PEOPLE will be asked next week to sign a petition calling for free bus travel for all pensioners.

The Cleveland Pensioners' Convention Forum is backing the National Pensioners' Convention campaign for free bus travel for pensioners, next week. In east Cleveland, group members will be encouraging people to support the campaign. Petitions will be available in Redcar High Street on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, Marske Square on Thursday and Station Road, Saltburn, on Friday.

CRAFT FAIR: Egton Village Hall, on the edge of the North York Moors, will be the venue for a craft fair on April 13, from 10am until 4pm. Crafts on display will include glass engraving, greetings cards, knitwear, glass painting, jewellery, silk flowers, woodcraft and watercolour paintings. Admission is free. A range of refreshments will be available.

HOSPICE BOOST: The Debenhams store in Wellington Square, Stockton, has donated £657 from the proceeds of its Christmas grotto to the Butterwick Hospice. The store has supported the work of the hospice for the past decade and will be holding further fundraising events this year.

PLANNING BID: Hartlepool Borough Council has received a planning application from Oakdale Developments to build a petrol filling station with a shop and a hotel with public bar and restaurant at Whelly Hill Farm, beside the town's A179 and A19 roads.

NEW HOUSES: Persimmon and Bellway homes have applied to Hartlepool Borough Council for planning permission to build 53 houses and garages on the Middle Warren development.

Mencap meeting: The monthly meeting of the Cleveland Society of Mencap takes place at the Grenfell Club, behind Redcar Central Library, on Saturday, from 10am until noon.

Web course: Places are still available for a six-week Internet course at Prior Pursglove College, Guisborough. For an information sheet, call (01287) 280800.

Council Assembly: The annual assembly of Saltburn, Marske and New Marske Parish Council takes place on Thursday, at 7pm, at Marske Leisure Centre, in the High Street.