St George protesters fight on
Council bosses today came under fire from an MP over a decision to ban a St George's Day parade from ending in Dartmouth Park on safety grounds.
Tom Watson, MP for West Bromwich East, called council chiefs "heartless" for preventing people from paying their respects to veterans at the park's war memorial.
And he said safety concerns over the parade finishing in the park were "nonsense".
Mr Watson said: "It seems heartless that people who want to pay their respects to war veterans won't be able to.
"I urge the officials of Sandwell to think again.
"If people are going to march it is much simpler to end in a park where the children can run around and play and where people can disperse at their leisure.
"I think it is nonsense to suggest that closing the park is safer when people will have to end on a car park next to a main road."
His comments were welcomed by Trevor Collins of the Stone Cross St George Association, who said: "The decision is downright stupid. We have always finished in the park and it's been no problem before."
Sandwell Council's safety chief Councillor Derek Rowley said: "If people were to march into the park they would then turn around back to the car parks. We would have 15,000 people walking unmarshalled along the road."
