Seb Coe declares his Crofty shares

By Jonathan Carter

SEBASTIAN Coe is set to declare his share interests in South Crofty tin mine amid fears that the "feverish" scrutiny of public figures is escalating into a witch hunt.

Mr Coe, MP for Falmouth and Camborne, will publicise his stake in Europe's last working tin mine to stave off a potentially damaging attack from sleaze-hungry opponents.

"I have not rushed to make an addition to the current Directory of Members' Interests, but knowing the present feverish attitude of the tabloid press, I am sure they will seize upon anything," he said this week.

"If anyone asks me whether I made representations on behalf of South Crofty – bloody right I did. My shares will, of course, be declared in the next edition," added Mr Coe.

A spokesman for the Pool-based mine confirmed that Mr Coe had played a leading role, from an early stage, in campaigning for the mine's future and drumming up interest in the crucial South Crofty share issue.

The decision to disclose the shares comes as some politicians accuse the Press of sinking to an all-time low. And it follows newspapers' reports of the rush by 47 MPs – 36 Tory and 11 Labour – to declare their foreign forays and hitherto undisclosed interests in the latest members' interests directory.

Lisa's bravery praised in bridge drama

By Neil Hartnell

A FALMOUTH resident has been praised by the police for her heroism in persuading a mental patient not to jump from a road bridge over the busy M25 near London.

Student nurse Lisa Nicholls, aged 19, received commendation letters from Hertfordshire Constabulary's chief inspector and a top hospital manager praising her quick thinking and bravery in preventing a suicide attempt.

Lisa, whose parents live on Trescobeas Road, and a friend were taking a sick hedgehog to an animal hospital near St Albans in August when they recognised a mental patient who had walked onto a bridge parapet overlooking the motorway.

Stopping their car on the other side of the bridge, Lisa returned to talk to the woman while her friend went to alert the police. She spent three quarters of an hour talking to the patient and eventually managed to persuade her to walk back along the parapet to where she climbed on.

Lisa's grandmother, Mrs Thora Bates, told the Packet: "Lisa couldn't hold her hands, because they were separated by wire mesh that was 8ft high. After they got the patient into the ambulance, LIsa shook a little because it was such a thing for her to do."

Police cars sealed off part of the M25 during the drama, and ambulances lined the road below the bridge. Mrs Bates said: "For Lisa, what she did was an automatic reaction."

90-home plan for Penryn 'basin'

A SCHEME to build 90 new homes on a river basin in Penryn could help improve what has become a run-down area.

Carrick planning chief Steve Watson is known not to be against a plan for the area.

One has been submitted by Tower Gate Homes of London for land owned by GC Fox and Co. alongside the Penryn River.

There is already outline planning consent following a successful appeal by GC Fox on whose boatyard site in the inner harbour the development site is situated.

The original permission included the controversial Anchor warehouse site which belongs to Carrick and which is now being marketed by the council separately.

The idea by Tower Gate is to provide traditional cottage-style houses and some blocks of flats which will include the conversion of an existing warehouse.

Part of the development will provide homes from single bedroom units to three-bed family houses and will be in the hands of a housing association for letting. The rest will be sold on the open market.

Permission is also being sought for limited associated waterside commercial use.

It is expected the scheme will go before planners in December.