News in Leek

Pub giant JD Wetherspoons is to re-open the beer garden of its Leek pub next month, in line with government restrictions.

The re-opening of The Green Dragon on St Edward Street will take place on 12 April, but it will operate with a reduced menu and shorter days.

Local MPs submitted a bid to restore the Stoke to Leek railway line this weekend.

The bid was submitted by Moorlands MP Karen Bradley, as well as Stoke North MP Jonathan Gullis and Stoke Central MP Jo Gideon to the Restoring Your Railway fund on Saturday.

A Leek boxing gym owner got the opportunity to train with the man they call 'The Beast' last week - World's Strongest Man winner Eddie Hall.

Andy Keates, who runs Keatesy's Boxing Academy in Leek trained at Eddie's gym on Thursday and even got in a sparring session with Eddie.

Learner drivers in Staffordshire are being encouraged to use lockdown to brush up on their driving theory.

The call, from the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership, wants learners to put their time to good use and make sure they are on top of the theory and ready for their test when restrictions are lifted.

The latest budget announced by Rishi Sunak will support the Staffordshire programmes in place to reduce the impact of the pandemic, the county council leader has said.

Staffordshire County Council leader Alan White welcomed the budgets measures, such as the furlough scheme extension, more grants to restart businesses, and support for self-employed people.

Thanks to Dr Neil Briscoe and Tracy Norton from Leek and Biddulph Primary Care Network for submitting this article. They say nobody will be left out of the local vaccine rollout and all targets will continue to be met.

Families are being urged to be vigilant of rogue traders following reports of elderly people being targeted by doorstep callers.

Staffordshire County Council's Trading Standards service has received reports of elderly residents being approached and told they need work carried out on their property.

As the roadmap for easing Covid restrictions in England is published, 25 micro-businesses in the Moorlands are being offered a year's free membership to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) to help them plan for the future.

The offer, worth £183 per business, is being jointly funded by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and Staffordshire County Council and will enable the successful businesses to access a wide range of support including legal and tax advice and a discounted workplace pensions scheme.

A new website has launched to serve the town of Leek with hyper-local news and what's on - but without any intrusive advertising.

Leek Nub News is an online local newspaper solely for Leek and the surrounding area.

As the first step of the government's four-stage roadmap out of lockdown approaches, local health bosses are asking residents and businesses to 'keep going' to make sure restrictions are eased.

Staffordshire County Council health chiefs have stressed that each roadmap step is provisional and will be assessed against four tests - with the final decision being based on what appears to have become one of the government's latest slogans - "data, not dates".