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HATFIELD & HERTS
Your Local News
18th October 1999

LOCAL BOY DOES GOOD IN LOTTO JACKPOT!

Kevin Wilson (17), from Hatfield was celebrating last night after a huge win on the lottery.

The young 'A' level student was completely shocked when his numbers came up. "It was so nuts," he told one of our reporters. "I was just sitting there and I couldn't believe it. I've never even bought a scratchcard before." When asked why Kevin decided to buy a ticket, even he couldn't say. "I just knew what numbers were going to come up. It was so odd, but it just felt right."

When asked how he was going to spend his windfall, he replied, "A car, and Mum and Dad are going on a holiday, they deserve it."

HATFIELD HOMELESS ON THE RISE!

A disturbing report released recently revealed that Hatfield's homeless population is on the rise.

The report, a nation wide effort compiled by a government committee revealed that Hatfield has one of the fastest growing homeless populations in the country, with only London and Birmingham coming above it.

Cathy Warren, spokesperson for the organisation Hatfield Homeless Awareness had this to say: "This highlights the problem here more than anything else. It is appalling on the streets; some of the peopl out there are children no older than 10 or 12. It is heart-breaking, and the council don't seem to want to do anything about it." The Council, who just last week awarded Asda a 500,000 pound grant to increase the size of the new store in the town centre, justifying it by saying it improves the quality of residents lives', were unavailable for comment.

FACTORY CLOSES

The Nike Factory in Welwyn closed its doors for the final time yesterday. The closure is just another indication of how bad things are becoming in Welwyn. Chris Grouse (48), the foreman, summed up his fellow workers' feelings. "It's a real blow to us all. We all have families to support and, at the moment, there's just nothing here for us, It's a really desperate time."

Chris continued, "Things here just keep going downhill. I know it sounds corny, but it really is getting just too dangerous to walk the streets at night, what with all the gangs and stuff." Here Chris is right - the increase in gangs in Welwyn is worrying but at the moment at least the police seem helpless.