A 65-YEAR-old man who is accused of rape in the 1990s has been remanded in custody by a judge. Christopher Benton is accused of carrying out two sex attacks in Cricklade between the start of 1991 and May 1997. No charges were formally put to
THE men and women who don the uniform of police specials and volunteer to patrol the streets and help keep order at events in Wiltshire have been described as extra special by Chief Constable Patrick Geenty. About 40 members of the Wilt-shire Special
THERE will be fancy dress, crazy challenges and cake baking across Swindon later this week as hundreds of people help raise funds for Children in Need. The annual event, which takes place on Friday, will see schools and businesses putting themselves
MATT Fox has lived in Swindon for only a little over half a decade, but he praises it with a fervour worthy of the most loyal local. He is especially keen to tear town cliches about culture and our supposed lack of it, and has a ready answer for
A NUMBER of children who were caught throwing items from one of the bridges over Thamesdown Drive spent time working in the community at the weekend to make amends for their behaviour. The Neighbourhood Policing Team responded to a call from a
HEADING up a team of thousands of nurses in a town the size of Swindon is no easy task, but it is one that newly appointed chief nurse Hilary Walker has welcomed with open arms. Hilary, who has been interim chief nurse at GWH since May, was told
A POLICE drugs raid has uncovered a greenhouse stuffed with fully grown cannabis plants worth thousands of pounds. Neighbourhood police along with two armed response officers executed a warrant at a house in Poplar Avenue, Pinehurst, but found
"Dear all, . OK a nice quiet week to catch up with everything although I will have to fit this in amongst my project critical week which will give me a far more peaceful existence from next week. . I've already got the Macclesfield results
RESIDENTS in the town have been conned out of £32,000 by cold callers and rogue traders since August, it has been revealed. Trading Standards Officers at Swindon Council say they have received several complaints relating to money being handed over
A MAN who admitted sexually abusing two underage girls will face trial by judge and jury accused of raping one and trying to rape the other. Matthew Shaw, who was a child himself at the time, is also accused of molesting a third girl more than
YOU don’t get to your fifties without having a range of different experiences that make life exciting, but so far getting arrested hasn’t been one of them. The other day, however, I got as close as I ever have. What’s more, I was challenged by
ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour made for the bulk of crime reported across central Swindon in September. Figures collected by the Home Office showed a drop of 44 offences overall on the month before. In total there were 732 crimes in an area stretching
IT IS not often that Swindon plays host to the ambience and traditions of Thailand. Yet, on November 23 The Moonrakers Pub will feature a line-up of ladyboys, Thai cuisine and local bands as Swindon’s Thai community come out in force to celebrate
SHOPPERS on Highworth’s High Street can check out the goods on offer in two Prospect Hospice shops from today. The charity’s shop is moving from one side of the street, where it first opened three years ago, to the other, larger, more spacious
A lunchtime recital with Carmen Flores on viola and Paul Turner on piano will be held at the Wyvern Theatre on November 14 from 1pm. Tickets are £5. For more information visit www.wyverntheatre.org.uk or call 01793 524481.
A REVIEW of charges for waste collection and disposal services provided to various non-domestic premises has been launched by Wiltshire Council. Under updated Government legislation, councils must review their charges to certain types of organisations
A MAN has appeared before a judge accused of attempted GBH and threatening to kill a man. Aziz Hussain is also charged with having a knife during an alleged incident near his town centre home. The 41-year-old, of Elmina Road, is accused of
SWINDON'S housing market is said to be in 'good standing' after an increase in demand from would-be-home-buyers, latest figures have shown. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has reported that there has been a 'considerable rebound' from
POLICE say drink-related crime is dropping in the town - and are pointing to the new Pubwatch scheme as the reason behind the improvement. The number of alcohol-fuelled incidents in Swindon town centre dropped sharply last month with October seeing
THE Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon has launched its Surviving Winter appeal to raise money to help older and vulnerable people stay warm and well this winter. Originally inspired by people who wanted to donate their Winter Fuel
BUDDING musicians, actors and public speakers got used to handling the nerves of performing in public at the Royal Wootton Basset Arts Festival. More than 250 people took part in the event at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, which started at 9.30am
HUNDREDS of runners of all ages took to Lydiard Park on Saturday to take part in two races for the fallen and injured, organised by the Royal British Legion. Aron Shelton, who lost a leg in Afghanistan, gave the signal to get Run2Remember under
IT’S that time of year again... when we wave our magic wand and help make some Christmas wishes come true. With the countdown to the big day now well underway, we are launching our Christmas Wish Appeal 2012 – and we want to hear from you about
THE BBC's director of news, Helen Boaden, and her deputy, Stephen Mitchell, have stepped aside as a result of a botched Newsnight report which contributed to the resignation of director-general George Entwistle. Their moves came as a report into
G & L Evans Family Funeral Services from Faringdon, Higghworth and Wroughton have opened new premises at 4 Covingham Square. In what can only be described as unbelievable the family firm's buiders converted the cafe into a beautiful and tranquil funeral
AN eagerly-awaited flood alleviation scheme in Haydon Wick is progressing and measures are being taken to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum for residents. The £5million scheme has been five years in the making after the area was hit by devastating
X FACTOR frontrunner Jahmene Douglas overcame a week of self-doubt to deliver a spine-tingling performance as he stormed through to another live round. And while the singer basked in the glory of another fabulous weekend, more details emerged the
TOWN centre police have said an ASBO crackdown has significantly curbed issues with street drinkers in the area. Reports of anti-social behaviour in the bus station and Queens Park areas have dropped to just nine last month from 74 at its peak
A SWINDON theatre festival has been announced by the writer of Swindon: The Opera. Earlier this year Matt Fox, a production team and a 250-strong cast enjoyed a huge success with an opera telling the story of Swindon from 1952 to the present day
HUNDREDS gathered to remember the fallen on Remembrance Sunday as the town paid its respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts past and present. A two-minute silence was kept as members of the armed forces, veterans, dignitaries
PERSONAL details of schoolchildren in Swindon are reportedly being added to a database shared by agencies in the town without the consent of parents. A system called One is being used by Capita, one of the country’s biggest contractors, to gather
GREEN-fingered residents in the Croft area of Old Town will enhance the area’s leafy look this coming weekend by planting saplings on the Evelyn Street railway embankment. The 60 trees will mark 60 years of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year and
A SWINDON homelessness charity celebrating its 40th anniversary this year is hoping to attract one person for each year to take part in a sleepout. Threshold housing link is recruiting a brave team who will sleep rough to create public awareness
MOST managers would not be happy with surrendering a 3-0 half-time lead, but Purton Reserves boss Albert Dearing was just relieved to avoid defeat following a brilliant fightback by Bradford. Purton seized control in the first period courtesy of
WRAG Barn professional Martin Sell took a step closer to earning his European Tour card at the weekend, booking his slot in the final qualifying of Q-School. Sell carded three consecutive rounds of 67 to lead the second qualifying round at Spain
PETER Kildemand could this week become the first of Swindon’s Elite League title winning riders to commit his future to the club. The Dane, who won the Advertiser’s rider of the year award, entertained the Blunsdon crowd with his all-action displays
BRAD Clark gave Highworth a huge boost in their battle against the drop by drilling a late winner against Witney. The Worthians would not have been fancied by many to pick up three points at home to the Hellenic Premier high-flyers but Clark’s
ACCORDING to their manager, the play-offs remain an unrealistic goal for Swindon Town’s players this season. His squad are sure doing their darnedest to prove him wrong. This was a performance that didn’t hit dizzy heights in terms of breathtaking
FINDING the right players to reinforce his Swindon Town squad is becoming a tricky task for manager Paolo Di Canio. After finally being allowed to flex his muscles in the emergency loan market following two months of embargo, Di Canio has found
JOHN Bostock was pleased to see midfield partner Simon Ferry find the net in the 2-0 victory over Walsall, but is now even more determined to end his own personal goal drought. The midfielder has not registered since November 2010 when he scored
SIMON Ferry believes he is capable of living up to manager Paolo Di Canio’s goal-scoring target after setting Town on their way to victory at Walsall on Saturday. The stand-in skipper got his side off to the perfect start at the Bescot with a goal
WHEN Chris Jones scored his first EPL goal at the beginning of the 2009/10 campaign, he could have been forgiven for thinking that the next one would not be too long in coming. But that strike during a four-game spell with Romford would have to
WILDCATS’ hopes of a four-point weekend were brought crashing down in the most dramatic of circumstances last night as Peterborough scored with a second left and then snatched victory in overtime. James Ferrara pulled back for Jozef Sladok to make
PAOLO Di Canio has stressed once again that any hopes of a top-six finish for Swindon Town in League One this season are “not realistic”. The Robins won 2-0 at Walsall on Saturday to move back into the play-off places but, after spending two months
SUPERMARINE jumped into the Division One South & West play-off places with a convincing 4-0 victory over visiting Winchester. The South Marston side clocked up their fifth league win in a row as four different goalscorers did the business at
DAVE Turner did not lose his sense of humour despite Wootton Bassett’s 2-0 defeat in their top of the table clash with Brimscombe & Thrupp. The Rylands Way chief could not fault any of his players as first-half goals from Mike Beckingham and
