Charly Charly

Sad news.... my poor little beaten up motor, named 'Charly Charly' after the last two letters of her reg number, has suffered a severe battering this evening at the hands of mindless thugs. The little bar-stewards smashed the front driver's side and passenger side windows and the rear windscreen in an effort to make off with my valuables. Fortunately I am not daft enough to leave anything of worth in my car so they got away with only a couple of bags for life, a bottle of water and my sunglasses (worth about £20). They did lift my work security pass, OU course book and my music score for the upcoming concert at the Bridgewater Hall this June, but a local resident spotted the culprits dump the stuff at the top of the car park and returned it to me safe and sound.

It all happened this evening in the visitors' car park at the Royal Apartments while I was having my piano lesson. The apartments are a stone's throw (or perhaps a brick's throw) from Encombe Place, the current site of the Salford Youth Offenders Service. This office is currently the subject of a hotly contested restricted document that has found its way into the hands of local residents in the Blackfriars area of Salford - where the council proposes to resite the Youth Offenders Service office. I understand that the document notes that within a half-mile radius of the YOS office there is a significant hotspot of crime - particularly opportunist crime like theft from a vehicle. Local Labour councillors are trying to suppress the document as it is a clear indicator that such a service should not be sited in a residential area. They have even tried to skew the figures (reported in the Manchester Evening News tonight) by saying that these crimes are the fault of vehicle owners for not carrying out basic security. I would like to ask Councillor Lancaster if I deserved to have three windows smashed in my car for the sake of a bottle of water and some books?

Fortunately, the fateful tale of Charly Charly has a happy ending. Thanks to the angels of Autoglass who came out at midnight, my car will be fixed and returned to me in a matter of hours. In the meantime I remain grateful to the two separate residents of the Royal Apartments that witnessed the crime and reported it to the police. Also a big thank you to the police that attended the scene - they were friendly, helpful and professional. And finally a huge thanks to hubby Steve for fetching me a dustpan and brush and doing all the ringing round and fetching and carrying for me. Because of him I was still able to make it to a very successful rehersal for the June concert. Yippee!