Attempted robbery at the Offie off-licence in Hove

Sussex Police

An attempted robbery has been committed at the Offie off-licence in Hove at around 8.50pm on Tuesday, March 6.

 A man demanded the 43-year-old woman shop assistant to open the till, but she refused and told him she was calling the police.

As she reached for the phone the suspect ran off out of the shop in Queen’s Parade.

Detective Sergeant Steve French said: “It was extremely brave of the shop assistant to refuse to open the till, but we would always ask anyone being threatened to please put personal safety first.

Digital TV switchover underway in Brighton

Credit: Pluton 16

Digital UK has announced that the switchover is now underway in Brighton and Hove, with digital TV set to reach thousands of viewers for the first time.

The first analogue signals were turned off at the Whitehawk Hill transmitter group this morning and the process is due to be completed on March 21st.

BBC Freeview channels will become available to people in ‘digital blackspots’ such as Patcham, Coldean and Saltdean, while existing viewers should notice an improvement in their picture quality.

People already watching Freeview in the East Sussex city will need to retune their boxes to restore the BBC services.

Drill, Balcombe, Drill!

This week Iran pre-empted an EU ban on oil imports from that country and halted its own sales to British and French buyers. Well, good. We should be comfortable that we are not funding a nuclear programme that might soon point the fruits of its labours at us or our allies, funding our own demise. William Hague said it would have no impact on our energy security, but only eight days ago crude oil prices hit an eight-month high. With our elderly frequently having to choose between eating and freezing during winter, North Sea reservoirs running dry, businesses paying extortionately to transport goods, and especially with the UK economy flat-lining, one would think we would fall upon a new resource of energy in our own country like it was manna from heaven. The stuff has been lurking unleashed beneath our feet for millions of years.

Sussex Police step up search for East Preston burglar

Police are looking for this man in connection to a series of burglaries

Police have published photos of a man they suspect of a series of burglaries in East Preston.

The CCTV stills show the man arriving at Angmering railway station from Bognor Regis on the morning of Monday, January 30.

During the morning four houses were burgled; one in Lavinia Way, East Preston, two in Meadow Way, and one in The Darlingtons.

Digital cameras and laptops were taken in the Lavinia Way offence, where the intruder was disturbed by the householder.

The intruder ran off and all the stolen property was found abandoned under a bush at the junction of Roundstone Crescent and Clarence Drive shortly afterwards.

Bogus waterboard officials steal from elderly Brighton resident

Sussex Police

Bogus water board officials have stolen cash and precious rings from an elderly Brighton resident over the weekend.

The 91-year-old man was at home in Wolverstone Drive at about 2pm on Saturday, February 25, when two men called at the door to say they were from the water board and needed to talk to him about doing some emergency work in his garden.

They entered and one engaged the resident in conversation whilst the other man moved round the house.

School massages for Sussex children

By Fraser Ward

The Massage in Schools Association – it exists and it could be coming to a school near you.

Photo used under creative commons by Nick Webb

Brighton and Crawley land dream ties in the FA Cup last sixteen

By Jamie Spoor

As a fan of a team perennially involved in the battle for the Premier League title, the FA Cup does not mean a great deal to me, proving more of an unwelcome distraction.

PUDSEY Bear returned to Sussex for Children in Need to help raise money and awareness for this year’s campaign.

By Abby Rugg

PUDSEY Bear returned to Sussex for Children in Need to help raise money and awareness for this year’s campaign.

Interview: Olympic hopeful Pete Mitchell

By Jamie Spoor

Meet Pete Mitchell, Beeding born track cyclist who, despite only being 21, has already won two Under-18 World Championship medals, a European silver medal and represented England in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year.

With next year’s Olympics looming large, Brighton Lite sat down with Pete to discuss his ambitions, achievements so far, and his rise to the top level of British cycling.

Hove Rugby Club prove that there’s power in numbers

By Paul Dantanus

MARTIN Johnson will be hoping to lead England to its third consecutive World Cup final in a country separated by over 10,000 miles and 12 time zones. But for a local rugby club such as Hove RFC, even international events such as this have a way of capturing the imagination of the sporting community regardless of when and where they take place.

Sports: The Charlie Sheen Tipster Column – The Final Week

Just like the god-like genius that is Mr Sheen, we’re all about winning.

So every Friday on Brighton Lite, the four finest sports pundits in the land will share with you our weekend tips.

Final Week:

	Jack	Joe	Rich	Tom
WBA/IBF/WBO Title Haye v Klitschko	Haye in 10   (33/1)	Haye pts   (9/1)	Haye in 9  (33/1)	Klitschko pts (3/1)
Tour de France (w/out big 2)	F Schleck     (11/1)	Evans         (5/1)	F Schleck  (11/1)	FSchleck  (11/1)
British GP	Hamilton       (9/2)	Vettel       (8/11)	Webber       (9/1)	Vettel       (8/11)
Women’s World Cup	Germany      (4/5)	USA             (11/2)	USA             (11/2)	Germany   (4/5)
U-17 World Cup	England       (12/1)	Brazil         (7/2)	Ivory Coast   (9/1)	England   (12/1)
AT&T Golf	Overton       (33/1)	Rose         (33/1)	Mahan        (25/1)	Watney    (12/1)
£2 England ODI Special	Kieswetter duck (50/1)	Anderson duck(20/1)	Patel duck (45/1)	Broad duck(15/1)
£2 transfer Special	Cesc/Nasri stay (100/1)	Sanchez to Barca (1/8)	Barton to QPR (20/1)	Albion tran rec(9/4)

Wimbledon Men’s

Murray          (5/1)

Nadal           (3/2)

Djokovic     (7/2)

Nadal           (3/2)

£2 Random Special

No Haye fight (99/1)

Tom=£205.10; Joe = £160.07; Jack= £94.07; Rich = £70.40

 Come back each week to see who is making the most money. As we’re poor students, we can only afford £1 per event so it might not seem like a lot, but as a famous man (well, store) once said: “Every little helps.”

Odds: PaddyPower/Betfair

Sport: Royal Wedding a Winner at Fontwell Park

By Rich Hook

Another perfect outcome for Royal Wedding lovers

The Royal Wedding proved a double-winner for punters at Fontwell Park tonight [Fri 29].

Fresh from watching the momentous events in London, thousand’s packed into the Sussex racecourse, mostly with the first race in mind.

Royal Wedding had many backers at Fontwell Park

Don Trangmar’s horse Royal Wedding was backed down to favourite with many bookmakers at the track thanks to a patriotic crowd.

Royal Wedding got off to good start taking them out alongside Tote favourite PSI. The field was compact through the first lap of the distinctive figure-of-eight course, before Royal Wedding and PSI stretched out a three-length lead.

Sport: Sussex stars return from Cricket World Cup

Having suffered a heavy defeat in their LV= County Championship opener at Lancashire, Sussex County Cricket Club now await the return of key players: Matt Prior, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy and Ed Joyce.

With these four in action, Sussex had more players in action at the Cricket World Cup than ever before.

Tom Stewart considers how they performed in the Indian Subcontinent, and how each can impact on Sussex’s domestic campaign this season.

Sport: Sussex County Cricket Club Season Preview

By Rich Hook

Sussex County Cricket Club’s players are confident of maintaining the winning habit on their return to Division One of the LV= County Championship.

Speaking at the opening of a new ward at Queen Victoria Hospital before the season, wicketkeeper-batsman Andrew Hodd said: “There’s a good ethos around the club. I really think we can put in a decent title bid if our big guns perform.”

Sussex return many of the stars from their 2006 and 2007 County Championship winning sides, including Ashes-winning wicketkeeper Matt Prior, club captain Michael Yardy and Zimbabwean vice-captain Murray Goodwin.

This, combined with exciting new signings, like South African fast bowler Wayne Parnell and New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent, has created a great deal of anticipation ahead of the new season at Hove.

News: City College Brighton and Hove construction students back on the road to Gambia

By Rich Hook

Brighton Lite's Jamie Jolley played a cracking set at the Caroline of Brunswick last Friday to raise funds for the Give to Gambia appeal

Teachers and students from City College Brighton & Hove are appealing for donations so they can bring their skills to one of the most disadvantaged nations in the world.

The college’s construction department needs to raise £10,000 to fund a return trip to Gambia to finish work at a school which was started last year.

Last December, as part of the Give it to Gambia appeal, three students, studying for a construction apprenticeship as part of the 14-16 Engagement Programme, joined a 15-strong Sussex Central YMCA group in visiting Kafuta Lower Basic School in Brikama.

At the school, the group used their construction skills to build a new set of football goals and cricket bats, as the school had no sports equipment.

Pupils at Kafuta Lower Basic School greet the arrival of CCBH students

Gambia group leader, Steve Wilkins, said: “It wasn’t until we went out there that you understand how basic the facilities are – it’s definitely third world. We left behind the tools we used to try and create a legacy, and that’s why we’re so keen to go back out there to carry on the project.”

While the students were unable to make all the repairs necessary to fix the library, they have since set this as the main goal for this year’s trip.

This December, the seven students and three staff going are aiming to redesign the whole building with a new bookcase, re-painted walls and new book supplies.

CCBH students work with local pupils on re-building the library

Wilkins said: “The trip is as beneficial for our students as the ones they are helping out in Gambia. These students are specifically chosen because mainstream education isn’t working out for them, for one reason or another, and they all come back changed as individuals and with a different outlook.”

The fundraisers have already organised a range of events, such as a Mother’s Day fair, five-a-side football tournaments, stalls selling artwork and products made at the college, and music events like Friday’s open-mic show which featured performances by City College journalism students Chris Thom and Jamie Jolley.

City College & YMCA students on last year's visit

Anyone wishing to contribute to Give to Gambia, please contact Lisa Beresford at City College at lbe@ccb.ac.uk

Sport: Rugby League on the rise in Sussex

By Daniel Bell

Sussex Merlins RL in action against East London Phantoms

Rugby League is on the road to becoming a major participation sport in Sussex.

Nick Weston, chairman Hove-based side Sussex Merlins, said: “It’s growing all the time, we only had 10 people at our first training session [in May 2009], now we have an open-age team, under-18s and several junior teams.”

The drive to establish the game in Sussex has now received professional backing, with the creation of a four-way partnership between Merlins, City College Brighton and Hove, Harlequins Rugby League and the RFL (Rugby Football League).

“This is a landmark agreement, not only for us but for Rugby League”, said Weston. “There is now a clear path from under-7 to open age in Sussex.”

City College Brighton and Hove (CCBH) recently became the first team to represent Sussex in the South East region of the Carnegie Champion College Finals.

And four of their players, including Gareth Dean from Moulsecoomb, have earned places in the southern area squad.