November 2008: City talent lights up TV screens
Two Peterborough reality TV stars entertained the nation during November with city singing sensation Aston Merrygold's band JLS going from strength to strength on X Factor and Page 3 girl Nicola McLean, fiancée of Posh footballer Tommy Williams, reaching the final stages of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
Two Peterborough reality TV stars entertained the nation during November with city singing sensation Aston Merrygold's band JLS going from strength to strength on X Factor and Page 3 girl Nicola McLean, fiance of Posh footballer Tommy Williams, reaching the final stages of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!We revealed the tragic story of three teenagers, Troy, Rory and Alice McCourt, from Whittlesey, who were prepared to sell everything they owned to give their mum a decent funeral following her sudden death at the age of just 51.
After reading about their plight in The ET, Peterborough United, Perkins Engines and Cambridgeshire County Council stepped in to donate the 2,500 needed for the ceremony.
Posh boss Darren Ferguson said: "It's at times like these we have got to give to the community."
City motorists may be used to delays on the A1 but on November 19, it was shut for 18 hours outside Peterborough in one of the worst disruptions in its history after a lorry shed its load of toxic waste. Chemical experts had to be drafted in to clear up tonnes of vanadium, a by-product of the steel industry, after it was spilled on to the central reservation near Water Newton.
It was a good month for Barack Obama he made history to become the first ever African-American US president on November 4. In the wake of his election victory, we discovered Peterborough's very own mini-version of the president-elect in three-year-old Gramos Huxha Jr. From being stopped in the street near his Westwood home, the young Barack-alike went on to make headlines around the world after he was featured in The ET.
The national spotlight fell on the Roti Food Bar, a small takeaway restaurant in New England, Peterborough, when it was revealed it was paid thousands of pounds to supply curries for Muslim prisoners at HMP Peterborough and HMP Whitemoor, near March.
Minister of Justice Jack Straw ordered an investigation after Whitemoor jail reportedly spent 3,500 on the meals, which were delivered to celebrate the festival of Eid.
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2008: in words, photos and video.
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Weather for Peterborough
Friday 19 March 2010
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C - 14 C
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Wind direction: South west
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