Speedy delivery

May 8 2008 by Mark Thomas, Liverpool Daily Post

THE big story of the last week was, of course, the local elections, which saw some of the most exciting polls in years.

It certainly made for interesting times here in the office, where we were working late into the night to get the most up-to-date and accurate results we could on the front page of the Liverpool Daily Post.

It really was a case of hold the front page at one point, as we changed our front page three times in 10 minutes to reflect the changing picture.

DM, of Waterloo, was among those impressed with our speed with the news.

He emailed to say: “I hope your reporters got a nice lie-in, the day after your elections, as they must have been burning the midnight oil for you to get the last-minute midnight deal in time.

“In all seriousness, though, the Daily Post’s general coverage of the local elections, both before and after the polls, was excellent.

“It was exactly the sort of unbiased, balanced political coverage I have come to expect from the Daily Post.” The local elections also gave us the opportunity for our website offering at www.liverpool dailypost.co.uk to come into its own.

Among the interactive treats on offer during the election was the live animated blog which offered instant results to readers.

We are pleased to say it was a big hit, too, with more than 10,000 of you viewing it and some 300 of you leaving comments on the website. And to those of you asking when our virtual newscaster, Lara Brocklebank, will be making a comeback, we are already looking at possible opportunities.

Elsewhere this week and Emma Johnson’s interview with Olympic ice skater Jayne Torvill in last Friday’s Box Office supplement stirred some memories for Eileen Watmough, of Warrington.

She writes: “I really enjoyed the piece you had with Jayne. I love ice skating and Emma is right – no-one has come even close to the talent or showmanship of her and Christopher Dean. Jayne came over very well in the article, just like she does on television. It is a shame we do not have more genuinely talented celebrities like these two for our children to look up to, instead of all those Big Brother wannabes and glamour models.”

Finally, our Looking Back pictures continue to bring in letters from you.

This time, it is the one which appeared on April 29 and prompted Terry Martin, chairman of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society to write to us. He says: “The picture featured an excellent view of the restored Liverpool bogie streamliner tram at the National Tramway Museum, at Crich, in Derbyshire. Unfortunately, the caption stated it was restored there.

“I would like to point out on behalf of all the local people who worked on the project over the years, that this tramcar was restored in Liverpool between 1967 and 1979 at the old Green Lane tramsheds by members of the MTPS.”