As Elsie Tanner the actress had appeared on Coronation Street for some 22 years.

Locally, Bristol was beginning to feel the backlash from Operation Delivery, in which 600 men from the Avon and Somerset police force had gone into St Paul’s to make a series of arrests for drug offences.

This had led to an outbreak of stone throwing, cars set on fire, a smash and grad raid on a local store and a mugging.

To make matters worse the Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Popperwell was taken off to hospital after a suspected heart attack.

And Tom Turvey, the police authority chairman, was asked to stand down after objecting to a Labour party statement about the police raid.

He said that there were differences between his view of the events in St Paul’s and those contained in the statement which demanded a full, independent public inquiry into Operation Delivery.

There were angry scenes at a Police Liaison Committee over the fact that the police did not consult community leaders before the raid and that it had been provocative and heavy handed.

And Avon County councillor Roger Berry described the extent and duration of the raid as "totally unacceptable."

It was an unhappy day for the police who were, this very week, staging a parade on College Green to celebrate 150 years of city policing.

Some 45 retired police officers joined 140 police officers for the event which was attended by Bristol’s Lord Mayor, Joan Jones and the Lord Lieutenant of Avon, Sir John Wills.

In other news it was announced that the 100 year old Bristol Club, one of the country’s most prestigious men’s clubs, was to be sold for £300,000.

The last chairman of the club - and the man who ended up buying it - was well known businessman Ian Stevens.

In the 1960s the club had 750 members - and a waiting list - but by 1986 this had dwindled to a mere 80.

In Weston the first patient’s were moved into the town’s new 37 acre hospital at Uphill from the Victorian General Hospital in The Boulevard and the Royal Hospital.

On the sports front 27 year old Rovers centre back trialist Geoff Twentyman was on the verge of being offered a two year contract with the team after three impressive performances.

"The offer in on the table and Geoff is considering it" manager Bobby Gould told the Post.

" He’s done well on the field and is the type of character that I want in the squad."

A late recruit to League football Twentyman had been released by Preston North End after three seasons at Deepdale.