THE first salvo will be fired in what could become a seven-figure lawsuit against the council this week. After taking legal advice, a disgruntled developer has said there are “substantial grounds” for action against Swindon Council, and is planning to
SWINDON’S music scene is taking great strides in the right direction with chart topper Tinchy Stryder set to appear at the MECA. Tinchy, who has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the business and is currently riding high in the singles chart
A MULTI-million pound extension at New College is reaching new heights now that the project has passed the halfway mark. Steel works have been erected on the site in New College Walk, off Queens Drive, but it has fallen slightly behind schedule because
NINE venues, 19 films, 14 days – the Swindon Film Festival has just got bigger and better. The first event organised by the Swindon Film Society was held last year and was a modest success. This year the organisers have pulled out all the stops to make
YOUNGSTERS with learning or physical difficulties put together an exciting arts and disability show based on the theme of Who Do You Want To Be? Pupils from Crowdys Hill, Commonweal and Uplands schools produced individual pieces to entertain the 350-
TEN hours of dedicated running has pulled in the pounds for the eagerly awaited Hop Skip And Jump development. Syd Jackson, 42, of Gorse Hill, ran the Thames Trot 50-mile ultra marathon from Iffley to Henley in 10 hours and 12 minutes and raised about
TONIGHT'S League One clash between Exeter City and Swindon Town has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch. Danny Wilson's men will now return to action on Saturday when they entertain Carlisle United. The manager agreed with
TOWN'S League One clash with Exeter at St James' Park is in doubt due to rainfall. There will be a pitch inspection at 6pm, after which a decision will be made on whether the fixture will go ahead.
FIRE crews were called to two road traffic accidents on Saturday. The first took place shortly before midday on the M4 near Swindon, between junctions 15 and 14 eastbound when a car hit some debris on the carriageway. A spokesman for Wiltshire Fire
RESIDENTS look set to have their council tax frozen as the council prepares to vote through the freeze. Under a coalition promise any council that rules out a rise will receive additional funding equivalent to a rise of 2.5 per cent. Local Government
A BIN fire sparked concerns for shoppers in town yesterday morning. The small blaze broke out in a bin outside the 3 store in The Parade. One crew from Swindon attended the incident and used buckets of water to put the fire out. A Wiltshire Fire and
A WOMAN who left her victim needing plastic surgery after hitting her in the face with a glass has been warned she could be jailed. Faye Rawlings, of Wharf Road, Wroughton, lashed out with the weapon after stealing a mobile phone from another woman in
A LITTLE boy has been left heartbroken after a thief pinched his birthday present from the garden shed and then lost it. When Mckenzie Burberry, six, of Pinehurst, got home from Gorse Hill Infants School on Thursday he found that the green BMX bike he
THE Brunel shopping centre celebrated a year of retail success with its first formal awards ceremony for retailers and staff. Centre manager Tony Wilkes, who joined The Brunel in 2009, set up the awards to acknowledge the effort and creativity shown
WE learn that more and more students are unable to find suitable employment after graduation. At the same time employers report a difficulty in filling vacancies as a result of the lack of required skills. To me this indicates that we have far too many
A MAJOR campaign has been launched in the town targeting people who use hand rolling tobacco. The south west has the highest proportion of people who smoke roll-ups – a total of 33 per cent. This is the first campaign to target hand rolling tobacco
SWINDON has a new bobby on the case in 21-year-old Todd Scanlon. Todd, who has Down’s Syndrome, volunteers at Gablecross police station for a couple of hours a week and helps officers wash cars and drink tea. He was taken on by PC Rachel Barnett, of
IT MAY not be as popular as Paris and Rome for loved-up couples to run away to, but Swindon is in fact one of the most romantic places in the UK. The town’s big heart and rather soppy side was revealed this weekend by BT which, in the run up to Valentine
THE parents of little Jessica Jenkins are appealing for her beloved pet Lucky’s safe return. Three-year-old Jessica was “devastated” when she returned home on Friday afternoon to find Lucky, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was no longer in the back garden
MY sheltered housing is now death’s waiting room, ageism is rife. Small facilities to help disabled children are closing down. Our children’s education is now so dumbed down that it’s like The Lord of the Flies out there. Transport is now
YOUNG people with a passion for manufacturing and business have the chance to apply for an apprenticeship at the Mini plant in Swindon. The business is looking for four new recruits to start in September when they will also study at Swindon
LOVE was in the air for youngsters at a primary school in the town. Pupils from Lainesmead Primary School in Old Walcot dressed in red and invited their loved ones in to school as they tucked in to a meal of heart-shaped treats. To celebrate Valentine
PLAYTIME will soon be twice as good for pupils at Ruskin Junior School now work has started on their new playground. Yesterday builders began digging in the play area at the Stratton school for the start of a project, which will double the size of the
SWINDON Foodbank is holding its annual ball next month to raise vital funds for the charity. The operation costs in excess of £42,000 to run every year and the annual Foodbank Ball is one of the biggest fundraisers. The Masquerade Ball will be at the
A MUM-OF-FOUR has made a desperate Valentine’s Day plea for one million people to join her Facebook group so her fiancé will finally marry her. Dinnerlady Kelly Coxhead, 32, of Mackenzie Close, Liden, set up the group after waiting 10 years
WE are only weeks away from what has been described as the most intrusive census ever. On March 27, we will have to account for anyone who spends that night at our homes and their personal details, including their relationship with us. People in England
Have you ever had one of those days where you can’t say anything right or do anything right? Well, I am having that kind of day now and it is driving me mad! The things I am talking about are as follows: • I tried making a simple piece of
I KNOW we are in difficult economic times. But there is one easy decision that could spare a lot of the ‘tough ones’. A tax on the banks could raise £20 billion in the UK to help those hit by the financial crisis in this country and around the
THOUSANDS of school children are set to lose out as a popular study centre closes its doors at the end of the month. The Swindon Town FC Study Centre, which is based at the County Ground, is shutting up shop due to the withdrawal of the Playing for Success
I AM writing to ask your readers in Wiltshire to lend their support to CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, by getting behind Yummy Mummy Week 2011, which runs from Saturday, March 26 to Sunday, April 3 (Mother’
I FEEL that I must write to you about your latest faith in focus article (SA, Feb 5). This attack on atheists I found both provocative and unnecessary. I could not understand the reference to macatheism and had a little fantasy about Macdonalds
THE council has come under fire for letting its car parks become “soft targets” for thieves. Motorist Tara Harrison complained to Swindon Council after becoming the victim of a smash-and-grab at the Prospect Place car park, in Old Town. The 41-year-old
I READ with interest the letter from Mark Bagnall, Director of Facilities at the GWH (SA, Thurs Feb 3). Why, o why when they drew up plans for the hospital didn’t they incorporate a multi storey car park in the design? Then it could have been
OVER the past seven months the government has announced a number of planned welfare reforms, which taken together will amount to the biggest shake up to the benefits system in generations. This includes replacing means tested benefits such as income
HAS any other reader experienced the problems I am having with Royal Mail. Letter posted 1st Class Dec 4 - to Bath - never arrived; duplicate letter posted Dec 23 1st class to Bath- arrived early January; letter posted January 5, 1st class to Bath
OH Happy Day! Sanity has prevailed and the over-the-top proposal to convert the Locarno into a hotel has been thrown out. Let us hope that the thumbs down includes the proposal for a gigantic block of flats on the long stay car park which would
DAVE Turner is expected to return from a jaunt to Eastern Europe tonight to take charge of Wootton Bassett Town for their game against Ascot United. The manager travelled to Kiev with a group of friends over the weekend and missed the 1-1 derby
DANNY Wilson insists he does not cast anxious glances towards other League One grounds on a matchday, the Swindon boss believing that looking after his own is the best policy, writes NED PAYNE. Town travel to Exeter tonight on a busy evening of action
DOUBLE Olympian Lesley-Ann Varley turned out to present awards to Swindon Harriers’ top athletic talent on Saturday night. The club held its annual ceremony in Swindon Town’s Legends’ Lounge at the weekend and 100m hurdles ace Varley, formerly known
PAUL Tisdale is not the first manager this season to voice his surprise at Swindon Town’s current position in League One, writes SAM MORSHEAD. But the Exeter boss will not be taking the Robins lightly when they visit St James’ Park this evening. “
WITH 15 games remaining for Town to retain their League One status, Jonathan Douglas says Jonathan Obika and Elliot Benyon have a massive role to play as the Robins turn to their new-look front line to power them towards safety. The Swindon skipper agrees
“IT’S like seeing your little brother punched in the stomach and you can’t do anything about it.” David Lucas is the elder sibling in the Town changing room, and nine weeks out of the first-team frame has certainly worn him down. The
SWINDON have completed their 2011 Elite League line-up after Tomasz Chrzanowski, Josh Grajczonek and Cory Gathercole were named as confirmed starters. Chrzanowski links up with the Abbey Stadium club for a second spell after first arriving
MORE than 100 campaigners are expected to swamp the Civic Offices when the council meets to set its budget this week. The protesters have pledged turn out in force on Thursday night to vent anger over cuts in council spending across 2011 and
MATT Ritchie has hinted that frayed tempers and hot-headedness may have blighted the Swindon Town set-up in recent weeks. But the winger insisted things have cooled down at the County Ground, as the Robins look to build on an impressive performance in
WILTSHIRE FA secretary Mike Benson believes a multitude of factors are responsible for the decline in people taking part in adult football. Leagues such as the Wiltshire League and Swindon & District League have reduced in size this season
THE shock of the weekend in the Swindon Sunday League came in Division Three, as table-toppers Rodbourne were thumped 7-0 by Regent. Sam Ockwell hit a hat-trick and Steven Stewart bagged a brace, while there were also singles for Mikey Jack and Johnny
FRATELLOS moved back into second spot in the Swindon & District League Premier Division after triumphing 3-1 in a feisty encounter against VBA Rangers at Penhill. VBA made the early running and chances for Gareth Walton and Lewis Polden were saved well
FORWARDS get used to forming working relationships with new strike partners on an annual basis, and Elliot Benyon believes he has seen enough in the embryonic stages of his partnership with Jonathan Obika to suggest the duo can, together, fire Town to
MOREDON Cheney’s unbeaten seven-match run came to an end as they lost 1-0 to visitors Calne Town in the Wiltshire League Premier Division. The Swindon side had won six and drawn one of their previous seven games and were facing an outfit who
PENHILL Knights were a man down for their Under 10 Division Three clash with Shrivenham & Watchfield, but that didn’t stop them from banging in 18 goals without reply. The Knights made light of the numerical disadvantage as Taylor Burt helped
SAM Connors scored in extra time to give North Berks League Division One outfit Lambourn Sports a late 2-1 win over Ardington & Lockinge in the Charity Shield quarter-finals. The Third Division side had taken the lead through Patrick Howe with Lambourn
HIGHWORTH Town Juniors Under 17s set up a dramatic race for the league title after thumping leaders Quedgeley Wanderers 3-0. After giving their best performance of the season in a physical encounter, Highworth moved to within two points of
