Tumaniaa
19-04-2004, 09:45
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"Race is on to unmask Reading's very own Batman and Robin
THEY used to clean up the mean streets of Gotham City – but now the Caped Crusader and his loyal sidekick are taking on a new challenge.
That’s right folks! Batman and Robin have been on the streets of Whitley, saving damsels in distress, scaring wrongdoers and even chasing naked men from football pitches.
Like a re-run of Del Boy and Rodney’s dash through Peckham, the crime-busting pair have been spied sprinting along Northumberland Avenue, but unlike the Only Fools and Horses television pair, these two have been real-life heroes.
Yesterday we made a Bat Call to our readers to find out the crime-busters’ true identity after they were spotted shooing off a pair of cheeky streakers at the Jack Taylor TRS Trophy football final at about 5pm on Easter Sunday.
And the Bat-Phone rang off the hook with other sightings.
Michelle Kirby, from Whitley, was stranded in Whitley Wood Lane when her Peugeot 206 ran out of petrol on Easter Sunday.
But our Batman and Robin appeared out of nowhere to save the day and push her car to the nearest petrol station.
“They just appeared. I saw them running down the road in Batman and Robin outfits – I was laughing so much,” she said. “It was like a scene out of Only Fools and Horses and they stayed in character the whole time.
“They said, ‘I’m Batman, I’m Robin’ and I said, ‘No, you’re not’ and asked them if they were going to a fancy dress party but they said they were going back to Gotham City.”
After seeing Miss Kirby to safety, the pair disappeared along Basingstoke Road.
And Whitley Wood man Ray Cox, 61, spotted the caped crusaders at about 11.30am after doing his
morning shopping.
“I said to my wife, ‘It would make it a better and safer place with these men’,” he said.
“There are so many muggings in Whitley and these two running down the road really looked great – get these chaps back.Continued from front page
“Batman was quite a broad chap. They would scare a few muggers off and I’d feel safer in Whitley.”
Another shy caller, who wished to remain
anonymous, claims to have been helped by the pair, who faced down somebody who was intimidating him.
And another anonymous caller, who may know more than he let on about the duo’s real identities, reported a further sighting.
He suggested the pair had been among
demonstrators who
clambered to the top of the Engineers Arms pub in Whitley a few years ago in protest of a proposed name change for the pub.
“I knew of them because some time back they did a rooftop protest which got on the television –
something to do with changing the pub’s name to The Fisherman,” he said.
“So these two sprung into action – they were heroes.”
He added: “I also saw them on Sunday running down the streets of Whitley around lunchtime – out of Northumberland Avenue on to Whitley Wood Road.
“Then at the cup final they ordered the streakers off the pitch and then disappeared, jumped into a car and drove off.”
He could not confirm if this was the Batmobile and refused to give up the names.
Will our dubious duo be back on the streets of Whitley again? Will Boy Wonder get a pair of green tights to fit? And most importantly, who are the masked duo?
Tune into the Evening Post for our next exciting episode to find out."
From the Reading Evening Post.
"Race is on to unmask Reading's very own Batman and Robin
THEY used to clean up the mean streets of Gotham City – but now the Caped Crusader and his loyal sidekick are taking on a new challenge.
That’s right folks! Batman and Robin have been on the streets of Whitley, saving damsels in distress, scaring wrongdoers and even chasing naked men from football pitches.
Like a re-run of Del Boy and Rodney’s dash through Peckham, the crime-busting pair have been spied sprinting along Northumberland Avenue, but unlike the Only Fools and Horses television pair, these two have been real-life heroes.
Yesterday we made a Bat Call to our readers to find out the crime-busters’ true identity after they were spotted shooing off a pair of cheeky streakers at the Jack Taylor TRS Trophy football final at about 5pm on Easter Sunday.
And the Bat-Phone rang off the hook with other sightings.
Michelle Kirby, from Whitley, was stranded in Whitley Wood Lane when her Peugeot 206 ran out of petrol on Easter Sunday.
But our Batman and Robin appeared out of nowhere to save the day and push her car to the nearest petrol station.
“They just appeared. I saw them running down the road in Batman and Robin outfits – I was laughing so much,” she said. “It was like a scene out of Only Fools and Horses and they stayed in character the whole time.
“They said, ‘I’m Batman, I’m Robin’ and I said, ‘No, you’re not’ and asked them if they were going to a fancy dress party but they said they were going back to Gotham City.”
After seeing Miss Kirby to safety, the pair disappeared along Basingstoke Road.
And Whitley Wood man Ray Cox, 61, spotted the caped crusaders at about 11.30am after doing his
morning shopping.
“I said to my wife, ‘It would make it a better and safer place with these men’,” he said.
“There are so many muggings in Whitley and these two running down the road really looked great – get these chaps back.Continued from front page
“Batman was quite a broad chap. They would scare a few muggers off and I’d feel safer in Whitley.”
Another shy caller, who wished to remain
anonymous, claims to have been helped by the pair, who faced down somebody who was intimidating him.
And another anonymous caller, who may know more than he let on about the duo’s real identities, reported a further sighting.
He suggested the pair had been among
demonstrators who
clambered to the top of the Engineers Arms pub in Whitley a few years ago in protest of a proposed name change for the pub.
“I knew of them because some time back they did a rooftop protest which got on the television –
something to do with changing the pub’s name to The Fisherman,” he said.
“So these two sprung into action – they were heroes.”
He added: “I also saw them on Sunday running down the streets of Whitley around lunchtime – out of Northumberland Avenue on to Whitley Wood Road.
“Then at the cup final they ordered the streakers off the pitch and then disappeared, jumped into a car and drove off.”
He could not confirm if this was the Batmobile and refused to give up the names.
Will our dubious duo be back on the streets of Whitley again? Will Boy Wonder get a pair of green tights to fit? And most importantly, who are the masked duo?
Tune into the Evening Post for our next exciting episode to find out."
From the Reading Evening Post.