AND HERE IS THE NEWS…
….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson
Fire on wasteland leads to amazing discovery
Firefighters were called out to a fire on land adjoining the apartment block Cité Clodion on the outskirts of Perpignan on Saturday afternoon. The ‘unauthorised’ firework display had been set off by a group of locals and one of the rockets had set fire to dry grass on the empty plot of land. Around 20 firefighters arrived to put out the flames and to protect the storage boxes located near the area. During the intervention a gas bottle exploded in one of the storage boxes so police opened the box to secure the contents, and discovered 10 stolen bicycles, a sports bag containing more than 2kgof cannabis resin, and 100 rifle cartridges. Having resealed the box they watched and waited until the owner arrived to open the box with his key. He was immediately arrested and faces some interesting questions from the judge.
Lady jumps out of burning apartment in Sorède
A 35 year old woman has been seriously injured trying to escape from her burning apartment. She jumped from the second floor window and was found unconscious on the pavement below. She was taken to hospital by helicopter. 27 firemen fought the fire for 3 hours and managed to contain it so it did not affect the 3 other apartments in the building.
Wildfire in Theza
A fire which started near the cycle path on the D39 in Theza quickly jumped out of control due to the strong winds we experienced on Friday afternoon. The SDIS66 dispatched two forest fire trucks and 18 firefighters to extinguish the flames. The fire was finally under control by 6pm having destroyed 3000m² of vegetation, and a caravan.
Avian flu controls in place in the P-O
After a pelican died of bird flu at the Sigean nature reserve, the Aude prefecture has set up a temporary control zone to cover any municipalities within a 20km radius. Here in the P-O this includes Salses-le-Chateau, Saint-Hyppolite, Le Barcarès and Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque. This means that all poultry must be brought indoors or placed under nets to avoid contact with wildlife. The nature reserve remains temporarily closed to the public and the prefecture has called for ‘vigilance’ and asked that if anyone discovers a dead bird whose cause of death is unknown, to contact the authorities.
Nine cars torched in Estagel
Late on Wednesday night, residents in two streets woke to the sight of flames as nine cars burned. Thankfully nobody was injured and firefighters from Estagel and Maury arrived to battle the flames, but the vehicles were completely destroyed. The gendarmerie has opened an investigation.
Bank card scams near supermarkets
The gendarmes have issued a warning for people to be vigilant, following several complaints abut credit card thefts outside large supermarkets. After having bought their groceries, people (specifically the elderly) are approached outside the store by a person, often a woman, claiming to be an employee of the store, advising that the customer has overpaid at the checkout. They are then asked to hand over their card and pin number so that the money can be refunded. Of course the ‘employee’ heads straight off to the nearest cash-point to withdraw as much money as possible.
And finally…
Having carried out a surveillance operation, Bompas police burst into a farmhouse and discovered the presence of cannabis leaves. The owner of the property explained that he was a herbal tea afficionado and the production was for his own personal use. The gendarmes were not entirely convinced, especially when they discovered a shed with about 60 feet of cut cannabis drying out. The farmer finally admitted that it was not just for his own consumption but he had also been selling it – which perhaps explained the 19,000€ of cash also found on the property.
