggy Philpott worked at Rolls-Royce until she was 70.

Charmaine, the youngest of Mrs Philpott's eight children, said: "She's gutted and I don't think she will ever recover. The stress of it has made her ill and, although she was always a strong woman, I think it will end up killing her.

"Our poor mum cries her heart out every day for her lost grandchildren. She is 86 and just can't understand why it happened."

When the Derby Telegraph interviewed Mrs Philpott after her son had been jailed, she said things had been hard. She said: "It has been bad, really bad. I hardly go out any more."

Charmaine doesn't feel any sympathy for Mairead, either. She said: "She carried those six babies, bore them and nurtured them. She's as wicked as he is."

MEET the five richest men of Derbyshire who together are worth an astonishing £2 billion.

The Duke of Devonshire, Triumph motorcycles magnate John Bloor, construction giant John Kirkland, ex-BMI chief Lord Glendonbrook and developer Charles Clowes now have a combined wealth totalling £2,067,000,000.

Their latest fortunes are revealed in the annual Sunday Times Rich List, released in full tomorrow.

The Duke of Devonshire and Mr Bloor, who in addition to Triumph owns Swadlincote-based Bloor Homes, are named as the county's two richest people with fortunes of £720 million and £525 million respectively. Both have seen a rise in their fortunes in the past year with Mr Bloor's bank account boosted by more than £100 million – up from £411 million last year. While the duke earned an extra £20 million.

Next in the county's rich list comes Mr Kirkland, of Heage-based construction group Bowmer and Kirkland, who is worth £440 million.

Lord Glendonbrook, formerly known as Sir Michael Bishop, the former owner of airline BMI, has a fortune of £200 million and is followed by Mr Clowes, of Brailsford-based house-builders Clowes Development, with a personal wealth of £182 million – up £30 million compared to last year.

But an economics expert at the University of Derby has questioned whether they bring "added value" to the county.

Melanie Powell, senior lecturer in economics at the university's Business School, said some of their companies did not employ staff locally.

She also said that tourists would still flock to Chatsworth, the home of Derbyshire's richest man the Duke of Devonshire, if it was owned by the National Trust.

She said: "Do some of these people bring added value to Derbyshire in terms of jobs and investment? If you look at John Bloor, where are Triumph motorbikes built? Vietnam."

She added: "The Duke of Devonshire does have a very high profile, which is pretty important to Derbyshire but, if Chatsworth was owned by the National Trust rather than him, would tourists still visit and spend money in the local economy? Yes."

Mid Derbyshire Conservative MP Pauline Latham dismissed her comments.

She said: "These people bring so much to the county. The Duke of Devonshire has spent much of his personal fortune on taking Chatsworth House from what could have been a millstone, with all the repairs that were needed, into a major attraction which employs hundreds of people in a rural area. There is no way the National Trust could have done that.

"The other businessmen in this list have worked so hard for their fortunes and in such difficult times – particularly in construction – their achievements should be celebrated. Not only do they provide much-needed jobs, these people all pay their taxes and national insurance which contribute to providing services for the people of Britain."

The Sunday Times Rich List includes two billionaires in the East Midlands – Will Adderley, who owns the Dunelm Mill furniture empire, with a fortune of £1.1 billion, and Tony Langley, chairman of Nottinghamshire engineering firm Langley Holdings, who is worth £1 billion.

The Duke of Devonshire's wealth makes him the joint 120th richest person in the UK, while Mr Bloor comes in joint 166th. Mr Kirkland is the joint 209th richest man in the UK, Lord Glendonbrook is the joint 387th and Mr Clowes, the 433rd richest.

Staffordshire's Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB – which employs thousands of people locally and worldwide – has a personal fortune of £3.15 billion, making him the 21st richest man in the country.

FORMER EastEnders actor Dean Gaffney has been reunited with the paramedics who saved his life after his Derby car crash – and said the experience left him lost for words.

The 35-year-old had the opportunity to say thank you to Lee Coulson and David Saxby after being invited to an awards ceremony for staff at East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Dean suffered head injuries in the incident on the A38, between Markeaton roundabout and Kingsway, on January 30 and was taken to the Royal Derby Hospital.

He told the Derby Telegraph: "It was overwhelming to meet Lee and David again – almost like when people see their long-lost relatives.

"You really don't know what to say other than to keep saying thank you.

"But it was so endearing because, as I was saying: 'Thank you so much', they were saying: 'We were just doing our job' – they don't want to wallow in glory, they just wanted to help me."

Dean – who had been staying in the city while appearing in Agatha Christie's A Murder Is Announced at Derby Theatre – said he only remembered "bits and pieces" about the crash.

He said: "I remember going towards the barrier but then I was out for the count. Then I remember the paramedics arriving and the noise of their voices. Somebody was saying: 'Shall we get a board for him?' because of my injuries.

"I saw the cup holder in the car was brimming with blood and I must have said to the paramedics: 'Please don't let me die' hundreds of times."

Dean said appearing at the awards ceremony, at the Colwick Hall Hotel, in Nottingham, was the "least he could do" to show his appreciation.

He was accompanied by friend and former EastEnders co-star Des Coleman, who lives in Derby, and presented one of the awards.

Last month, Dean donated three tickets for the final of BBC One show Let's Dance for Comic Relief – in which he was performing – to staff at the Royal Derby Hospital to thank them.

At Thursday night's ceremony, Dean said: "The NHS gets a lot of stick sometimes but the way I was treated at the hospital was brilliant – it's an amazing place. That's why I really wanted to thank staff there, as well as Lee and David."

Lee, 25, and David, 26, of Derby, are based at Raynesway ambulance station. Lee said: "On the night, I got a call to a basic road traffic collision and arrived to find a patient with serious injuries who needed calming.

"It was only when Dean told me his name and date of birth I realised who it was, so I made a few EastEnders references to keep him with us.

"It was a fast-moving job and it's always nice when you get to see them turn out well. And it's lovely to be thanked – it brings a smile to your face."

David said: "Very often, you don't get to know how people get on after they leave us, so it's great to see Dean doing so well."

Nine winners received awards at the ceremony – which was the first time EMAS had held the Values and Recognition Awards to honour staff going "above and beyond the call of duty".

It was paid for through sponsorship, donations and the EMAS Charitable Trust.

One award winner from Derbyshire was Tim Evans, 43, of Chesterfield – based at Heath station.

He received the respect award after dragging a patient out of a house fire and, on the same day, stitching up wounds at the roadside following a collision.

Long service awards were also presented to staff who had been at EMAS for 20 years or more.

Trust chairman Jon Towler said: "The evening was a fantastic opportunity to take the time to thank our dedicated staff and volunteers for a job well done.

"I'm proud of the 122 people and teams who were nominated for awards."

MOVIE star Ewan McGregor will soon be the proud owner of a £3,000 custom-built cycle made in Derby.

The Star Wars and Trainspotting star sought out the city's Mercian Cycles to put together a bespoke bike using vintage parts.

It was finished yesterday and the Alvaston company expects to be in touch with Ewan today to arrange delivery.

Despite his global fame, the star still had to wait five months for it to be built as the Mercian Cycles' order book is bulging.

The saga began when the actor started following the company on social networking site Twitter last year.

Jane Mosley, who owns the business with husband Grant, sent the actor a message suggesting that, if he wanted a Mercian, he should get in touch directly.

To the couple's astonishment, he asked for a mobile phone number and, one evening about five months ago, called up to inquire about getting a Mercian with the look and feel of one he rode as a youngster.

Mr Mosley said: "We had a bit of a chat and talked about the first 10-speed road bike that was the first one his dad bought him as a boy.

"He had bought some bits and bobs off eBay such as Italian Campagnolo Delta brakes that were made in the late 1970s and early 80s. They have a really stylish aerodynamic design and command quite high prices now.

"It took a while to gather all the different parts together.

"He saw a green bike on our website and sent us his measurement details but left most of it up to us.

"When he was on the phone, Jane was so excited it was unbelievable but he didn't jump the queue – no one does that."

The frame of the bike was handmade at the firm's workshop and, like all Mercian bikes, the steel tubing is braised rather than welded because the process is "kinder" to the metal.

Re-tweeting a picture of his new bike yesterday, Ewan wrote: "Look at me new bike!! It's a beauty. Thanks to everyone at @MercianCycles you've nailed it.

"It is everything I was after and then all the rest. Fantastic."

It is not the first time that Mercian Cycles has dealt with high-profile individuals, having created a bike for Nottingham fashion designer Paul Smith.