A COUPLE have pleaded with vandals who have repeatedly damaged their cars over the last year to stop as neighbourhood police begin to investigate. Lesley and Alan Gardner, of Church Walk, Ashton Keynes, have lived at their home since inheriting it from
LITTLE Kody Bowler has proved he has a big heart after raising more than £350 to help his classmate walk. Kody’s friend Corey Cummings, six, has cerebral palsy and needs an operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy to help him gain the use of his legs
TWO motorists had lucky escapes in separate incidents just 400 yards away from each other. Ambulance crews were called to the scene between junctions 16 and 17 on the M4 at about 12.30pm today where a Mazda 2 Sport had gone off the carriageway and into
LABOUR high-flyer Mark Dempsey has been selected to take on Justin Tomlinson at the next general election as the party’s prospective Parliamen-tary candidate for Swindon North. Coun Dempsey (Lab, Walcot and Park North), who is also the Labour
DISCUSSIONS are taking place with a key figure who is poised to lead an independent review of Swindon charity Threshold Housing Link. A row broke out after two street outreach workers were suspended last month over a series of claims they made
DISCUSSIONS are taking place with a key figure who is poised to lead an independent review of Swindon charity Threshold Housing Link. A row broke out after two street outreach workers were suspended last month over a series of claims they made in the
SWINDON Town and Bayern Munich II have drawn their friendly match 1-1 at Andalo this evening. Paul Benson handed Swindon the early advantage, rolling the ball past Maximilian Riedmuller from Matt Ritchie’s pass after three minutes. Bayern levelled
A FORMER soldier who left a man with a broken cheekbone in an unprovoked drunken attack in a pub has walked free from court. James Phillips was on a suspended sentence for violence when he rained kicks and punches on Philip Hughes during the attack in
NEARLY two months since the Olympic Torch came through Swindon, two inspirational men have had their moment to shine with the flame. The torch returned to Wiltshire yesterday making its journey from Reading to Salisbury and helping it along its way
BASKETBALL enthusiast Marek Baranovic has earned national recognition for his work in transforming the scene for the sport in Swindon. The 22-year-old volunteer has been named as the regional winner for the south west in the the Co-operative StreetGames
A FUN day for families will be full steam ahead at the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday there will be a charity weekend at the miniature railway in Coate Water to raise funds for Wiltshire Air Ambulance. The event will run from 11am until 5pm and has
SWINDON Town and Bayern Munich II are locked at 1-1 at half time in their friendly match in Andalo this evening. Paul Benson handed Swindon the early advantage, rolling the ball past Maximilian Riedmuller from Matt Ritchie’s pass after three minutes
SIX of Swindon’s seven summer signings have been named in manager Paolo Di Canio’s starting line-up for the friendly clash with Bayern Munich II at the mountain resort of Andalo this evening. Striker James Collins is the only new name to find himself
What a shower! And I am not talking about the weather we have been having of late. Earlier this year on a Sunday morning, whilst attending church, I parked in the Britannia car park, Old Town. The church service went on longer than usual and I stayed
The most recent banking crisis has deep roots I warned about many years ago. One outcome of the sub-prime mortgage scandal in the US in 2007/2008 has been the austerity measures now spreading across Europe as banks, companies and individuals have been
I read the article last week about the college site development and the developer saying they were now targeting the national food outlets to fill the units available on the site. I think this typifies the problem we now have in the retail centres. I
A FUNDRAISING event is set to boost an appeal towards Swindon Scrapstore’s bid to buy a new van. The table top sale, on Saturday, July 28, from noon until 2pm, takes place in Gorse Hill Community Centre. The group needs to raise £15,000 to purchase
A total of 25 gardens will take part in Purton Open Gardens on July 14 and 15 between 11am and 6pm. There will be a photo spotter competition with a prize for whoever identifies the most photos, which are all views of participating gardens. Several
YOUNGSTERS across Wiltshire are being encouraged to keep reading during the long holidays as the 2012 Summer Reading Challenge launches this month. Last year, 8,156 children took part in Royal Wootton Bassett, Purton and the rest of the county, with
HIGHER rate taxpayers in the town who have failed to submit tax returns are being offered the opportunity to come forward and pay up under a time-limited HM Revenue and Customs campaign. The Tax Return Initiative, launched on July 3, is aimed specifically
A campaign group that was established to fight the council housing transfer has been voted on to the committee that advises Swindon Council on housing decisions. Swindon Tenants’ Campaign Group first claimed victory after an option to transfer the council
THE public’s views on Swindon’s highways and transport services will soon be compared with others across England. Their opinions will form part of The National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction survey. Swindon Council is one of 75 local authorities
WILTSHIRE’S Clinical Commissioning Group, the new GP-led commissioning organisation which will be responsible for buying local health services in Wiltshire, has appointed Simon Truelove as its chief finance officer. Simon has worked in the NHS for 23
GUESTS at the Blunsdon Arms will have the chance to experience a unique ale this summer, as part of Ember’s Guest Ale Programme. Brewed by Itchen Valley exclusively for Ember pubs, Calypso is named after the powerful American hop it is made from, which
GANDHI, Where’s Wally and a smurf were just some of the characters who could be seen at Coate Water yesterday afternoon. About 100 people took part in a sponsored walk to help six-year-old Corey Cummings, who has cerebral palsy and needs an operation
FLOWERBEDS and hanging baskets have a royal and Olympic theme in Royal Wootton Bassett this summer. Head groundsman Ralph White said this is the time of year when he can enjoy the fruits of his labour after planning the design of the town’s flowerbeds
Auditions are being held for a production of Cabaret. The Ridgeway Theatre Company is putting on the production later this year and is on the look-out for budding actors to get involved. The auditions will be held tonight at the church hall, in Butts
AFTER appearing on massive TV shows such as The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Celebrity Big Brother and The Only Way Is Essex, The Dreamboys are making their way to Swindon to appear at the Wyvern Theatre. The Dreamboys guarantee audiences an action-packed
SWINDON Scrapstore is holding a fundraising event on July 28 to help pay for a new van. The event, which runs from noon to 2pm at Gorse Hill Community Centre, will help the charity reach its £15,000 target to replace its van, which is old, unreliable
ROYAL Wootton Bassett residents and town councillors have thanked everyone involved in making the recent Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the town a success. A Diamond Jubilee committee worked hard to organise a memorable High Street Festival last month
NEW College students have been recognised for their hard work and dedication to study at a leavers’ ceremony attended by 250 parents, friends and family. There were 77 prize winners and they picked up prizes and vouchers worth between £25 and £100 each
VOLUNTEERS for the Samaritans are preparing to meet a man who is motorcycling around the UK and Ireland to raise awareness of the charity. David Exley’s 6,000-mile trek is part of Samaritans’ annual awareness day 24:7. During his journey, David will
DOZENS of dogs and their owners took part in a sponsored walk to help pets with cancer. Pet carer Mandy Taylor, who runs Crackerbury, in Blunsdon, organised the walk, which saw about 40 pooches and people walking from The White Hart Inn, in Ashton Keynes
THE organisers of Swindon's Big Arts Day are meeting this afternoon to decide if the event can take place. Confusion reigned after a statement appeared today saying the event had been cancelled. The message on a schools website belonging
A HEATED meeting was held yesterday over an ongoing row at Swindon homeless charity Threshold Housing Link. The trustees, led by chairman Trevor Davies, faced a wave of discontent at the forum, held at Voluntary Action Swindon's offices in
THE Care Quality Commission has recently inspected a care home in Old Town and found that one of five essential standards was not being met. The CQC publishes reports each week on inspections of health and social care services all over England. This
The RAF Association Concert Band will perform at the Wyvern on July 22 from 3pm. The music will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. All proceeds will go to the Royal Air Force Association and Swindon RAFA Club. Contact the Wyvern on 01793
A FINAL call has gone out to find individuals, organisations and businesses in Wiltshire that are leading the way in first aid. The entry deadline is fast approaching and people now have until July 27 to apply for the St John Ambulance First Aid Awards
KT TUNSTALL and Vintage Trouble will be headlining Swindon’s Summer Breeze festival later this month. The sixth Summer Breeze festival, taking place on July 14 and 15 at Warren Farm, Liddington, sees 50 acts performing across three stages, headlined
ROYAL Wootton Bassett residents and town councillors have thanked everyone involved in making the diamond jubilee celebrations in the town a success. A diamond jubilee committee worked hard to organise a memorable High Street Festival last month, which
LIME Kiln Leisure Centre swimming pool will re-open temporarily for the summer holidays while a proposed state-of-the art campus is being developed in the community area. The pool will re-open on July 23 and provide the opportunity for people under the
A MAN was taken to hospital following a light aircraft crash at Cotswold Airport (formerly Kemble) yesterday. Emergency services were called to the scene at 2.50pm. Fire crews from Cirencester and Tetbury attended, as well as paramedics, police and
FOLLOWING on from the success of the Okanagan UK Hockey Academy open weekend at the end of May, OHA UK will hold a second open day at the Link Centre on July 14. The day will include an initial introduction and presentation, both on and off ice sessions
POLICE are still appealing for witnesses after two men died in a collision on the M4 where it is believed one of the cars was travelling the wrong way. Officers think one of the vehicles could have been travelling against the flow of the eastbound
CUSTOMERS and agents of Farepak are now likely to receive half of the money they lost when the company collapsed. Swindon-based Farepak collapsed in 2006, leaving 114,000 people with total losses totalling £37m. Now liquidators BDO have confirmed that
TRADING Standards officers in Swindon have issued a warning to parents after receiving a report that illegal and potentially dangerous dummy clips are being sold in the town. The devices are made from ribbon and small decorative beads. They are designed
A height barrier has been put up at the recycling centre, at Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, in a bid to stop the illegal tipping of trade waste. It restricts large vehicles, vans and 4x4s over two metres high. Residents legitimately visiting the centre
THE manager of the town centre McDonald’s is hoping for an Olympic performance as he heads to London to play his part in the Games. Chris Lawrence, 24, is going to be the business manager of the McDonald’s restaurant in the heart of the Olympics’ Athlete
A MAN who is lucky to be alive will be carrying the Olympic Torch today after taking on the gruelling challenge of climbing Mount Snowdon in a wheelchair at the weekend. In April 2009, Tom Toolan was injured in a 50ft fall down a stairwell
MEMBERS of the Sikh community who stopped an inter-faith wedding say they acted peacefully to uphold clear rules relating to their religion. Protesters occupied the Kembrey Street temple and locked the gates to halt the marriage between a Sikh woman
A MAN who attacked a young woman in a residential street in daylight is being hunted by the police. The victim, a 24-year-old woman who was out walking her dog, called officers to Kimmeridge Close in Nythe at about 11.40am last Wednesday.
ROBBER Jason Jarvis has been jailed for 13 years after a jury convicted him of holding up the same bank twice within seven months. A jury found the 40-year-old guilty of carrying out the raid in June last year when they returned a unanimous at
NOT a single match was played by any of our local cricket sides in the West of England Premier League this weekend as the wet weather intervened. Goatacre’s match at Westbury in Premier Two was off, while in the Glos/Wilts Division, Swindon did not take
AFTER several days of careful consideration, I’ve come to a conclusion – Claudio Donatelli is just like a lightbulb. ‘You what?’ the chorus cries. No, I haven’t lost my marbles entirely just yet, though the Lake Garda sunshine may be encouraging
THE prospect of competitive action will make Swindon Town’s players overcome their physical exhaustion when they take on Bayern Munich II this evening, according to striker Paul Benson. The Robins have now completed two weeks of seemingly incessant
KEVIN Phillips joined an elite club of players who have won the Broome Manor Club Championship three times after lifting the 2012 crown. In tough conditions, Phillips shot 73 gross in the morning and a solid 71 in the afternoon to win on 144. The
ANNE Dunham admits her London 2012 omission will ‘take a while to get over’, but she has vowed to come back stronger following the disappointment. The five-time Paralympic gold medallist was on Monday named as first reserve for the British
PAOLO Di Canio expects to see his Swindon Town side given a rigorous test by Bayern Munich II in the northern Italy village of Andalo this evening. After the 9-1 thrashing of a local select XI at their training base on the banks of Lake Garda last week
MARTIN Sell showed his liking for Studley Wood by taking his second win of the year at the Oxfordshire course, despite windy and rainy conditions. The Wrag Barn golfer notched up the 2012 Jamega Tour title after finishing eight-under-par following
STEVE Robertson reigned in the wet to lift the 32nd Hills Wiltshire Professionals Golf Championship at Marlborough Golf Club on Tuesday last week. Robertson, who previously lifted the title in 1994 and 2001, carded a two-over-par total of 146 to finish
RAMSBURY rower Michael Evans is part of a 44-strong GB squad that will compete at the World Under 23 Rowing Championships in Lithuania this week. Evans, 21, won bronze at the 2011 World Under 23s in Amsterdam in the men's eight and this year races in
