An own goal for Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Don't just love it when bureaucrats, like those who work at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, are put in their place?
I've been rubbing my hands with glee this afternoon, and I reckon plenty of people who have been reading the website of my local paper, The Sentinel, will have been too.
Why? I hear you ask. Because in a David and Goliath-style battle, a pub landlord has taken on the town hall and won.
Ian Miller shelled out £400 on a marquee at the Village Tavern pub, in Joiners Square, near Hanley, so his Sunday league football teams had a place to change and dry off after matches.
Nobody complained and all was well.
Then Stoke council's planners ruled the marquee was an "eyesore" and authorised legal action, demanding it be pulled down.
However, they don't take things lying down in Stoke, as Mr Miller was to prove. He appealed and now the Government's planning inspectorate has found AGAINST the council. The outcome? The marquee can stay.
If the city council appeared to be getting to grips with improving life for people in Hanley, Stoke, Burslem, Tunstall, Fenton and Longton, perhaps they could be forgiven for such an over-the-top approach.
But the authority leaves a lot to be desired... Hanley looks like a dump; Stoke doesn't look much better; and there's still no obvious sign that all the talk of regeneration in the Potteries is actually coming to fruition.
Councillors probably wonder why the public are so hostile towards them, but it's meddling in minor matters like the pub marquee that does little to boost the council's PR ratings. With cuts in services looming, and more complaints that the public is being ignored over schools reorganisation, you'd think they'd get their own house in order before picking on the likes of Ian Miller.
Not to mention the benefits of pub regulars playing sport and feeling part of the community.
It appears the lunatics are running the asylum in this city!

Christmas cheer? Not in Stoke-on-Trent

I'm all for surprise gifts at Christmas. They can lift the mood when unwrapping socks, pants and car-cleaning kits gets a trifle tedious.
But I'm not sure I'd want the kind of festive present left by the good old traffic wardens of Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve.
You see, church-goers who had attended mass at Sacred Heart Church in Hanley came outside at the end of the service to discover they'd been ticketed by said wardens, who work for oh-so-popular Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
According to my local paper, The Sentinel, up to 50 worshippers discovered they'd been fined at the end of mass. And I bet they wanted to give the traffic wardens more than a glass of sherry in return for their stunning display of festive cheer.
A mate of mine reckons traffic wardens get a hard time. "It must be a joyless job," he whines on. "Imagine how much grief they must get in the line of duty."
Well if behaviour like this is anything to go by, I'm not surprised. Utter jobsworths, the lot of them.
What happened to Christmas cheer? What happened to good will to all men? What happened to making allowances because it's bloody Christmas?
The parish priest, Father Peter Weatherby, is fuming about the fines and has vowed to fight tooth and nail on behalf of his parishioners.
A city council spokesman had nothing unusual to say... just the usual town hall claptrap which will do nothing to boost the authority's appalling PR rating.
"Penalties are issued when vehicles are parked in violation of the restrictions," said a town hall spin doctor. "On-street parking restrictions apply until 6pm. Motorists who are issued a penalty are welcome to appeal the decision and details of how to appeal are on the back of the ticket."
Great.
I wonder whether the target-setting chief who runs traffic wardens in Hanley, Stoke, Burslem, Longton, Tunstall and Fenton goes by the name of Ebeneezer?