BUS operator First is bringing in changes for its 6 service in a bid to make it more reliable. The route is being split into half so that users will now only be able to travel to Hanley and then will need to swap at the bus station to get another bus into the southern half of the City.

First Bus claim that currently the route is too big to operate successfully when traffic becomes and issue, so as a result these changes should make the bus travel more reliable in the area. It does appear that on the whole most residents in Kidsgrove have been impressed with the service that 6 has offered and are surprised that changes have been made.

The clear losers in these changes are people who may travel from Kidsgrove to South of the City of Stoke-on-Trent and students who use the 6th Form College in Stoke. This will now mean that they will need two tickets or to purchase a more expensive multi trip ticket.

The changes to the service happen on September the 6th. If you need more information or require a timetable please contact Travelline on 0871 2002233.

A TEENAGE councillor has walked free from court after being cleared ofassault.

Kyle Taylor had been accused of assaulting a teenage girl at Stoke Station on the evening of April 25, just days before he won the electionfor Newcastle Borough Council's Kidsgrove ward for the Labour Party. But the 18-year-old, pictured, was yesterday found not guilty of commonassault following a trial at North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Taylor had carried out the assault while travelling home by train. Officers from the British Transport Police were called to the incident,and the court was told the alleged victim reported a sustained assault against her, both on the train and in the station.

The court was told she said Mr Taylor had pushed her into a wall on thetrain, hit her in the face with a mobile phone, pushed her to the groundand kicked her. But the girl later asked to retract this statement, and when called to give evidence in court yesterday, she denied any assault had takenplace.

She also denied that Mr Taylor had threatened to attack her if shecomplained about his behaviour.She said: "He didn't threaten me at any time. He is a respected memberof the public. He's a councillor. Why would he say something like that?"The teenager said she had been drunk, having consumed three cans ofcider and an alcopop.

Sue Hayers, prosecuting, put it to the teenager that the original statement was an accurate description of events, but she denied evenmaking the statement. Robin Lichfield, defending, said the witness had been very tired when she had been speaking to the police, and so her statement could not berelied upon. He said: "She had been on a long journey home. She had been drinking, and she was upset. She had fallen asleep when officers were drafting thef inal statement." But PC Karl Harvey, who took the statement, insisted that the witnesshad been coherent and fully aware of what was she was saying.The prosecution also relied on CCTV footage and evidence from twowitnesses at the station.

We have been informed by County Councillor Mary Maxfield that the Staffordshire County Council (SCC) Highways team will be in the Kidsgrove area (all five wards) on the 2 June for 7 days. They will be carrying out minor works including tidying up areas for which they are responsible.

This is the ideal time for jobs that residents have reported all over the Kidsgrove area to be addressed. Councillor Mary Maxfield has asked that people will contact her regarding any jobs which they would like completing and she can pass them on to the teams from Staffordshire County Council. Mary Maxfield can be contacted directly via the email form on Whitehill Online or via our forum boards, which are a great place to come and join in discussion about the local issues in Kidsgrove that may be concerning you.

The current list of jobs that Mary has passed on to Staffordshire Council Council for Kidsgrove are;

Kidsgrove is waking up to a new face and party representing it on Newcastle Borough Council following the latest Newcastle Borough Elections.

Kyle-Noel Taylor the Labour suspended member, after the accusations in the media regarding the assault has taken the formally held seat of Mary Maxfield of the Liberal Democrats. Mary Maxfield decided to stand down this time from Newcastle Borough Council after serving the area so well and making a real difference to the lives of many local residents. No one can question the work that has been done in the local area under the Liberal Democrat control and our new elected member Kyle-Noel Taylor has a big job to live up to.

Kyle-Noel Taylor won with 1068 votes compared to Adrian Rhodes of the Lib Dems who polled 968 votes. The conservatives and UKIP made up the remaining places. This vote probably reflected the vote of many people in the national election, despite the fact that people need to focus on local issues when voting in local elections.

18 year old Kyle-Noel Taylor, supported by Margorate Astle has a chequered election past. He has been accused of making liable and slanderous comments about other candidates, arrested for assault at Stoke train station as well demonstrating the use of fowl language.

When commenting on his success at the election Kyle-Noel Taylor remarked, "I've Bloody won the election!! ME! WON IT!" and on the reporting of the assault charge "Made it onto page two of @SentinelNews with my tweet today. Downgraded from front page on Monday! They should give me a column".

If you contact Kyle-Noel Taylor, please find his contact details below;