Archive

  • Unit will put more cops back on beat

    A NEW police task force has been set up to target prolific offenders responsible for the majority of crime in the town. The Neighbourhood Tasking Team, was created to pick up wanted criminals, monitoring known offenders and assist neighbourhood

  • Police dog on Twitter patrol

    POLICE dogs proved they could tweet as loud as they bark when they gave followers on a social network an insight into their busy working lives. Drugs dog Griffin and general patrol dog ’Ell were called up for duty on the third day of Wiltshire Police

  • Day out at the track is a roaring success for SUNS

    MENTAL health service users took time out to get physical yesterday. Service User Network Swindon (SUNS) held a fun day at the athletics track next to the County Ground to raise money to give users the opportunity to enjoy activities such as arts, crafts

  • Town crier picks up yet another major accolade

    ROYAL Wootton Bassett’s town crier will be shouting from the rooftops after he picked up another accolade at the weekend. Owen Collier, 53, was delighted when he returned to the town at the weekend with the South of England Champion award in Dorset.

  • Budding young boxers wanted for summer camp

    A GYM is looking for a new class of budding boxing stars as a professional trainer looks to put them through his school of hard knocks. Paddy Fitzpatrick, who runs the Fitzpatrick Boxing Academy, in Ferndale Road, wants to enrol school-leavers aged between

  • Why do people gamble their lives away?

    “I WITNESSED my wife trying to hang herself. “As a result of that she was sectioned and spent the best part of 15 weeks in hospital. “The closest person to me needed me and was on 15-minute observation, and while I was visiting her I

  • WI group calls time with a parting gift

    LADIES from the Upper Stratton Women’s Institute have donated £12,000 to the Great Western Hospital after a fall in membership forced them to disband. The group, who range in age from 67 to 84, decided to call it a day earlier this year and have donated

  • Don’t want traffic? Live in a cul-de-sac

    I wish to respond to Mr Lehmann’s letter (Letters May 11) regarding my comments concerning the Duchess Way ‘short cut’. Firstly, I have no knowledge or interest in Councillor Tray as a fireman, his role in which he has my every respect. My comments relate

  • Firm fined over apprentice fall

    AN APPRENTICE electrician is lucky to be alive after he fell through a ceiling while working in the loft space of a Swindon youth centre. Richard O’Connor, 20, of Nythe, sustained serious back injuries after falling at The Platform, in Faringdon Road

  • Children desperate for foster families

    TWO children a week come into care and need a foster family in Swindon, the town’s fostering service has revealed. The figure has been released to mark the start of this year’s national foster care fortnight which lasts until May 27, run by leading charity

  • A Dickens of a good time

    THE audience at the Arts Centre last night may have been small, but it was perfectly formed. Just a handful of people took their seats in the auditorium to see Scary Little Girls perform their literary cabaret celebrating the work of Charles Dickens.

  • Classmates fundraise for cerebral palsy boy

    CLASSMATES of cerebral palsy sufferer Corey Cummings are planning a busy timetable of fundraising in a bid to help him walk. The six-year-old, of Coate Water, cannot walk, but it is hoped an operation called a selective dorsal rhizotomy would enable

  • More than one string to Janie’s bow

    THE story of cellist and composer Janie Price enthralled the lunchtime audience at the Arts Centre Yesterday. Janie attracted a large crowd to discuss her book, A Real Journey, which reveals the ordeal of how she travelled from Athens to Edinburgh. But

  • It’s a treemendous honour

    TWO white flowering cherry trees were planted in Queen’s Park yesterday to mark the Jubilee. The trees stand at the entrance to the remembrance garden, which was opened by the Queen when she was Princess Elizabeth back in 1950 in memory of those who

  • Polished sound of Polish folk

    THE first of this year’s Swindon Bowl shows takes place on May 26 – and the fun kicks off with the Warsaw Village Band. The Polish roots pioneers formed 15 years ago as a group of friends on the Polish folk scene and quickly became one of the biggest

  • Dancers can audition for Banxy

    HIP hop choreographer Banxy, in association with Swindon Dance, will be holding auditions to look for talented youngsters with urban dance skills to take part in a special Olympic event. But you have to get your applications in today. Battle For The

  • Northerners chuffed to see Green Knight

    ONE of Swindon’s finest steam engines has been enchanting the crowds up north following an extensive overhaul. The 75029 Green Knight was one of the stars of the popular North Yorkshire Moors Railway Spring Gala this weekend. It was pictured passing

  • Plant hire firm fined over health and safety

    A SWINDON-based equipment hire company has been fined for continuing unsafe working practices and ignoring safety warnings from the Health and Safety Executive. Chippenham Magistrates Court heard yesterday that HSE served four Improvement Notices on

  • Illness cancels comic’s show

    Comedian Andy Hamilton has been forced to cancel his gig at the Wyvern Theatre tonight due to ill health. The performance has been rescheduled for September 9 and all ticket holders have been contacted by the box office. Andy has been suffering from

  • Doreen Lawrence to speak at GMB union meeting

    THE founder of the Stephen Lawrence Trust will be the main speaker at a GMB union public meeting tonight. The GMB represents a group of workers in the housekeeping department employed by Carillion at the Great Western Hospital. Its members there have

  • Metal thieves target catalytic converters

    A SWINDON insurance broker is warning businesses in the area to take precautions as the theft of catalytic converters from fleet vehicles increases. According to latest figures the practice, which involves removing the converter from the exhaust pipe

  • Arrival is 1,000th baby born at centre

    THE 1,000th baby to be born at the White Horse Birth Centre was welcomed into the world yesterday morning. The bouncing baby boy, whose parents have not yet decided on a name for him, was born at the centre at Great Western Hospital at 4.11am, weighing

  • Pupils excited as teacher set to carry Olympic Torch

    TORCHBEARERS across the town are getting ready to light up Swindon as they prepare for the big day. Runners have been receiving their outfits and given their times and locations of when and where they will be running next Wednesday. One of the lucky

  • Man jailed for attempted rape

    A MAN who tried to rape a woman just before Christmas last year has been jailed for five years and four months. Dale Edwards also assaulted the woman, biting her on the nose, during the terrifying attack in her own home on Friday, December 23. The 34

  • Poole and Lakeside to pay tribute to Richardson

    POOLE and Lakeside will pay tribute to Lee Richardson when the two sides meet in the Elite League at Wimborne Road tonight. It will be the first meeting for the Hammers since news broke of their skipper’s tragic death, and he was also a former

  • Town stand by Di Canio

    SWINDON Town have stood by manager Paolo Di Canio in the wake of a race storm sparked by a Football Association investigation into allegations of racial abuse on the part of the Italian. The FA confirmed yesterday that they have opened inquiries

  • Nationwide taste victory against Wootton Bassett

    NATIONWIDE House enjoyed their first taste of victory in 2012 with a five-run win against Wootton Bassett at Pipers Way. With Nationwide’s first match of the new campaign, against Great Bedwyn, having been cancelled seven days previously, Joe Perkins

  • Ed helps Wiltshire to MCCA Trophy victory

    ED KILBEE bludgeoned an unbeaten century as Wiltshire cruised to a thumping MCCA Trophy victory over Lincolnshire on Sunday. The Goatacre batsman was in imperious form as his innings of 109 off 119 balls helped Wiltshire secure an eight-wicket victory

  • Look Watt the Cats dragged in

    SWINDON Wildcats have continued to strengthen their roster with the re-signing of forward Nicky Watt ahead of the 2012/13 English Premier League campaign. Watt, who enjoyed a successful year with the Wildcats last term as he found the net 22 times and

  • There's no stopping Goatacre

    WHEN will Goatacre stop winning games of cricket? As if two successive promotions wasn’t enough, Craig Gibbens’ side began their Premier Two campaign with an impressive 50-run victory at home to Westbury on Saturday. It was a result that at one stage

  • TRIATHLON: Lidbury defies odds to retain title

    AT ONE point during the Ironman 70.3 Mallorca, Emma-Kate Lidbury had severe doubts about whether she would finish the race, let alone win it. All had been going well for the first-placed triathlete until the second transition, when she came

  • SOUTHERN LEAGUE: Now it really is Webb's Wood

    DAVE Webb has revealed it was an ‘absolute honour’ to be appointed manager of Swindon Supermarine and says the opportunity was too good to turn down. As exclusively revealed yesterday on www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk, Webb left the hotseat at Hellenic

  • SWINDON SUNDAY LEAGUE: Rodbourne clinch title

    RODBOURNE have clinched the Swindon Sunday League Division Two title after winning a dramatic play-off against Inter Sandgate. With both clubs tied on points at the end of the regular season, they were forced to play each other to decide who

  • RUNNING: Landon claims Marlborough Downs crown

    TEAM Bath’s Guy Landon took victory in the 33-mile trail race at the Marlborough Downs Challenge on Saturday. Hundreds of competitors took part in the the contest as well as the 20-mile trail race, and it was Landon that triumphed in the former in a