Rom Data's future on a knife-edge

THE future of troubled Falmouth computer firm Rom Data should be known early in the new year.

A creditors meeting will decide whether a liquidator is appointed or receivers move in.

The company, which crashed in the week before Christmas, is still in being, although only with a tiny staff.

More than 100 employees were laid off and found themselves organising meetings at local jobcentres rather than looking forward to 1995 in work.

Staff were also angry at being given their cards showing they had been laid off at the end of October. All had been working since then and were owed up to a £1,000 in wages.

Rom Data, which started with the help of massive Government grants three years ago, accumulated losses at the end of its first year's trading of £1.3 million.

No accounts have since been filed.

Dinner lady serves up her last spud

A PENRYN dinner lady is saying farewell to trays of steaming spuds after 27 years of facing queues of children asking for seconds.

Jean Churcher has decided to hang up her long-handled spoon and dishcloth for good at Penryn School at the end of term. She officially retires tomorrow.

"I'm 62 and you come to a stage in life where you have just had enough and you want to enjoy life," she said this week. "I have had some lovely people to work with and a lot of fun."

140 years old and stronger than ever

THE dawn of 1995 is a new landmark in the history of the Falmouth Packet.

Britain's best-known local weekly title celebrates its 140th birthday this year, reinforcing its position as one of the oldest businesses in West Cornwall.

Although a version of the Packet was published as early as 1829, the newspaper's true birth as a bona fide local journal was in July, 1855.

Originally known as Lake's Falmouth Packet, the paper has not only established itself as a trusted institution in Falmouth, Penryn and the surrounding villages, its title is renowned throughout the newspaper industry.