The Derbyshire Times had a handle on its patch’s criminal fraternity this week by reporting on a broom which had been snapped in half.
The incident was the third of its kind to be reported in 15 months, leaving reader Adam Ward wondering whether a serial broom-snapper whose activities were covered by the Times last year had resurfaced.
The Chesterfield-based Times also provided helpful background on the history of the broom, stating the item is “an important part of many households”.
The story was written by chief reporter Michael Broomhead, of course, and was picked up by BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine.
Michael told HTFP: “When a contact tweeted me about this breaking story, I couldn’t brush it under the carpet as I knew it’d put a smile on people’s faces.
“With 12,286 hits, it was Monday’s most-read story on www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk and was even tweeted by Jeremy Vine – but thankfully our website could handle all the traffic.
“A few people told me to clean up my journalistic act – but the majority saw the funny side. Some people said I would sweep awards with the story, with one guy suggesting it could be a Pulitzer Prize winner.”
I just found a burned-out matchstick in Swan(Vestas)wick. Hold the front page! – it’s about as relevant as this broom nonsense.
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The chief reporter wrote this? This chief reporter? Not the trainee? Not the workie? The chief reporter?
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The chief reporter is the trainee.
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Chief reporter and bottle washer.
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