The Nifty 250: News of the day in so many words

COUNCILS FACE HUGE ROAD REPAIR BILLS after the cold snap owing to potholes and cracks caused by the ice.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis announced that gritting must be cut to as little as half the levels of this time last week to conserve stocks. The announcement came as Merseyside woke up to fresh snowfalls.

A WASTE INCINERATOR IS BACK ON THE AGENDA after plans to burn Merseyside’s rubbish in Cheshire fell through.

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority is returning its focus to two sites in Knowsley, after telling leaders the option to build an incinerator on the land of Peel Holdings, at Ince Marsh, is looking unlikely.

Butlers Farm, north of Knowsley Industrial Estate, Kirkby, and Crab Tree Rough, next to the Ford car plant, Halewood, are both being eyed up by the MWDA.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL HAS DEFEATED NEIGHBOURS in a battle to get permission to build a nine-storey, £40m eco-friendly halls of residence.

The plans were approved yesterday, but only with the chairman Dave Irving’s casting vote, after three voted in favour and three against.

The university scheme will be built in the city’s so-called Georgian quarter, and has sparked anger among residents. The university said the development was vital if it was to continue to “attract students”.

AFTER A TWO_YEAR CLOSURE MERSEYSIDE’S only dry ski slope has re-opened

The artificial slope at the Oval in Bebington had to shut because of construction work at the adjoining sports centre.

But it became overgrown with weeds and vandalised and the slopes are now tip top slippery after volunteers from the Oval Ski Club helped restore them.

Talk about timing.

**PHRASE OF THE DAY: Go primitive
(n): Instead of keyboarding or texting a long and detailed story someone suggests a phone call as a more direct way to have the conversation.