NHS Barnsley staff will vote on health care being provided by businesses as part of a national shake-up by the Department of Health. Union officials are worried employees have not been made aware of the significance of the ballot which they say could ultimately result in job cuts and a decline in standards of patient care.

BARNSLEY Youth Theatre will stage a production of The Pirates of Penzance next week using Edward Sheerien School as its stage. It will be the first show since the group nearly folded earlier this year after the council axed drama and dance at the former PADS centre on Grove Street and made the the group's director, Chris Rooke redundant.

THE FIRE Authority has resorted to bully boy tactics to push through changes to shift times, according to the Fire Brigades Union. Union bosses were stunned to learn by fax the Fire Authority will carry out a mass sacking of 744 fire-fighters across South Yorkshire on January 1 and reinstate them under a new contract which will have revised working hours.

AN EX-MINER is looking forward to watching the snooker and reading the Chronicle after an operation restored his sight, 57 years after he lost it in a pit accident. Eric Harrison, 85, lost the sight in his right eye when a piece of stone pierced his pupil in a roof collapse at Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery in 1952.

Barnsley marked the start of National Armed Forces Week on Monday with a flag raising ceremony at the war memorial. The Mayor, Coun John Parkinson, greeted servicemen and veterans.

MEET the winner of this year's Dandy Dog competition - Harvey a seven month-old King Charles spaniel. Owner Valda Cruise, of Coronation Drive, Bolton on Dearne was overjoyed when he was crowned Barnsley's top dog at the final on Monday.

THE Dickie Bird statue, wrapped against the weather, arrived in Barnsley on Sunday. It came on a lorry from the foundry in London and was lowered by a small crane into place on the plinth near St Mary's Parish Church.

A VICTORIAN villa has been condemned by the fire service following the latest arson attack. Twenty five fire-fighters spent over five hours tackling a fire which consumed the roof space and the main staircase at Westfield House in Victoria Road on Sunday. On Tuesday afternoon they were called out again when smoke was billowing from a window.

RONA Hurst came next to the last in a big race - but still felt like a winner. She has cerebral palsy and until 18 months ago walking was "like standing on glass." Then she had an operation and she has improved enough to compete with hundreds of competitors in the three mile Race for Life event in Sheffield, using a walking frame and finishing in one and a half hours.

A TEACHER has won a lifetime achievement award for making a 'life changing difference' to under fives. Susan Carr (Wombwell Park Street) has seen several generations of the same families come through the school in the 31 years she has been there.

SIX hundred long-term unemployed people are being promised decently paid jobs as part of a £9m scheme. Barnsley Council is bidding for nearly £4m from the government's Future Jobs Fund and putting in £3.6m itself to create 400 of the jobs, while other money is coming in from NHS Barnsley and other parties, including the fire service, Berneslai Homes and private sector, to create a further 200 positions.

A GROUP of Wombwell High pupils is hoping to chant their way to a national cheerleading competition in August. Fusion All Stars finished runners up at a South Yorkshire Schools' competition earlier this year and have now set their sights on becoming the nation's best.

A PARENT hopes to transform the life of his severely autistic son and thousands of others with a new communication aid he designed. Stephen Lodge, of Rother Croft, Hoyland, spent five years developing the Speaks4me computer technology to give ten-year-old Callum a virtual voice.

COLDSTREAM Guards had the honour of playing postmen this week when they picked up hundreds of 'creature comforts' for troops abroad. Brian Ridley and Ken Pearson stopped off at the parish rooms in Cawthorne on Tuesday at the request of the Mothers' Union.

THE SECOND running of the Billy The Kid Dash in memory of a Royal Marine who was killed in action in Afghanistan will take place around Thurgoland village on Sunday July 5. Relatives and friends of David Marsh, who died on March 30 2008 after an explosion in the Helmand province, have spent months organising the event after raising more than £10,000 through last year's race.

A VOLUNTEER from Africa and a girl from Thurlstone are working in Grimethorpe as part of an international scheme. Bethan Harvey, 18, and Imercia Vilanculo, 23, originally from Mozambique have been paired as part of the VSO Global Xchange programme. It gives people in different countries the opportunity to work together and contribute to communities.

BARNSLEY band Glassyouth is preparing to release a second single and video called 'Run'. The band was formed in 2006 by Sam Stevens, Oliver Yonchev, Sean Parkin, Pat Holding and Leroy Smith - then known as The Headliners.

BARNSLEY and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce president Tracey Lally has quit following a plunge in membership during the credit crunch. She has resigned because she believes the chamber should be doing more to support businesses. About 1,100 Barnsley firms were in the chamber when it merged with its counterpart in Rotherham two years ago. That figure is now down to fewer than 500.

BEDDING, home entertainment equipment and an accountant's advice were among the items that Barnsley MPs made expense claims for. The official parliamentary version of MPs' expenses were released yesterday under the Freedom of Information Act.

BY-STANDERS helped save 50 valuable motorbikes from being destroyed as a blaze ravaged several properties in the town centre. Fire broke out at the Greenhouse Health Club on Sheffield Road just after 10pm on Tuesday and was in danger of spreading to neighbouring Bennetts motorcycles which had machines worth over £200,000 in the showroom.

THE 32nd Penistone Mayor's parade and gala was 'the best yet' according to spectators who hit the High Street on Sunday to see the 1940s Britain themed floats. Thousands enjoyed the sun as they watched the floats parade through the town centre before making their way to the showground for an afternoon of activities.

TWO CO-OP supermarkets in the Dearne have been targeted in a spate of thefts over two weeks. It is thought the same two men were responsible for the theft of alcohol from the St Andrew's Square Co-op in Bolton on Dearne in two incidents last month.

Author Hanna Holdridge is shown at Elsecar Heritage Centre with the Mardy Monster train, which features in a book she has written. the steam train will run on Sunday as part of a Father's Day event at the heritage centre.

CAR dealers have been warned to be extra secure after a car was stolen from a forecourt and a similar theft was attempted. A man was caught on cctv walking through Hayselden's showroom and into a private office where it is believed he took the keys to a VW Touareg. The car was later stolen.

KINGSTONE School pupil Roxanne Shaw, 12, is to swim a mile to raise money for the Barnsley Domestic Abuse Refuge Support Group at the Metrodome on June 25.

A NUISANCE neighbour who attacked a woman with a TV remote control has been booted out of her house under new council powers and given an asbo. Mum-of-two Julie Greenwood, 37, lived in a privately rented home at Princess Street, Barnsley, but it was boarded-up this week making her homeless.

BARNSLEY was treated to a glorious cacophony of Indian sounds as Bollywood Brass Band descended on the Civic. They played music from a range of Bollywood films, with several pieces performed as accompaniment to dance sequences shown on a screen. The effect was hugely impressive, as the natural flow of the dances and all their jerky motions were mirrored perfectly in the music.

A TEENAGER who broke his back in two places when his scooter collided with a car vowed he is determined to walk again. Brave Jason Kirby, 18, suffered a fractured skull, punctured lung and needed stitches on his tongue, lips and face.

PENSIONERS who attend a dancing group at Wombwell have become film stars. Members of the Wombwell Barnsley Road Phoenix Social Club - many of them are in their mid 70s and 80s - have been filmed bouncing on and dancing with inflatable hoppers.

NEW signs showing the route for cyclists from Locke Park to the town centre appear to tell them to cycle on the pavement, a councillor says. Coun Malcolm Price said: "Are the cyclists supposed to ride on the road, or on the pavement? Because they're on posts on the pavement, on the left side furthest away from the road."

MORE than one in five Barnsley pupils are obese by the time they reach secondary school, NHS statistics have revealed. Height and weight measurements of 10 to 11 year-olds showed 21.2 per cent of the youngsters were obese and just 63.9 per cent were considered a healthy weight by professionals.

VOLUNTEER ambulance workers Keith Parker and his daughter Anna saved a man's life after he collapsed near Kexborough. Keith, of Strafford Street, Darton, was in his shorts, t-shirt and slippers preparing to go away when a call came in saying someone had suffered a heart attack.