“IT’S the biggest development there’s ever been in Swindon. Seriously.” That’s the verdict of the council’s deputy leader, as plans for a wholesale revamp of the town centre get into gear. As reported yesterday, work will soon start
THE MALNOURISHED dog at the centre of ‘the worst case of animal neglect in Swindon’ remains in intensive care but the outlook looks better. The next 48 hours will be ‘crucial’ for the three-year-old whippet, which has been nicknamed Star by the rescue
A STRETCH of road little over a mile long has seen three traffic accidents in under a week. A Land Rover burst into flames on the A419 yesterday, becoming the latest vehicle in less than seven days to suffer an accident in the same area. The spate has
MORE than 1,000 Swindon students were given fresh hope of keeping crucial grants to fund their studies after campaigners announced they were launching a legal challenge against plans to axe the cash. Ministers announced they were scrapping the educational
POLICE have resumed a road-side hunt for clues in a murder case. Officers resumed their search of land around junction 15 of the M4, near Badbury, yesterday for the body of Donovan Van Lill, a South African who was living in Chippenham. Although 29-
PATRIOTIC residents are invited to take part in this year’s St George’s Day celebrations. The event takes place in the town centre on Saturday, April 23 and dozens of Swindon organisations have already signed up to take part in the procession, as well
COUNCILLOR Paul Heaphy is to become the next mayor of Wootton Bassett. Coun Heaphy, who will take the reins in May, was given unanimous support by the full town council last week. The father-of-four has served on the council since 2009 and said he wants
GENEROUS Patsy Moloney is well known in the town for his dedication to promoting the welfare of others. Now the boot is on the other foot as Patsy has been nominated for a Pride Of Swindon award for all his charitable and community works throughout
IT IS a real family affair at a town centre art gallery this week as a father and his two daughters showcase their artistic side in photographs, paintings and poetry. The Great Fullick Paint, Poetry And Picture Exhibition features work by Mark Fullick
A HISTORIC church may be forced to rein in repairs unless it can get out of the red. St Andrew’s Church, pictured, in Wanborough, has said it could be faced with cutting back on tending its grounds and on maintenance of its ancient church building.
North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson is urging the government to provide more advice and support for communities wanting to buy their local pub in a bid to stop the growing numbers closing across the country. “The Save the Pub group, which I am part of,
BREATHTAKING stunts, lavish costumes and a blaze of colour add up to an evening of entertainment which will leave you on the edge of your seat as The Chinese State Circus presents Mulan, the Live Action Spectacular. In fact, it is fair to
HUNDREDS of people joined the pigs down on the farm for a half term activity week. Roves Farm at Sevenhampton has kicked off the new season hosting a themed week called The Three Little Pigs, which has proved to be the most successful half term week
I used to be somewhat normal...some said I was crazy (what do you think they meant?). As I am passing my sixth year of my diagnosis of depression, I can’t help of thinking how I got here or how I have allowed this diagnosis to do this to me. What I
COMMUTERS faced delays yesterday after a caravan overturned on the same road that claimed the life of farmer Bruce Willis last Sunday. One lane of the northbound carriageway on the A419 was closed when a caravan, which was being towed by a red Volkswagen
CREATIVE work to brighten up the hoardings around the construction site of Pinehurst’s new community centre has started. The two-storey Pine Trees Community Centre – a project led by Swindon Council – is being built on the site of the former Pine Trees
A PAIR of drugged-up youths who carried out a knife-point robbery on a man in his own home have both been jailed for two years and nine months. Luke Jackel and Jake Bell were trying to buy more cannabis when they held up their victim in his
A MAN charged with operating a cannabis factory from his Swindon home has appeared in court. Neil Walters, 50, faces an allegation from November 26, of cultivating 100 cannabis plants at his address in Hamble Road, Haydon Wick. Walters also faces charges
THE problem of fly-tipping that we are seeing is indeed a national problem, as Coun Bob Wright (Lab, Central) so rightly pointed out in the SA, February 16, 2011, but I feel that he could have elaborated on this a bit more, as ‘every problem has a cause
RESIDENTS have raised privacy concerns over plans to install CCTV cameras in their neighbourhood. The residents of Broadgreen have been calling for CCTV cameras to be installed in alleyways to stop fly-tippers dumping piles of rubbish. As reported
THIS year’s Race for Life will be launched in the town tomorrow. And this year, Swindon women of all ages will have the chance to become poster girls by starring in a unique charity advert to launch the event. The mums, daughters, grandmas, friends
KENNETH Clarke has had a long career in which he held important posts both in government and in opposition. He has always performed in a very distinguished manner. However in his present post as Justice Secretary he is a complete and utter disaster and
YOUR readers may have seen the recent news that a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer has risen from one in nine to one in eight. As ambassador of leading support charity, Breast Cancer Care, I want to reassure any of your readers who are
FIREFIGHTERS rescued two casualties from a blazing home during a life-or-death rescue mission. Smashing through the door with a sledgehammer, the crew battled the flames before searching the smoke-filled house and recovering a man and a child
Local Swindon metal band, In The Absence Of Light, are holding the third installment of Ram-page festival entitled 'Ram-page V3'. Wiltshires best and biggest alternative outdoor festival is back on the 23rd April 2011. This time it's being expanded
A LAND Rover burst into flames on a main road this morning. The blaze engulfed the vehicle on the A419 near to Blunsdon Hill, at around 8.07am. A fire crew from Stratton station arrived to tackle the blaze, which was extinguished around
JOINT Supermarine caretaker boss Gary Horgan has left the door open for Jack Hopper to remain at the club. The striker, younger brother to fellow front man Luke, was drafted in as emergency cover for Tuesday’s 1-0 win at Tiverton. And the teenager,
MR Rosier and his company should be given every encouragement by the council as he is the only developer in Swindon to be able to restore what is left of one of our few historic buildings. The Corn Exchange as people living in Old Town have
AFTER reading the sad story of the bin man who lost his life while he was wrestling to get the overfull wheelie bin into the truck, it’s time to reinforce how important it is not to put recyclable material into them and contributing to an excess
FOR the first time in years, John Fisher is willing Swindon Supermarine to succeed this season - albeit for entirely selfish reasons. Despite formerly being in the dugout at Marine, Fisher has been aiming barbs at the South Marston club since
AT the inquest into the tragic death of bin man Ian Moody (front page story on Saturday, February 19), it was suggested that his death may have been caused by an overfull bin. After the inquest, a spokesman for Swindon council confirmed that overloaded
THE fierce scrap for second place in Dorset & Wilts 1 heats up once again this weekend as Supermarine host Calne in what could become a season-defining fixture for both sides. Marine go into the game one point behind their guests in fourth
I know in football you should take the good with the bad but could Town really go from playing in a playoff final at Wembley to being relegated the following season to the basement of the football league? Another Saturday at the County Ground
DAVID Prutton hopes Swindon Town can continue to build a reputation as Southampton’s bogey team when the two clubs meet on the south coast tomorrow. Town have won each of the past four meetings between the two sides without conceding a goal, and have
THE perfectionist in Ryan Aldridge could not resist ruing the two third-period goals his team conceded in their 10-4 win over Telford at the Link Centre last night. Wildcats broke their four-match losing streak with a commanding victory over
HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition calling for the Old Town branch of Nationwide to be kept open. The names were collected within one week, and campaign leader, trader David Blaylock, is planning to hand over the petition to the building
THE perfectionist in Ryan Aldridge could not resist ruing the two third-period goals his team conceded in their 10-4 win over Telford at the Link Centre last night. Wildcats broke their four-match losing streak with a commanding victory over the English
