Wheelie bin fee dropped

HOUSEHOLDERS on the Yorkshire coast are not to be charged for wheelie bins which are damaged, lost or stolen. Scarborough Borough Council's cabinet overturned its previous decision to make a charge after protests from residents and the authority's scrutiny committee. A £25 charge will be made to provide bins to new properties.

ART EXHIBITION: Dates have been announced for this year's Richmond Art Exhibition. Work by local artists go on show in the Town Hall from Saturday, May 4, to Monday, May 6. A preview evening will be held on Friday, May 3, with tickets costing £5. Proceeds will go towards the Richmond Friary Hospital and the mayor's charities.

Spring song: Greenside Ladies Choir at Scruton is to perform a Spring Song concert in Northallerton Town Hall on Wednesday, at 7.30pm. Jim Cartman, of Aiskew Nurseries, will also give Helpful Hints on Hanging Baskets. The event is in aid of the Roy Castle Cancer Foundation. Tickets, priced £5, are available from the Roy Castle shop, Northallerton, or from (01609) 748457.

US TRIO: New York trio The Hub will perform at The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge, North Yorkshire, on Thursday, April 25.

Dance date: An old time and sequence dance will be held in Helmsley town hall on Wednesday, April 24, from 7.30pm to 11.30pm. Proceeds from the event go to the British Legion.

Family history: Experts from the East Yorkshire family history society will visit Scarborough library on Saturday, from 10.30am to 3.30pm, to help local people trace their family tree.

OPEN EVENING: Deerbolt Ladies Choir performs at an open evening arranged by the Richmond Methodist Guild in the town's Methodist Assembly Hall at 7.30pm tonight.

CHARITY'S THANKS: A coffee morning in Richmond Town Hall raised £384 for the Motor Neurone Disease Society.

Park works: Parks and open land in York are to be improved with £75,000 of council cash. Work will be carried out on the Esplanade, the Knavesmire and Museum Gardens as well as a number of closed churchyards and burial grounds