SWINDON Robins claimed a narrow victory over Eastbourne Eagles at the Abbey Stadium following a stunning display from Peter Kildemand. The flying Dane went unbeaten throughout the night as Alun Rossiter’s side banished the memories of Good Friday
British celebrities in Los Angeles gathered to launch Brit Week, celebrating the best of British film, TV, music, fashion and industry in America.
THE Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the latest crime figures which show that crime in Wiltshire is down by 4.7 per cent - 1,600 fewer victims of crime per year. The Office for National Statistics figures reveal that nationally
FIREFIGHTERS in England, Scotland and Wales will take part in further industrial action over pensions, the Fire Brigades Union has announced. English and Welsh firefighters will strike on Friday, 2 May, between noon and 5pm; Saturday, May 3, between
The 39-year-old actress and her husband Will Kopelman, 36, welcomed Frankie, who joins Olive, 19 months. The couple said in a statement: "Olive has a new little sister, and everyone is healthy and happy!"
Robert Webb has warned he may name and shame members of the audience who play with their mobile phones during his new play Jeeves and Wooster.
A POLICE officer accused of unlawfully Tasering a naked man who threw a pair of underpants at him during a strip search denied he had acted out "revenge, anger or retribution". PC Lee Birch, 30, discharged his weapon into the bare chest of Daniel
THE trial of a teenager who stabbed a lad in the groin during an organised gang fight has collapsed after he pleaded guilty to a lesser offence. It had been alleged that the 17-year-old produced a knife during a fight in a park, which had been
HUNDREDS of children took part in the annual St George’s Day parade through Swindon town centre yesterday. The pupils from Robert Le Kyng Primary School, King William Street Primary School and Drove Primary School started at the Town Hall and were
WROUGHTON: Visitors to the Ellendune Centre today can watch Saving Mr Banks at the community cinema from 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 for adults and £4 concessions on the door. For more information call 01793 330639 or email swindonfilm@ntlworld.com
COATE WATER: Animals Asia founder Jill Robinson will join the team all the way from China to paddle for the charity at this year’s Rotary Club Phoenix dragon boat race. There is still time to sign up to take part in the race and raise money for
HIGHWORTH: The next meeting of the town council will take place on May 6 at the council cffices in Gilberts Lane. The meeting will start at 7pm and all residents are welcome to come along to find out what their councillors are doing to represent
ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT: Residents looking for a fun and interesting way to get more exercise can join a weekly walking group which meets every Monday at the Town Hall, startig at 9.30am.
SWINDON: The Miss Wiltshire finals bootcamp will be held tomorrow at Kiss Gyms as contestants gear up for the final round of the competition on Saturday. The bootcamp will be held at the premises of Hannah Golding, former Miss Wiltshire winner and
WROUGHTON: The Ellendune Centre will be transformed into a cinema for the evening tonight as the story of the making of Mary Poppins will be told in Saving Mr Banks, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson. The event will be hosted by Swindon Film,
SWINDON: A new youth club van will be hitting the streets of Swindon following it’s launch event today. The BIOS mobile youth club van will look to work in partnership with local businesses to transform the lives of young people in the town. The
TOWN CENTRE: Charity Shaw Trust is seeking a volunteer to give advice to their job seekers who they work with. Anyone interested in helping can call 017935 39824.
TOWN CENTRE: Swindon Equality Group will be encouraging shoppers to join the campaign for a living wage in the Brunel Arcade on Saturday, April 26. They will also encourage people to challenge electoral candidates before the May 22 elections.
BLUNSDON: Residents are welcome to raise any issues to Blunsdon St Andrew Parish Council at their next meeting taking place at Brimble Hill School, in Redhouse, at 7pm on Thursday, May 1.
ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT: Visitors to the library in Boroughfields can enjoy an art exhibition hosted by the Royal Wootton Bassett and District Art Society. The exhibition will be from 9.30am to 5pm on today and Friday and from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturday
NORTH SWINDON: The Swindon North Rotary Club will be holding a Swimathon at Next Generation in Kembrey Park on Saturday. Money raised will go to Prospect Hospice or to a charity of the participant’s choosing. For more information or to download
HIGHWORTH: The next showing in St Michael’s hall will take place tomorrow from 7.45pm. Tickets for the Oscar-winning Blue Jasmine cost £4 and are available in advance from the Lighthouse bookshop. For more information email highworthfilms@gmail.com
ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT: Alcoholics Anonymous meet every Saturday from 6pm to 7.30pm in The Croft near St Bartholomew’s Church. Anyone who thinks that they might have a problem with alcohol is welcome to attend. You can also call the helpline on
LIDEN: A children’s storytime session is taking place at the library, in Liden Close, at 10am today. For more information call 01793 463504 or email liden.library@swindon.gov.uk
GROUNDWELL: Arrests were made earlier this week at the Groundwell Industrial Estate after reports of suspicious people seen siphoning fuel from vehicles. Two men, a 29 year old and a 36 year old, both from the Penhill area, were caught trying to
OLD TOWN: Folk band CoCo and the Butterfield will be performing at Swindon Arts Centre at 8pm tonight. For ticket information call 01793 524481 or visit www.swindontheatres.co.uk.
COATE WATER: The Swindon Group of Cancer Research UK are holding their first Best Paw Forward sponsored dog 45 minute walk on Sunday from 11am. Each owner of a dog registered will be given one free entry into a prize draw to win the fabulous prize
HOME and gardens will be the talk of the town this May bank holiday when The Brunel hosts the Flour Festival on the weekend of May 3 and 4. A dedicated marquee in Wharf Green will be the stage for this weekend of gastronomy, gardening and interior
TOWN CENTRE: Comedian Jenny Eclair, actress Susie Blake and singer Kate Robbins are bringing their Grumpy Old Women: Fifty Shades of Beige show to the Wyvern Theatre tonight at 8pm. For ticket information call 01793 524481 or visit the website,
IF ever two people deserved a break, it’s Pat and Ken Hill, and today we appeal for help on their behalf. The couple, who both struggle with health issues, enlisted a builder to carry out a massive project on their Swindon home but ended up being
WITH reference to your article ‘Don't sit on the fence’ Tues 22 April, I question if we really need another allotment site in Swindon. If this group can really make a go of it then good luck to them. However it will probably take the better part
I AM writing to ask your readers to please support the collection in Swindon town centre on Saturday April 26 for the Humane Research Trust. The trust is a registered charity encouraging and supporting new medical research which does not include the
ON BEHALF of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust, thank you for your generous contribution towards the final total of £2,001 raised by the Swindon Advertiser raffle and Excalibur, at the Wiltshire Business Awards. We are very grateful
REGARDING the BBC’s ‘Don’t cap my benefits’ programme of 10 April, it was a very depressing account of mainly young mothers being harassed by the coalition’s crass capping system. What is the point of forcing young mothers of two or three children
SWINDON Guide Dogs for the Blind would like to thank all the generous people who donated to our collection at Morrisons’ Dorcan store on Saturday 19 April 2014. We raised an excellent £505. It costs £5 a day to support a guide dog partnership in
I AM encouraged to read that Better Swindon is seeking mutually acceptable solutions to issues of public concern that will lead to positive change in the council. A welcome consequence of their non-confrontational approach is that useful comment
On Friday May 16, friends in Swindon and the Midlands will be swapping a night out on the town for a Night In with their favourite people – all in the name of Macmillan Cancer Support. Night In is great fun and so simple. Whether it’s a girly
WHAT a strange and self contradictory letter Harold Rushen treated us to in Tuesday’s Advertiser. He says his original letter was “entirely apolitical” but then says it was a critique of Tony Benn and was trying to compare two political philosophies
HAROLD Rushen (letters, 22 April) claims that socialism is bad because “man is a competitive animal in a highly competitive world”. Perhaps he should reflect that all animals (except perhaps our farm animals and pampered pets) live in a highly
RE SWINDON Town Player of the Year, why can I not vote for my player of the year? I don’t have a mobile phone, I don’t do text and I don’t have a computer, yet I am, like a large percentage of the older Swindon Town supporting generation, being left
IT WAS my good fortune to meet Bill Bryant and the other stalwarts of Swindon’s wartime youth service in the 60s when the council added other centres to the original ones at Sanford, Westcott, Ferndale and Pinehurst. Many Swindonians and incomers
YOUR correspondent J Trueman suggests that I was advocating car parking spaces for the disabled be ‘abused’ by other motorists. For him to do this, he must have been reading a very different letter to the one published in the SA. I am very sorry
SOME people’s misuse of the benefit system beggars belief. A genuine act was created by parliament to help those who really deserve it – then along comes a so-called mother who openly brags that she has never worked or contributed to any moral code
WILTSHIRE Council, in voting for the separation distances between dwellings and wind turbines, sought to protect Wiltshire residents from their intrusive nature, but with a stroke of his pen the inspector has struck this protection from the Core Strategy
I had reason to go to the shops at Stratton crossroads on Easter Monday, and so I parked in the small car park, which is in the middle of the shops. When I got out of my car, I saw the state of the car park in all its glory. I think in total there
WEST SWINDON: Crabtree & Evelyn at the Outlet Shopping Village is holding a shopping evening in aid of Swindon Therapy Centre for Multiple Sclerosis from 6pm on Thursday, May 1. Tickets cost £7 and include nibbles and a hand cream worth £9.
SHAW: Visitors to the Swindon Community Church at Shaw Ridge School on April 27 can hear about local charity Empower’s latest trip to the Gambia. From 10.30am to 12.30pm people will be able to hear more about the work the charity does in the African
OLD TOWN: Stallholders are being sought for the Lawn Family Day, which is part of the Old Town Festival on Saturday, June 28. See www.oldtownfestival.co.uk.
THE first of three drop-in sessions to inform residents about the public inquiry for Wroughton Airfield Solar Farm will take place on Friday. Swindon Commercial Services and the Science Museum will be hosting the first of three sessions at Ellendune
ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT: The Annual Town Meeting of the Town Council takes place today at the Civic Centre. All residents are invited to come along to find out what work the council has done for them in the past year.The meeting starts at 7pm.
SWINDON... 1947: PC LC Young from Wiltshire Constabulary, Swindon Division, was promoted to sergeant. 1957: Entries in horse classes, excluding jumping events, at the Bath and West Show in Swindon totalled 682, which was more than 250 above
For all aspiring singers, wishing to follow the footsteps of Swindon's own superstar Jahmene Douglas, the audtions for this yea's national open mic competition have been announced. Open Mic UK 2014 the Nationwide singing competition is searching
OLD TOWN: The Estelle School of Dance will hold a charity curry night to fund productions and in aid of the Wilshire Air Ambulance at the Bombay Lounge in Old Town on Monday, May 12 from 5.30pm. All profits from the food ordered on the night will
COATE WATER: The Swindon branch of Cancer Research UK will hold a “Best Paw Forward” sponsored dog walk on Sunday, April 27 around Coate Water Park Lake from 11am. To register for the walk go to http://support.cancerresearchuk.org/supporthttp:/
SWINDON: Mental health charity SUNS is inviting the people of Swindon to take part in a sponsored 20-mile walk on Sunday, May 18. Participants will set off at 10am from and return to Barbury Castle in Wroughton. To sign up visit www.swindonsuns.org
SOUTH MARSTON: The next meeting of the parish council will take place on May 20 in the Village Hall. From 7.30pm residents will be able to find out more about how their councillors are representing them in the village.
COVINGHAM: The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on May 12 at Covingham Park Junior School in the Harriers. The meeting starts at 7.30pm and all are welcome to attend to find out more about how their councillors are representing
OLD TOWN: Tickets to the second annual Old Town Beer Festival are now on sale.The event is due to take place at ChristChurch on Cricklade Street on Saturday, May 17 from 1pm to 11pm. Tickets £6 and include a souvenir beer glass and programme. They
ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT: Those planning on tying the knot can head along to a wedding fayre at Spittleborough Farmhouse on Sunday. From 11am to 3pm visitors can drop in to view a range of stalls and services to help with wedding plans. For more
SWINDON: A seven-week Jamie Oliver Home Cooking Course will teach residents about nutrition and healthy eating from Friday, April 25 at Lainesmead Primary School. From food groups to packaging and setting up your kitchen to cooking on a barbecue
TOWN CENTRE: Anyone wanting to find out more about the learning disability dyslexia can head along to the central Library on April 30 to watch film, The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia. The film is presented by the Swindon Dyslexia-Specific Learning
AROUND 100 npower employees were joined by Swindon Town star Nathan Thompson in Lydiard Park yesterday at a fun run in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. The 10k race was the fourth of 10 challenges staff based at the firm’s Windmill Hill Business
EMMA DUNN meets a club with good causes at its heart HIGHWORTH and District Lions Club is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The club, which has helped good causes across the area since it started in 1974, is inviting more people to
ONE youngster won a badge of honour after his desgin was picked out to be a new Catholic school’s crest. Holy Rood Junior School is expanding to become Holy Cross Primary School from September and the pupils were invited to enter a competition
TOWN CENTRE: A talk on the life of writer Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to be awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature will be held at the Central Library on Saturday. Entry costs £2.50 or £1.50 for members. Call 01793 463782.
OLD TOWN: Advice on how to cope with Type 2 Diabetes will be offered to patients at an information evening at Old Town Surgery today, Wednesday, April 23 at 6.30pm. For information call 01793 616057 or go to www.oldtownsurgery.com.
SN1 Fest featuring AJ, pictured, makes a welcome return to Swindon. This year the DJs bring dance music to the decks on Sunday, May 4 from 12pm in Revolution, Bridge Street, Swindon's town centre. The festival is a celebration of local dance
SWINDON: Prospect Hospice’s Big Bike challenge will kick off at 10am on Sunday, April 27 at the Nationwide Pavilion. Participants can choose a 28 km, 40km or 55km route. For more visit www.prospect-hospice.net/Supporter/Fundraising-Events/bigbike
BARRY LEIGHTON visits a city that’s not for the faint-hearted BECOMING contentedly lost among the tangle of winding streets in the seething heart of Old Marrakech while admiring lanterns, silks, copperware, tribal jewellery, carpets, inlaid cedar
As you may have noticed, there is someone different at the helm of this column this week. I will be keeping the seat warm for a few weeks as Mr Franklin has a break, but fear not, it will be business as usual, albeit perhaps with less eloquence and
THE AFGHAN WHIGS Do To The Beast It’s been 16 years since the last Afghan Whigs album, but frontman Greg Dulli is typically bullish from its first note. On crunching opener Parked Outside, he bellows: “If they want something more, give ‘em something
Lesley Joseph – best known as the cougar Dorien in 1990s sitcom Birds of a Feather – comes to Swindon next month in Hot Flush!, a comedy musical. We put some questions to her... What appealed you about starring in the touring production of Hot
A STREET in Swindon has been found to have the second fastest broadband speed in the country after a survey of more than two million connection speeds nationwide. The study, conducted by USwitch.com, discovered Spencer Close, in The Prinnels, gets
ONE of Britain’s most loved broadcasters will be on stage in Swindon in May. Henry Blofeld will be telling the untold stories from the Test Match Special commentary box at the Arts Centre on May 29 at 7.30pm. He will star at the Old Town venue
5:35pm That's the end of today's LIVE NEWS feed. We'll return in the morning. If you've joined us late use the scroll bar to see how the day unfolded. The website will be updated with any major news as it happens throughout
ELDERLY couple Ken and Pat Hill will be at the centre of a national television programme next week, which will expose the six-figure losses they incurred at the hands of a cowboy builder. Ken, 71, and Pat, 66, will star in an episode of Channel
SWINDON Robins’ new signing Dakota North did not have to think twice when offered an emergency slot on Alun Rossiter’s roster. The highly-rated 22-year-old Aussie has been brought in after Nicolai Klindt was shown the door by the Abbey Stadium
CIRENCESTER seniors secured a convincing win against Cotswold Hills in their recent match. Ciren’s skipper Clive Bennett and partner Gordon Stone earned a hard-fought opening match against Bruce Kettle and Noel Furley, triumphing one up. Three
DAVID Howell believes he is “due a good week” on the European Tour, as he starts his Volvo China Open campaign in the early hours of Thursday morning. Howell, who has not registered a top-10 finish in 2014, goes into the event at Genzon off the
WOOTTON Bassett captain Darren Beasant is hoping his side will be bolstered next month by the arrival of two mystery ex-pats returning to the region from Australia. Bassett, who are preparing for an assault on the Wiltshire League title in 2014
WHEN football does its job properly it has a quite extraordinary power to unite. Evidence of that was found this month at youth team training at Swindon Town, on the astroturf playing fields at St Joseph’s School, at Wembley, Stamford Bridge, Craven
BENEATH the never-ending saga of Swindon Town’s boardroom spat, the ever-changing face of the first-team squad and a managerial revolving door which has a habit of spinning into hyperdrive, one constant remains at the County Ground. The good work
TOM McEwen made a superb debut at Badminton Horse Trials last year with ex-racehorse partner Dry Old Party, finishing in 19th place with an impressive cross-country round. This year he’s looking to go one better, with two accepted entries, writes Nicki
THE SEVEN Swindon Hockey Club junior members selected for the Junior Regional Performance Centres (JPRC) have paid tribute to their coaches at the club for helping them get called up. Daisy Mussard, Pete Gilbert, Shona O’Dwyer, James and Chloe
OFFICIAL consultation on the future of the Menlo employees at risk of redundancy at Triumph will start tomorrow morning. Representatives from Triumph, Menlo, Unite and the workforce concerned will sit around the table for the first time since news
FORMER district nurse Carol Tedham is preparing to take on the Race for Life – after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer for the third time. The 50-year-old from South Farm, Chiseldon, was first diagnosed with a severe case of the disease in 2011
THE 16-year-old who was stabbed in the groin during a gang fight near a children’s play park insisted to a jury his attacker had pulled a knife on him. Although he said he lied to the doctor who saw him, his family, and the first policeman he spoke
CHRISTOPHER Baines will face two more months imprisoned in Georgia following the postponement of his trial until June. Baines, originally of Hyde, Cheshire, was sentenced to five years in prison for 30 counts of fraud at a trial which went ahead
INTEGRATED circuit manufacturer Swindon Silicon Systems will move under a single roof in Royal Wootton Bassett by the end of the year. The company, which is currently based in three buildings around the town with their headquarters in Radnor Street
BEREAVED mothers are reaching out to families grappling to cope with the loss of a child in Swindon and Wiltshire, encouraging them to join a support group which has proved a lifeline for them over the years. The Swindon branch of The Compassionate
0ZAMBIAN football coaches put pupils from Robert Le Kyng through their paces yesterday as the school launched a collection to help children in the country. The trainers, Mwikisa Sinyama, Fillard Bwalya, Albert Siwakwi and Bata Soko, from the Zambia
ROYAL Wootton Bassett Academy students who used their buns to raise more than £500 handed over the cash to homeless charity the Filling Station yesterday. The Bassett Bakers, a group of 20 youngsters who have taken part in a monthly cooking club
A MUDDY construction site in Park South is set to be transformed into a blossoming community orchard this weekend with a little help from local residents. Swindon Council’s Ranger Team has teamed up with the East Locality Team, Oak Tree Primary
FORMER Scots Guards soldier Jim Archer is embarking on a 4,000 mile walk to commemorate the First World War centenary and raise money for Veterans in Action which helps servicemen after they leave the forces. Jim, 63, who lives in Highworth, is
ALUN Rossiter has stressed the importance of allowing Darryl Ritchings to take his time in recovering from his horrific injuries after the Purton teenager was released from hospital. Swindon Robins reserve Ritchings suffered bruising on the brain
Alun Rossiter has highlighted the need for his Swindon Robins side to put in an emphatic display against Eastbourne Eagles at the Abbey Stadium tonight, as he looks to eradicate any fears in fans’ minds that the Elite League season could be a long,
CHRIS Aubrey was the one shining light from the six Swindon representatives at the Players Championhip in Wigan recently. En route to the third round on day two, Aubrey took the scalp of former World Champion Steve Beaton. Aubrey won a close
The third round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship heads to Foxhill near Swindon on Sunday. An entry of 120 riders will be in action, a field which will include no less than six international riders who have been away on GP duty for
LEVI Cox scored twice as Wootton Bassett Town beat doomed Newbury 3-1 at the Corinium last night. Wideman Cox struck once in each half to see off the visitors, with a late own goal giving Jeff Roberts’ side a comfortable victory by the end.
A POLICE officer unlawfully Tasered a naked man who threw a pair of underpants at him during a strip search in Wiltshire, a court heard. PC Lee Birch, 31, discharged his weapon into the bare chest of Daniel Dove in a cell at Melksham Police Station
YESTERDAY at Swindon Crown Court, Mark Eatwell, 44, of Coronation Road, Wroughton, was jailed for four years after being found guilty of ABH and false imprisonment. The charges relate to Eatwell abusing his former partner Jayne-Anne Murray. Overnight
DREAM Lounge will reopen with a bang on Saturday, nine months after the lap dancing club was torched last July. The gentleman’s club in Victoria Road was targeted by Faisal Qaddus, 27, of Amber Court, who reversed a car into the front of the club
WILTSHIRE Police are appealing for witnesses following an assault on a bus in Swindon. The incident took place at 10.27pm on March 14 while the Stagecoach bus was travelling along Rodbourne Road. CCTV on the bus shows a man grab another man
DRUG DEALER Shaquille Cumberbatch has been jailed for four years and 10 months after boasting of making £450 a day when relocating to the ‘softer market’ in Swindon. Cumberbatch, 20, moved into the Nythe home of a vulnerable young woman early last
MOHAMMED ZAHID is hopeful that CCTV will help track down the criminals who stole £1,000 worth of his belongings from the Al-Habib Islamic Centre at 8pm on Sunday. Mohammed, 29, encountered two men walking down a set of stairs away from his flat
ALMOST 200 production associates have applied to leave Honda voluntarily – but negotiations with Unite must continue as the threat of compulsory redundancies looms large. The deadline for employees to apply for the Associate Release Programme at
TWO women who were in charge of a Staffordshire Bull terrier when it attacked a man in Regent Street have said the dog should not have been put down. Leanne Hurd, 23, of Wroughton, and Helen Westall, 26, of Eastleaze, pleaded guilty to allowing
CHILDREN’S charity the NSPCC is celebrating after moving into a new fit-for-purpose home in Old Town. A total of 22 workers from the charity are now housed in a three-storey office block in Little London Court after merging their two previous centres
GETTING lost in a good novel was just what the doctor ordered as the Great Western Hospital launched its new fiction collection to mark World Book Night. Staff were invited to browse the hospital library’s newest offerings yesterday, and flick
A CINEMA experience at The Open Door Centre, in Gorse Hill, has been made possible after the donation of an entertainment bundle worth £500 from HJ Webb and Son. The building, timber and fencing specialist received cash from Tesco as a part of
THE developers of the 700-home construction at Ridgeway Farm have moved to dismiss claims that their project will take twice as long as promised. According to revised projections for build rates provided to Wiltshire Council as part of their new
A FLEDGLING business has offered itself up – offices, boardroom and all – for 160 hours in support of the Adver’s 160 Appeal for Prospect Hospice. Bowman House has pledged to donate all funds raised through the rental of its conference facilities
