Review of the year 2014: December

Thick plumes of smoke could be seen from far around as the fire reached the roof of a block of flats in Ashworth close. No one was hurt in the incident, which was believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette in a wheelie bin.

A secondary school drove pupils to a shoe shop so they could buy ‘appropriate’ school footwear. Parents of pupils at BBG Academy in Birkenshaw claimed their children had been taken to Wynsor’s World of Shoes by the school after breaking uniform rules. It was said to be part of the school’s new positive discipline plan, brought in to tackle bad behaviour highlighted in an Ofsted report on the school.

One of Kirklees’s most festive houses once again pulled out all the stops to make 2014 an Christmas to remember. Derek Highe’s home in Robin Royd Avenue, Mirfield, is never short of attention at Christmas time as his show-stopping spectacles of light brightened the holiday period for the whole town and raise money for local charities.

The countdown to Christmas began in Birstall when people gathered in the Market Place to see the lights switch-on. Project manager for Batley Food Bank Sandra Major flipped the switch at the event, which included family rides, stalls

and Christmas trees provided by the village’s Chamber of Trade.