IT is not often you get to report on a happy ending.

Especially not for an appeal for a sighting of a pensioner who is missing from home.

Yet earlier this month, Peter Fray was found some 24 hours after going missing from his Orford house.

And this week, we speak to Peter and his family.

There are two interesting points in this story.

Firstly the power of social media.

There are many negative aspects of social media, from the back biting to character assassination to rounding up recruits to fight for ISIS in Syria, but in cases such as this it can be a really effective tool of getting a simple message to many people very quickly.

Tweets and Facebook posts issued by the police and the Warrington Guardian were read by thousands of people in seconds, in a way that simply would not have been possible even a decade ago.

That ability to let so many people know that somebody is missing, and giving them a picture of what the person looks like, means there has to be a chance of a happier ending.

The second point is just how cruel a disease Alzheimer’s is.

Most people will have a family member who has suffered from it or will know of someone affected.

It remains a horrible disease that hits people in the most cruel of ways.

It is to be hoped research continues into fighting the cause of it and giving family members of people with Alzheimer’s some relief.

THE sight of travellers rolling on to Victoria Park this week has angered many residents.

It is incumbent on the council to provide sites for travellers to stay on.

But it is also important that the travelling community itself has some respect for the town and environment where they choose to live.

Rolling on to a public park over the weekend and setting up camp in a small coppice of woods is not really showing anyone else any respect at all.

The council and Environment Agency have done an excellent job, work that is ongoing, to clear up the park.

It should not be allowed to be ruined by people who seem to have little regard for the community they live in.

NEW figures this week show how obesity is hitting the health service in Warrington.

We all know the problems and strain being put on the NHS as people live longer.

But to think that 1,000 people needed treatment in the town last year for obesity-related problems is quite stark.

It is important for everyone to commit to living a healthier lifestyle to stop the burden on our health service.

So that when we really need it for ourselves and our families, it is able to provide.