DESTRUCTION DERBY: Vandals caused £600 worth of damage to a Radcliffe garden supply centre by playing a game of "dodgems" with two trucks and a van. A 15-cwt truck and a three-ton tipper truck were badly damaged and a van slightly damaged after being driven round the yard at Windsor Garden Supplies in Radcliffe Moor Road. Owner Mr Desmond Walker said: "It must have been like a destruction derby. They had a ball at my expense.

CRASH TEST FUNNY: Driving instructor Kevin Murphy (56) from Greenmount, whose pupil crashed into a telegraph pole on her first lesson, was cleared at Manchester Crown Court of aiding and abetting her alleged careless driving. He had been fined £15 with £21 costs and his licence had been endorsed by Bury magistrates. Miss Heather Ratcliffe from Tottington had been out in Mr Murphy's dual control car. She had been having problems over steering the car and in Bradshaw Road, Bradshaw, she mounted the pavement, went along it for about 20 yards and hit the telegraph pole. Miss Ratcliffe told the appeal court she had since failed her first driving test but was due to take it again soon. Judge John da Cunha said he was satisfied that in the short space of time Mr Murphy had done what he could to correct the driving and prevent the accident.

AIR FOOTBALL: Young Roberto Tannicconne found himself wedged 20ft in the air after his football went out of play. Police and firemen who were called to Wellington School to find the frightened ten-year-old stuck fast between a drainpipe and wall of the school. Roberto of Southbank Road, Bury, was stuck for half-an-hour. He said: "I kicked the ball on to the roof. I thought I'd better get it back. I got up easily, but coming down was harder. Then I got my leg stuck. I was frightened."