School site sold to mystery buyer .sx A WEST Cumbrian company has bought the former grammar school buildings at Cockermouth which stand on five acres of land at the junction of Lorton Road and Strawberry Howe Road .sx Cumbria County Council's corporate property department confirmed the sale , subject to contracts and planning permission .sx The name of the company and its plans for the building have not yet been made public .sx The old grammar school buildings were closed in July this year and were offered for sale by tender .sx The grammar school was merged with Derwent School in 1984 and vacated following the move to a single site at Castlegate Drive , which was redeveloped at a cost of pounds1 .sx 5 million .sx The remaining 25 acres of land have been earmarked as the possible location for a new Cockermouth primary school and were not offered for sale .sx Richard Moore , for the corporate property department , confirmed :sx " The buildings and the five acres they occupy have been sold to a local company , subject to contract and planning permission .sx " A new school may be built on part of the remaining land , but that is way off in the future .sx There are no plans to sell the land although we may consider leasing it .sx " .sx Cockermouth rugby union club had been hoping to buy part of the land to develop as a multi-sports complex in conjunction with other sports clubs in the town .sx Big black-out as storms blow .sx THOUSANDS of homes in West Cumbria were without electricity yesterday after high winds lashed coastal towns and some inland villages .sx The power was cut around 2am after tree branches were blown onto power lines .sx Norweb electricians worked throughout the morning to restore supply to nearly 2,000 people in the west of the county and 900 in the east who were affected by the cuts .sx But three schools remained closed after the power failures affected overnight heating supplies giving pupils at Netherhall Secondary School and primary schools in Dearham and Crosby an extra day's holiday .sx Norweb spokesman Stan Harrison said he expected everybody to be reconnected by yesterday tea-time .sx He said :sx " Most of the people in West Cumbria were back on supply within a few hours .sx " The last people to be reconnected were in the Lorton Valley and around Egremont but they should have been alright by the late afternoon .sx " .sx dot Baker Michael Armstrong , of 3 Wood Street , Maryport awoke to find a roof from a neighbouring house in his back garden .sx An empty house on the cliffside below , badly damaged by fire five weeks ago , is under renovation , and the whole of the partially-completed roof had been lifted by the gusting 80 mph winds , tossed high into the air , turned upside down , blocking their back door .sx Answering alarm call costs man his licence .sx A MAN who went to help police after hearing a burglar alarm has lost his driving licence for a year .sx Nigel Lymer , 27 , of Richmond Close , Workington admitted drink driving when he appeared before West Allerdale Magistrates .sx The court heard he was only six milligrams over the legal limit .sx Mr Kevin Commons , defending , said Lymer had gone for a drink in the Ship and had intended to leave his van in the Washington Street car park overnight .sx But he leapt into action on hearing the St. John's precinct alarm go off as he is a key holder for the Workington town centre precinct and had often been called out after hours to open up .sx However after police checked premises and talked to Lymer they smelt alcohol on his breath and he was breathalysed .sx A blood analysis taken at Workington Police Station showed Lymer was just six milligrams over the legal limit .sx Mr Commons asked magistrates to be as lenient as possible under the circumstances as Lymer had only been doing his public duty .sx Magistrates gave an absolute order of discharge for the offence but had no choice but to bring in the ban which must be imposed by law .sx Police probe car offences .sx POLICE are investigating a number of offences relating to cars which occured over the week-end .sx A Ford Granada registered YRM 278T was taken from Salterbeck and a Ford Cortina number JEF 209W was taken from Park Lane in Workington .sx The locks of cars in Brayton Street , Workington and outside Smiths factory , Workington were damaged , while at Maryport a Nissan Prairie was damaged to the tune of pounds110 at Bounty Avenue and pounds100 worth of damage was caused to a vehicle at Dobie's Garage .sx At High Brigham a windscreen was stolen from an unattended Ford Escort and at Harrington pounds40 worth of damage was caused to the windscreen of a Toyota .sx Man dies in bus accident .sx A PENSIONER died yesterday morning after a traffic accident with a bus at Moorclose Road , Workington .sx Mr William Plaskett , who lived in Moorclose Road , close to the scene was near to his own parked car when the accident happened at 7.20 am opposite the Ogden and Lawson copper foundry .sx Mr Plaskett , who was in his late 60's , leaves a wife , Karen , as well as two young children .sx Martin and Stacey are both under six .sx Cumberland Motor Services said the bus involved in the accident was on a town service route and had left Brierydale at 7.15 am travelling to the town centre .sx The driver was Mr Alan Lavery of Workington who was said to be extremely shocked by the accident .sx The company's operations manager , Mr Paul Coupar , said :sx " The accident happened on the 7.15 am Brierydale to Workington journey .sx After the second stop at Moorclose Road the bus was in collision with someone who was believed to have emerged from a car .sx A statement has been provided to the police .sx It is a tragic accident .sx " .sx Sex attacker jailed after hostage ordeal .sx SEX-ATTACKER Shaun Riley has been jailed for 18 months after holding a couple hostage and twice seriously indecently assaulting the woman .sx Just seven weeks before the incident he had been released from a ten year sentence after the Appeal Court quashed a conviction for rape and indecent assault .sx Carlisle Crown Court also heard that the Workington woman , a 34-year-old mother , alleged that Riley had raped her two years earlier , on New Year's Eve 1988 .sx No charges relating to that incident were ever brought to court .sx A jury took less than an hour to convict Riley , 24 , of Grasmere Avenue , Workington , of the two indecent assaults .sx Imprisoned Judge Charles Mahon sentenced him to 18 months jail in addition to a five year term for robbery that Riley has just started .sx He told Riley :sx " You intimidated this couple and imprisoned them in this woman's home for two or three hours .sx " The very nature of the second attack was much nastier than the first one and left the woman cowering against a wall saying 'keep him from me' .sx " .sx The court had earlier heard the woman and her elderly male friend had been eating in a Workington Chinese restaurant , when she spotted a man she later found to be Riley beckoning her over .sx She ignored him .sx But , when the couple left , Riley followed and tried to intimidate the grey-haired elderly man .sx The victim claimed Riley was talking constantly about the Gulf War and how he was due to leave to command a platoon of men .sx He followed her back to the flat and forced his way into the hallway where , she told the court , he lifted up her t-shirt and tried to pull down her knickers .sx She screamed out for her friend before escaping and running out into the street to look for a policeman .sx The friend followed and found her crying hysterically in the street .sx He managed to calm her down and took her back to the flat , only to find Riley hiding at the bottom of the stairs .sx Riley claimed " military training " had taught him how to enter buildings undetected .sx He told the friend to lock himself in an upstairs toilet and then attempted to have sex with the woman .sx Driver in terror on dual road .sx A KESWICK motorist claimed she was terrified when a car was driven alongside her for almost the lenght of a dual carriageway in Allerdale .sx Amanda Miller , of Windebrowe Avenue , told West Allerdale magistrates :sx " He just decided he wanted to intimidate us .sx I was terrified .sx " .sx But the other driver , Ian Tyson , 31 , of The Hill , Brigham , said he was simply trying to overtake and accused Mrs Miller of accelerating to stop him .sx Tyson denied charges alleging he drove recklessly or , as an alternative , without reasonable consideration for other road users .sx He was found guilty of driving without reasonable consideration on the A66 road near Bassenthwaite Lake and was fined pounds100 .sx The court heard that the incident began near Embleton where , each alleged , they were dazzled by the other .sx Mrs Miller said that while driving home at night she overtook Tyson who then drove right up behind her with his headlights on full .sx Once on the dual carriageway beside Bassenthwaite Lake , she said , Tyson pulled along side her sounding his horn .sx Mrs Miller , who had three passengers in her car , said she tried to accelerate away .sx She claimed he then pulled in front and began braking and flashing his rear fog lights .sx She said she eventually stopped at a lay-by .sx Tyson told the court that when Mrs Miller drove up behind him she had her lights on full beam and that cars coming in the opposite direction were flashing her .sx He said that once ahead Mrs Miller slowed down and that when he started to over-take her on the dual carriageway she accelerated to stop him .sx Prisoner lashed out at officer .sx PENT up frustration caused a prisoner to lash out with a plate , hitting a police officer in the face , West Allerdale magistrates heard .sx PC Ian Armstrong suffered swelling and bruising in the assault at the police cells in Workington .sx Darren Clarke , 22 , of Cusack Crescent , Workington , admitted causing actual bodily harm to PC Armstrong and was ordered to do 200 hours of community service and to pay Mr Armstrong pounds75 compensation .sx His solicitor , Kevin Commons , said Clarke's then girl-frind - they are now married - had suffered a miscarriage .sx Mr Commons said that during a visit officers had had to drag her from the cell and that during the incident Clarke hit out .sx He said :sx " It was frustration more than any wish to hurt this police officer .sx He apologises for that .sx " .sx Clarke also admitted two charges of handling stolen goods - bedding and electrical goods found during a police search of his home .sx Before the court with Clarke was Mark Moore , 19 , of Cusack Crescent , who also admitted two charges of handling stolen goods .sx Mr Commons said Moore had paid Clarke " in kind " with the goods for joinery jobs done by him .sx Clarke further admitted driving on the Pica-Frizington road without an excise licence , a driving licence or insurance , and with a defective tyre and brakes .sx Mr Commons said Clarke had already been punished for the motoring offences having been inflicted with injuries requiring surgery .sx He asked the court to give Clarke , who has numerous convictions , a chance to build a new life with his new wife .sx For the handling Clarke was ordered to do 150 hours of community service to run concurrently with the assault sentence .sx He was given conditional discharges for the motoring offences and banned from driving for six months under the totting up regulations .sx Mr Commons said Moore turned a " blind eye " to the fact that the property was probably stolen .sx He said Moore " is a young man who hasn't much going for him but who is looking forward to having a family and improving his life .sx " .sx Moore was ordered to do 150 hours of community service .sx Man in road was a hazard .sx KESWICK magistrates fined a 31 year old man pounds50 after hearing how he caused a " substantial hazard " by wandering across the A66 road at Braithwaite .sx Michael Carr , Norfolk Arms , Penruddock , Penrith , pleaded guilty to obstructing the highway .sx Prosecutor Charles Bland said police found Carr wandering on the A66 and it appeared he was drunk .sx Cars were having to slow down to drive around him .sx