Gary Roberts, Lee Collins and Tom Pope, who were teammates at Port Vale, were arrested after the incident at the Casa Night Club on Bridge Street in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

All three were questioned and released on bail yesterday.

It is believed that two people were injured.

Police are now studying CCTV footage from the scene.

Tom Pope returned to Rotherham F.C. last week, after a three month loan spell at Port Vale.

Police are appealing for information on 0300 1234455 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

The company has been awarded the money by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) for an investment programme at the Alstom Grid facility.

Stephen Burgin, Alstom UK’s Country President said: “We are delighted to be receiving this investment support, which is a major boost to expanding our Alstom Grid business in Stafford as well as helping to reinforce our continued commitment to the region.”

The RGF funding is designed to encourage enterprise, growth and jobs in the private sector and will help develop facilities at Alstom’s world leading Grid site in Stafford.

The company works in the power generation and transport markets.

Matthew Hemes, Tom Karakas, Suman Matharu, Daniel Swift and Joel Rawlinson organised the art exhibition

By Natalie Clarkson: A group of Staffordshire University students celebrated after hosting a successful art exhibition.

The event at Costa in Stafford was organised as part of a university assignment by Matthew Hemes, Suman Matharu, Tom Karakas, Daniel Swift and Joel Rawlinson.

They are all students from the Management course at the university’s Stafford campus.

Matthew said: “We decided we wanted to do an art exhibition so we looked at various venues and eventually decided on Costa. It’s a pretty cool venue for an art exhibition.”

Students across the university were involved and showcased their talents in film, photography, drawing and music.

One of the musicians, Kiera Lawlor, a Music Technology student, said: “I was asked to be involved by my house mate and I thought it was a really good idea. It’s a brilliant opportunity, you don’t normally get things like this around here.”

The event was open to the public and proved to be very popular.

David Nicholas, 20, said: “I came because my friends have some work on show tonight but it’s a really good event. The art’s great and there’s a really nice atmosphere around the place.”

Matthew added: “The art speaks for itself, it’s fantastic.”

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

By Amardip Jhamat: Comedian Alan Carr has re-opened Stafford Gatehouse Theatre following a major facelift.

Carr then went on to perform to a packed crowd at the new-look venue with all 505 seats sold out.

The old theatre hosted omore than 6,000 shows in 29 years before closing on January 17 for renovation work.

For Carr, well known for hosting Channel 4′s Chatty Man and The Saturday Night Project, it marked the start of his first UK tour in over four years, with 33 dates lined up.

Becky Ward, event organiser at the Gatehouse, said: “I’m not surprised at how fast the tickets sold, he was such a great act and he entertained the audience well.

“We are all looking forward to his return.”

Jake Murphy, 19, a business student at  Staffordshire University, attended the show with friends.

“It was so funny we were in stitches the whole show, he was such brilliant performer. This was the first time I went to see him. I have watched all his DVD releases and enjoyed watching them.”

Nathan Kellingbeck, 26, of Biddulph, attended Alan Carr Chatty Man show at The London Studios.

“The show was incredible, the guest stars I saw were Tom Hardy and The Only Way Is Essex cast, with was so hilarious, my favorite part was them opening of the show,” he said.

“I’m gutted I won’t be going to see him at the theatre. All tickets have been sold out.”

All of the old seats have been removed and replaced to improve viewing.

Other work includes a refurbishment of the auditorium and new acoustics.

The event is expected to attract over 15,00 visitors and is known as one of the Shire Hall Gallery’s biggest attractions.

The event will open on Saturday May 7 and will run until June 18 with artists able to submit their work by April 2.

Internationally-acclaimed artist Rob Ryan will be selecting the art to be included as part of the exhibition.

This year’s grand prize is £1,250, along with a commissioned, commemorative glass trophy provided by Stuart Akroyd.

Staffordshire County Councillor Pat Corfield, Cabinet Member for Culture, said: “The Staffordshire Open Art Exhibition is an established party of the county’s arts scene and has provided a valuable showcase for professional and amateur artists.

“We are extremely proud of the artistic talent we have here in Staffordshire.”

Entry forms for all those who wish to submit, including Under 16s, are available from the gallery, Market Square and any Staffordshire library.

All entries must be original and produced within the last three years.

For details visit: www.staffordshire.go.uk/openart

The man’s body was discovered at a property on Marston Road, Stafford at around 11am yesterday (March 29).

The victim has not yet been identified but it is believed he is in his 30s and from the Stafford area.

Staffordshire Police say a 35-year-old Stafford man has been arrested and is being questioned at the Northern Area Custody Facility in Stoke-On-Trent.

A postmortem examination will be carried out.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Staffordshire Police or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Hannah, Chloe and Emily stretching in practice

By Leah Cassady & Kieran Jones: Three Staffordshire gymnasts are preparing to take part in a national competition.

Hannah Mellor, 14, from Stone, Emily Kolk, 14, from Stafford, and Chloe Heeley, 11, from Cannock, are hoping to win big at the Acrobatics British Championships.

The girls have been meeting at South Staffs Gymnastics four times a week for the last six months with coach Gemma Chilton to go over their routines.

And they are hoping all the extra practice time will help as they compete against 30 other teams.

The Acro British Championships takes places tomorrow (March 26) and Sunday at Fenton Manor Sports Complex. Day tickets cost £9.50 for adults and £5.50 for children.

By Philip Bannister

Bikers can register their cycles and ‘mark’ them with a Police Preferred product, deterring thieves and making it easier to trace if stolen.

Officers will security mark cycles for £1 while offering guidance and advice at the event this Friday March 18.

Police Community Support Officer Steph Turnock said: “This is an ideal opportunity to meet with the local officers and help keep bikes safe and secure. We’d be delighted to see as many owners bring their bikes along as possible.”

The event will run from 3pm to 5.30pm at Wildwood Gateway Centre in Wildwood, in Stafford.

Police want pupils from nearby Walton High School and Barnfields Primary School to attend.

For more information, you can visit the Staffordshire Police website: http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/ or follow them on Twitter: @StaffsPolice.

Ardak Ikanbayeva, 36, of Rowley Bank, Stafford admitted dumping rubbish illegally at the Burton Square recycling site.

Stafford Borough Council were led to Ikanbayeva and her partner when they found menus and business cards for their takeaway business ‘Born to Grill’ among the dumped rubbish.

Michael Wetton, defending, said: “[Miss Ikanbayeva] apologised to the court and borough council for her actions.

“She did not intend to flout the law, it was a lack of knowledge rather than a deliberate intention to fly tip.”

Colin Clark, magistrates chairman, said the courts took fly-tipping very seriously.

Simon Turner, prosecuting, said the local authority was spending around £20,000 a year dealing with fly-tipping and that Burton Square was a particular problem area.

Cllr Stan Highfield, cabinet member for environment and health, said they would not hesitate to prosecute those who dump rubbish illegally.

Vinyls playing live at Fentham Hall, Hampton-In-Arden.

By Mhari Farmer: Stafford-based indie rock and roll band, Vinyl Sleeves, have packed up their instruments because there is no new releases fit to cover.

The band, formally Beats Working, lasted 12 years and played their last gig at the weekend in Solihull, Birmingham.

Vinyl Sleeves launched in 2004 with a new line-up and set after The Beats stopped working due to musical differences.

The four-piece which consisted of front man Paul Wells, guitarist ‘The Silver Fox’, drummer Mick Askey and bassist Pete Sylvester covered tunes ranging from James’ She’s a Star to The Subways’ Rock and Roll Queen.

Paul said the band had “naturally run its course and gone kind of stale” because of the wave from indie and general rock.

He said: “The last song we covered was relevant to our style was Kings of Leon’s Sex on Fire in 2008. There’s plenty being released, it just doesn’t see the chart success.

“I’m sick of seeing cover bands, I suppose we were one of them but our driving force was to cover songs that no other local band could do or would ever even consider.”

Pete has now joined forces with Dave Barron, a musician from Stafford who has just released his debut album “Moonshine and Spiders”.

He said: “It’s a shame Vinyls ended but I’m enjoying this new project. It’s a reflection on the pub industry, pub gigs keep it going and with less of those it became more of a function band and a job rather than a hobby.”

Gig organiser Eric Furze, owner of Stafford’s music shop Guitar & Son, said: “When I worked with them they did the job really well.

“They were good and went down a storm. The only band on the scene at the moment comparable to them is MLC.”

Bob Dean, former bassist of Vinyl Sleeves and current bassist of MLC, a well-known six-piece rock band from Stafford, was shocked to hear of the split.

He said: “I was only with them a year, I wouldn’t have left but I couldn’t keep up with two bands.

“Paul and Mick are some of the best musicians I’ve played with and I still play with the Silver Fox now in MLC.”