A shot in the dark

In my case, I had no passengers on the bus, as I was driving from the garage at East Bank to my first pick-up.

It was in the winter, early morning, about 5 or 5.30, and I was bustin’ for a Jimmy Riddle!

I was driving along Parkside Road and I knew that there was a gentleman’s convenience near the top of that road. I don’t suppose it is still there.

Anyway, I stopped and started to go into this convenience. I noticed that the light was not working, (I’m very observant), and the place was completely dark.

This was quite daunting and I didn’t fancy going in. But, when you’ve got to go then you’ve got to go, so I ventured forth.

The place was deathly silent. I couldn’t see a thing.

In fact, I wasn’t sure which way to point my whatsit, it was more luck than judgement, but I think I pointed it in the right direction.

Quite frankly I didn’t much care I was so desperate.

I stood there for a minute or so, thinking that this is better. Then in the eerie silence and darkness, I just happened to glance down to my left and I saw the glow of a cigarette. Boy, did I exit that building at a rate of knots!

JD Arnold

The reality of housing

Sheffield City Council needs to get it`s own house in order, before threatening others with forced sales, or tenants who have not the slightest inclination to pay any rent.

Privately owned property, whether landlords or not, is not left empty through choice, 99 per cent of the time. There seems to be a seriously misguided belief, that people are sitting on empty houses until the property market booms, then the For Sale sign goes up overnight, and they make lots of money.

That may well happen in London and the South East, but realistically, there’s been no significant rise in Sheffield property values for quite some time, and not one worth holding empty houses for anyway.

Aside from paying full council tax from day one, with no discount whatsoever, or grace period to even attempt a sale, it’s difficult to get quality insurance cover on empty property, so there is a constant degree of risk involved.

Having empty property is not really part of some master plan. It is however, without doubt, the lesser of the evils of being forced to take Local Authority tenants, for which insurers won`t give landlords a policy on the property anyway.

Tenant-finding schemes? Yes, it’s called using a reputable Letting Agent, who do credit checks and referencing for a start.

And while it’s not an exact science, there’s an endless number of working people, who register with recognised companies, to help facilitate their housing requirements. It’s an infinitely better option than any offerings local authority would burden property owners, or should I say unsuspecting victims, with.

It’s easy for the council to call the shots, they don’t take any personal risk. Pay for my court proceedings, solicitors, possession order, eviction notice, rent arrears, bailiffs, County Court order, money judgements, insure the property against all damage, clear out all the stuff which gets left behind, and I might just think about it for two seconds, not.

There’s a reason why people fall into the hands of Local Authority for their housing needs, and you don’t need to be a member of Mensa to work it out.

Are Sheffield City Council really so far removed from the reality of what happens in the world of housing?

Mr Craig

Not really Sheffield.

Why did Ukip not stand?

I observed with interest the Sheffield City Council election results for May 2018.

I found it very strange upon perusing these results that the UK Independence Party (UKIP) fielded candidates in the wards of Stocksbridge and Upper Don, East Ecclesfield, Hillsborough, in North Sheffield, but not in my ward of West Ecclesfield.

Perhaps the UKIP Party were unable to find a suitable candidate, (they have currently two seats on Ecclesfield Parish Council), or they did not want to oppose or take away votes from the High Green Independent, David Ogle, who stood under a UKIP ticket back in 2016?

So, who knows what will happen next time round in May 2019?

Having finished third this time round and for the fifth successive time failed to win a seat on Sheffield City Council, I have to ask whether Mr Ogle will oppose his former colleague Coun John Booker, the UKIP member for West Ecclesfield, who is next up for re-election in our ward.

John Yale

High Green

Royal wedding

In answer to Jayne Grayson, come on lass get a life, banging on about the Royal wedding. Nobody’s going to be watching, FA Cup Final’s on.

Oh wait a minute no the posse won’t be watching it. The mighty Blades aren’t in the Final.

Tony Burgin

Sheffield, S6

I before E except after C

When I was at school one of the important rules we were taught in English was “i before e except after c”. Even spellchecker recognises this.

However in Monday’s Star was a full page advert which stated “until the end of may recieve 2 for 1 on selected hearing aids”.

It seems the more technology we have the worse people’s spelling and grammar becomes. When we had manual typesetting this would never have happened, the old hands could not only spell and knew their grammar they would also proof read things before publication.

It is not just in adverts either, how many times do we see signwriting on vehicles badly written or misspelt? For example “conservatorories” on a van, “pannines” in a café, “Chilly and chips” in a café, “disabled driver’s baliffs shock” on a newspaper sign.

And as for the possessive apostrophe, it is never ending. How many times do we see “bottle’s £2” instead of “bottles £2” as it is a plural.

This is sometimes humorous – but let us all hope that the next doctor who writes us a prescription knows how to spell correctly and gives us the correct medication.

Stephen Ryszka

Sheffield, S8