THOUSANDS of pounds worth of drugs and an imitation handgun have been seized in a raid on an Old Town crack house. Two men have also been arrested on suspicion of dealing in the operation that was the culmination of months of hard work. Police say
SWINDON-BORN star Billie Piper brought one Welsh street to a standstill when she and the Tardis dropped in to film scenes for Doctor Who. The former Bradon Forest pupil and co-star David Tennant amazed residents and passers-by as they filmed part of
THE owner of the Georgian Lodge Hotel, Bradford on Avon is hoping his new look bar will encourage the locals in for a drink. Brian Howe, 55, who has run the hotel for 18 months, has extended the downstairs bar and introduced speciality beers and a
SUPERMARINE may be in pole position to claim the Dorset & Wilts One North crown this term but there is no way they will take tomorrow's opponents Cricklade lightly. The league leaders, beaten just once in the league this season, were given an almighty
BOXING: THE best young boxers in the south west descend on Stratton tomorrow night as Walcot ABC host the Western Counties Schoolboy Finals for the first time. Six Golden Gloves contests will provide the highlight of the evening at the Premeir Club
SWINDON have revenge on their minds as Bletchley visit Greenbridge Road in Southern Counties North tomorrow (2.15pm). The Dorset & Wilts 1st XV Vase finallists switch their attentions back to their promotion push with the visit of the Buckinghamshire
SWINDON'S Sikh community will have a choice of where to worship when a new temple opens on Sunday. The Mayor of Swindon, Ray Fisher, will officially open Prabh Milnae Kaa Chaao Gurdwara Sikh Temple in Deacon Street, following two months' of hard work
NORTH WILTS YOUTH LEAGUE: A JUNIOR football club has accused the North Wilts League of being "power mad" and "jeopardising chilren's health" after being punished for postponing a match due to a flu epidemic. Defending champions Purton under 16s were
SOUTHERN LEAGUE: Eight years ago Andy Williams was making his international debut for Wales against Brazil as a bright-eyed 20-year-old being tipped for big things. With 20 appearances for Premiership Southampton already under his belt, the call from
HELLENIC LEAGUE: JOHN Fisher has warned his Highworth Town side they must improve under aerial bombardment' as they prepare for a tough next four days. The Highworth boss admitted they could not cope with Bishops Cleeve's route-one game in Wednesday's
WILTSHIRE LEAGUE: PURTON Reserves will be looking to move off the bottom of the Wilts Premier Division table for the first time this season with a good result against visitors Pewsey, writes RAY BURROUGHS. New manager Clive Fuller and assistant Ray
PROFESSIONALISM' is a word Ross Adams didn't have to worry too much about last season as he played his part in Highworth's Hellenic League Championship winning side. He trained once a week, at the most, enjoyed a night-out' with the lads most Saturday
RICHIE Hargreaves believes Sunday's late collapse at Romford could be just the "reality check" his Wildcats side need in their bid to reach the end-of-season play-offs. A run of nine games unbeaten had seen the Swindon side surge up the English Premier
COLIN Todd is refusing to panic ahead of Town's visit to Valley Parade but admits that hitting a bad patch at this stage of the campaign could be very costly'. Todd, who is watching the injuries pile up, said: "Football is all about your next game.
JACK Smith is confident Town can now recapture their away-day mean streak after getting their house in order at home, writes JON RITSON. A clash with Bradford City brings back memories of rock bottom for Smith and company as a 3-2 defeat back in September
ALBERT Jarrett accepts he has a fight on his hands to earn a slot in Town's side if his manager adopts the if it ain't broke don't fix it' approach. The young Brighton and Hove Albion winger, pictured left, returned to training yesterday for the first
BANISHING the agitation' from their game has boosted Town's survival hopes but Iffy Onuora is stressing that successive wins do not constitute a finished job. The manager is challenging his players to ensure that all the good work achieved in the last
HAVING been hailed as a warrior' by his manager then it is hardly surprising that skipper Sean O'Hanlon intends to see the battle through to the bitter end however painful that might be. Ankle and knee niggles have dogged the central defender throughout
RICKY Shakes is a step closer to his World Cup dream today after earning an international call up from Trinidad and Tobago. The 21-year-old is included in the Soca Warriors squad for the warm up game against Iceland at Loftus Road on February 28.
IN REFERENCE to the letter from J Hodgson, dated January 31, I too suffer from nuisance neighbours and although these people are breaking the law, what is done about it with the police or the council? Zero. They don't want to know. They will tell you
NOW we have health warnings on tobacco, and even some chocolate products now list ingredients that are bad for you, shouldn't we consider putting a health warning on meat? We already know that eating meat leads to heart problems and we know the link
I'VE come to the conclusion that Mr Blair believes in government by stealth, whether it's privatising the National Health Service or persuading us all to be cremated instead of buried. The latest idea is to subject a straight standing memorial stone
YOUNG people in Highworth should be extremely grateful to the mayor, councillors and all those campaigners who are striving to retain its open air swimming facility (SA, Feb 4). Contrast this with what is happening and has happened down the road in Swindon
MR HOOKHAM'S report and its headline state that if the Government's plans to scrap county councils goes ahead it will result in "the death of ancient Wiltshire" and of the other traditional English counties. The counties came about in a variety of ways
I READ Mr Hayward's response to my earlier letter. He starts by referring to the noise made by these model aircraft. My understanding is that the area that is concerning him is currently used only when there is an event at the Science Museum (about half
WHEN I picked up my Adver on Tuesday I had to check the date. Wind turbines on the Honda site? It must be a joke. It would be interesting to find out where the funding for this scheme is coming from. We will probably discover that it is a Government
SIR Clive Sinclair will be the guest of honour at the next event at Swindon's Computer Museum. Calculator from the abacus to the microchip is the talk which will be given by guest speaker Dr Tilly Blyth, who is the curator of Computing and Information
INNOVISION Research & Technology has appointed Heikki Huomo as technical director. He joins the company's design team in Cirencester from Nokia Ventures, Finland. Mr Huomo said: "I see exciting times ahead." In his 10-year career with Nokia, Mr Huomo
TEAMWORK paid off for colleagues at Swindon Renault dealership Fish Brothers, who made it to the chequered flag of a nationwide business competition. Teammates from the Paddington Drive dealership reached the final of the Platinum Dealer of the Year
HALCROW, the Swindon engineering consultant, has acquired transportation planners TSi. TSi (TranSys International Consultants Limited) specialises in applying the latest technology to the improvement of transportation systems. Halcrow and TSi have been
THE South West TUC has called on MPs to vote for a ban on smoking in the workplace in the Commons vote next Tuesday where MPs have been given a free vote. This is a vital issue in the South West given the thousands of workers involved in the hospitality
WORK has begun to help ease the problem of parking in Penhill. New driveways and dropped kerbs are being installed in the Penhill Drive area of the estate as part of a joint initiative between Swindon Council's highways and housing departments. The
SWINDON passengers have to put up with about two cancelled trains a day, new figures have revealed. Last year a total of 643 trains were axed by First Great Western, which runs services to London and South Wales through Swindon, because of staff shortages
A 63-YEAR-OLD record producer who is accused of sexually assaulting an aspiring teenage singer told a jury he lied to police because he was scared witless'. Hilary Budgen, who works under the name Rob Gem, said that he denied taking indecent pictures
TWO amateur photographers from Wiltshire have been focusing on images of travel as part of a national competition. Jon Bunston, an operations manager from Great Somerford, near Brinkworth, and Paul Strawson, a sales manager from Mile Elm, near Calne,
A TEENAGER who has had her moped stolen says she has lost her lifeline. Imogen Speakman, of Brinkworth, parked the vehicle outside her friend's home, in Ravenglass Road, Westlea, on Friday, February 3. But by 10am the following morning the Yamaha, registration
DRIVERS are being warned that they could be stopped unless they keep their registrations details up to date. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has teamed up with the police to encourage drivers to keep their driving licence and vehicle details
THE campaign to save the Highworth Rec swimming pool has received a major boost. Town councillors have agreed to double their initial £10,000 commitment to the fund, plus another £30,000 over the next three years. This cash injection leaves campaigners
A THIEF snatched money from a shop till and escaped again in less than a minute. As reported in the late edition of yesterday's Advertiser, a person struck at the Handyman store in Whitehouse Road, Ferndale, on Saturday evening, leaving 58-year-old proprietor
BENFIELD Sports International have surprised the British speedway public with their announcement of the venues for the 2006 FIM Speedway World Cup. Despite successfully staging the opening round of the competition last year at Blunsdon and attracting
THE fight to save Windmill Hill Primary School is only just beginning. Parents are campaigning to save the school in Uxbridge Road, Freshbrook, after Swindon Council voted unanimously to push ahead with the closure, as reported in the Advertiser yesterday
PROPOSALS to move Wiltshire's fire control room to Somerset could provoke strike action. Firefighters are opposing the measure, which would mean emergency calls in Swindon would be directed to a new centre in Taunton. And they are holding an open forum
EXCITED pupils from Even Swindon Junior School have been taking part in a balloon race to raise money for new playground benches. They gathered at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet centre to release the balloons into the clear blue sky. Some contain
A SOLICITOR says that Tony Blair's crackdown on anti-social behaviour is doomed to fail. Martin Guyll-Wiggins was speaking after a Swindon teenager, who had the conditions on his Asbo lifted for good behaviour, was shortly afterwards caught and convicted
TWO men have been arrested after reports of a cashpoint scam that used fake bank cards to siphon off thousands of pounds from unsuspecting savers' accounts. Police arrested the pair in Swindon town centre after a tip-off from a member of the public.
A LOCAL councillor for Covingham and Nythe will hold a public surgery on February 18. Coun Maureen Dilley (Lab, Covingham and Nythe) will be at the Coleview Community Centre from 10am. Coun Dilley, pictured, said: "People can come along and ask me about
IN an Advertiser poll 59 per cent of readers have told us they are for the Government's education reforms. As we reported earlier this week, education secretary Ruth Kelly is planning a major shake-up of schools. Originally she planned for every school
STUNNED Churchfields School pupils listened attentively as Clive Loveday told them how binge drinking killed his son. The Royal Mail postman who described himself as "just an ordinary dad" wants to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol
ANYONE wanting to donate cash to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal can now do so online. Appeal organisers are celebrating the launch of the website www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk which they hope will boost funds for the life-saving service. Tracey
SOME of Swindon's favourite beers are likely to cost 10p more from Monday. Arkell's brewery has had to put up prices, blaming rising costs, particularly electricity, for the increase. But Chris Piper, the licensee at the King's Arms in Wood Street,
A CABINET minister has insisted the Government has "no intention" of cancelling next year's local elections in Swindon. Local government minister David Miliband told the Adver yesterday the claims were a "non story". Leaked documents were reported to
THE Swindon branch of a group campaigning against ID cards has called on local MPs to query figures on identity fraud. The House of Commons is due to vote on the ID Card Bill on Monday, following amendments to the bill in the House of Lords. Lynda Warren
A SWINDON pharmaceutical packaging company has been fined for not recycling. TD Packaging, of Stephenson Road, Groundwell Industrial Estate, has been fined £8,000. Representatives from the firm pleaded guilty to six offences at Swindon Magistrates'
PROPOSALS to renovate one of the town centre's derelict office buildings have been lodged. An application has been submitted to Swindon Council to turn Princes House in Princes Street into an 85-bed hotel, 27 apartments, and 50 beds for the Salvation
