PUPILS were sent home from school after strong winds smashed windows.

Student at IES Los Alcores school in San Miguel de Salinas, Daniel Broadhead said: “The pressure of the wind caused the windows to collapse through the roof in to the hallway.  At our next lesson we were all told to leave as the school was closing.”  Daniel's mother Rachel said they had a lucky escape: “It could have been much worse if children had been walking through the corridor.”  The school remained closed for two further days until a safety inspection had been carried out.

However, one school which did not close it's doors was the Príncipe de España in Rojales. Parents were so outraged at the decision that many kept their children home.  The following day, pupil's arrived with safety helmets on in protest against what their parents describe as dangerous and crumbling walls around them.  In response to the criticism, Rojales Councillor for Education, Tatiana Cañizares, said the Mayor had called the head teacher at the school but it was decided to remain open due to the large number of students who stayed on the premises for lunch.  “We could not get the pupil's home as a lot of the parent's are working.” The councillor added, “We did what we should do and followed procedure.”

The Emergency Department of Orihuela ordered the closure of parks and sports facilities as strong winds once again hit the region.

They advised schools not to do any outside activity and in the city's Virgen del Camino school 43 primary school students were evacuated from the prefabricated classrooms until the department technicians proved the safety of the building.

A GROUP of suspected thieves operating in the Orihuela Costa has been arrested by local police after a car chase.

The arrests were made on the ring road of San Miguel where three men were seen driving slowly in their dark blue Volkswagen Passat.

A member of the public had alerted police to the vehicle and its occupants who were acting suspiciously.  As police approached the car it sped off showing no regard for traffic lights or the safety of other road users.  After a short police chase the car was intercepted and it's occupants arrested.

A search of the vehicle discovered a gold pendant, a man's watch, an empty drum to transport up to 25 litres of diesel, various items of branded clothing and personal hygiene products.

Police claim the car was used in crimes committed earlier this month including a robbery on Saturday, January 5 and the theft of a gold bracelet in Cabo Roig on Friday, January 11.

WOMEN of 57 different nationalities gave birth in Torrevieja Hospital last year.

Most mothers are Spanish, followed by Moroccan and British women.

The maternity department delivered 1251 births babies, eight less than in 2011, with 627 of those born being boys.

There were 552 births to Spanish mothers, 144 to Moroccan women and 86 deliveries to British women. The average age of the mothers was between 31 and 35 years-old with the youngest being 15 and the oldest aged 49.

IT was a war of words on the Orihuela Costa as Councillor for the Coast, Pedro Mancebo, responded to allegations made by opposition parties CLARO and the PP.

Bob Houliston and former Mayor Monica Lorente denounced the “deliberate neglect of Orihuela Costa and the systematic running down of services offered in the Playa Flamenca office of the Town Hall.” Together, they made a series of accusations, all of which have been denied by the Government team.

Bob Houliston said, “Deliberate neglect of the coast was clearly illustrated in the breaking of the formal promise by the Mayor that 40 per cent of the proceeds of the sale of municipal land in Orihuela Costa would be devoted to investments on the coast. This has not happened.”

In response to this, Pedro Mancebo said that the government team has announced publicly that around €400,000, which is 40 per cent of the sale of land, will be used for projects on the coast.  He said: “To state that land has been sold to enable more houses to be built is foolish.  My government does not sell land to build houses, we sell the land to get the money which is needed to develop public investments.  The last thing Orihuela Costa needs is new houses.”  He added that there are no plans to sell protected land in the Sierra Escalona as claimed by CLARO and the PP

In response to allegations that €705,000 of funds has been transferred from the Orihuela Costa to other areas, the Mancebo denied this. “Juan Ignacio Lopez-Bas, Councillor for Commerce and Taxes and myself must sign such documents for transfer of monies. Both of us have not signed any such transfer.”

Bob Houliston and Monica Lorente gave special importance to what they said could be a potentially serious matter in relation to the appointment of a Co-ordinator to the Councillor for the Coast.

They showed documents listing the appointment at an annual salary of €33,000 but said this person has never been seen working.  Mancebo admitted he did make the appointment with this salary, as is allowed, but at the last minute the post was not taken up.  A new person is to start shortly on a lower salary.  “No public salary whatsoever has been paid to anyone who has not worked for the Town Hall.”

The opposition councillors went on to comment about the lack of facilities within the Playa Flamenca Town Hall and the closure of the National Police office, the Aguagest, Chamber of Commerce and tourism office.  Mancebo said they were working on re-instating the National Police office and admitted the tourism office had not been manned continually in recent weeks but said the Chamber of Commerce office was indeed open as was the Aguagest base.