ALL the ballot boxes for the police and crime commissioner election and the Blunsdon and Highworth by-election have now arrived at the count centres. A total of 94 boxes have arrived and have been verified at the main count centre at the Oasis
THE polling stations have now closed in the Wiltshire police and crime commissioner and Blunsdon and Highworth by-election. The county-wide PCC poll involved more than 370 polling stations and 835 polling booths. They opened at 7am this morning
POLICE say drink-related crime is dropping in the town – and are pointing to the new Pub-watch scheme as the reason behind the improvement. The number of alcohol-fuelled incidents in Swindon town centre dropped sharply last month, with October
A STORMING run of four birdies in six holes helped David Howell charge into contention at the Hong Kong Open this morning. The Broome Manor pro, who is on the brink of qualifying for the end-of-season World Tour Championship in Dubai, did his hopes
A SPECIAL little girl, who died from an aggressive form of brain cancer last year, has inspired dozens of Swindon College students to start fundraising. About 60 health and social care and access students heard a presentation yesterday from Annette
DONATIONS to UK charities plummeted by 20 per cent over the last year according to a new report – and the pinch is being felt in Swindon. The public gave £1.7bn less, according to a survey of by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council
A FAMOUS thriller looks set to grip Swindon, both on and off the stage. Swindon Borough Council’s library service has teamed up with the Wyvern Theatre to invite people to read John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, prior to watching Patrick Barlow’s adaptation
And now the News... In light of recent events I find my position as writer of Sounds Around Town no longer tenable and have therefore decided that the only proper course of action is to step aside and spend more time with my record collection and re-runs
VOTERS went to the polls today to help choose Wiltshire’s first police and crime commissioner – but turn-out in the historic county-wide election is expected to be low. PCCs are being brought in by the Government to replace police authorities in England
MEETING Santa was a Christmas Wish come true for little James Moore and his mum. James, now five, was nominated by mum Jane’s friend, Lyn Heather, who felt he deserved a special present after a difficult year for the family. Jane, of Moredon
BUSINESS tycoon Eddy Shah has sold his Wiltshire Golf and Country Club near Royal Wootton Bassett, which was up for sale for £3.5million. Former newspaper entrepreneur Shah, 68, and his wife Jennifer decided earlier this year to pass the mantle
Throughout the next five months or so most keen golfers will be playing in all sorts of adverse weather conditions. This makes playing conditions a lot tougher as the grass will have worn away leaving exposed mud patches from where people have
WEIGHT transfer is the part of a golf swing that determines how the ball is struck. Golfers who finish with their weight on the back foot will more than likely strike the ball inconsistently. Having your weight behind the ball at impact can
THE slice is the most common fault I see golfers hitting, so today I’m going to show you how to rectify the shot. Firstly, I’m going to explain why golfers actually hit a slice shot. An amateur golfer usually tends to aim right with their feet
TOWN striker Paul Benson has today completed a loan move to Portsmouth. The experienced front man has signed an initial one-month loan deal at Fratton Park. Benson is expected to feature in Pompey’s clash with Doncaster on Saturday.
Welcome back to my weekly golf tips column. Having sorted the correct way to grip the club last week, I’m going to move onto the set-up. The set-up is a crucial part of perfecting your golf swing and should not be neglected. To start, stand
I’M delighted to welcome you to the Swindon Advertiser’s new golf tips column. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be providing tips for all standards of golfers so hopefully I can help to improve everyone’s game. I will also be addressing
Stage Struck celebrate their 10th panto anniversary with heroes, villains, fairies, elves, jokes, sketches, songs and audience participation in a festive feast written by themselves. Santa The Panto tells of the wicked Jack Frost and his desire to ruin
The Waterloo Band of the Rifles lead the pomp and circumstance at Last Night of the Proms at the Wyvern Theatre, hosted by Swindon Rotary Club at 7.30pm on Saturday. The show will also feature young Swindon musicians. Tickets are £16 and available from
Reggae beats will usher in a new era at the refurbished Caribbean centre on Faringdon Road on Saturday, November 24, when Swindon 105.5 DJ MC Ranks will play a set to celebrate the revamp.
KIND children and parents have been preparing Christmas gifts for people less fortunate than themselves. Children from Haydon Wick Primary School invited their mums and dads to help them put shoeboxes together for the Samaritan’s Purse appeal. The children
NORWICH striker Chris Martin has agreed a loan move to Swindon Town. The Canaries man will be at the County Ground until January 5, and should be available to face Yeovil on Saturday. Martin, who enjoyed a loan spell at Crystal Palace last
EXPLORER David Hempleman-Adams will set off on Saturday on an expedition including three wounded soldiers on a charity trek to the South Pole. Mr Hempleman-Adams, who was born in Swindon, will be leading Captain Adam Crookshank, of Devizes and Corporal
YOUNG people from across Wiltshire had the opportunity to play football at the County Ground as part of the Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football campaign. Wiltshire Council teamed up with Swindon Town Football In The Community to deliver a series of local
A 16-year-old girl has been remanded into the care of the local authority accused of assault and false imprisonment. And co-defendant Michael Price has been remanded into custody facing a single charge of actual bodily harm The 20-year-old and the
Police are appealing for witnesses to an assault that occurred at 8pm on Friday, November 2 in Thamesdown Drive. A 44-year-old man from Swindon was involved in an incident with the driver and passengers of a dark car at traffic lights near the junction
SMOKING among young people in Swindon declined from 28 per cent in 2004 to 11 per cent last year, according to the latest available figures. The Child Health-Related Behaviour Survey was conducted across a number of schools in Swindon. The information
A MAN has been remanded in custody after admitting carrying out a burglary in Toothill last month. John Light pleaded guilty to committing the offence at a house, in Tattershall, on October 23. The 24-year-old stands to receive a lengthy jail term as
SALLY Morgan plays a sold-out Swindon date at the Wyvern Theatre on Monday. Often referred to as ‘Psychic to the Stars’, Sally (pictured) says she can communicate with and pass on messages from the dead. She has performed readings for celebrities including
TOWN striker Paul Benson has been linked with a move to fellow League One side Portsmouth, and he could be replaced at the County Ground by Norwich forward Chris Martin. The former Charlton man has fallen out of favour with manager Paolo Di Canio
Musicians like to mash it up occasionally, mixing and matching musical styles with fellow artists. Four such maestros from the worlds of classical, jazz, rock and acoustic have come together in Four Parts Guitar and will be performing at the Swindon
COMEDIAN Rob Rouse heads to Swindon Arts Centre next Wednesday as part of his third UK tour. Rob came to prominence back in 1998 when he followed in the footsteps of greats such as Peter Kay to storm the So You Think You're Funny? Competition. Two tours
A SWINDON builder is hoping he proves to be a contender in the race for this year’s Christmas Number One. Colm McCarthy, alias Puff Paddy, is releasing a festive tune, and will be donating 25 per cent of the funds to the charity Christmas Care, which
PAOLO Di Canio has another midfield option at his disposal after Swindon Town completed the loan signing of Charlton’s Danny Hollands this morning. The 27-year-old all-but finalised a deal that will see him remain at the County Ground until January
One of the greatest challenges we face is that all public services are going to change over the next five to 10 years. This will go far beyond what we have been used to in the annual process of balancing the budget and may mean that some things
Being the son of a famous father can be both a blessing and a curse. Mud Morganfield, son of legendary blues singer Muddy Waters, has been blessed with a voice that closely resembles his father. But that means his audience often calls for the old classics
HE’S Mr Gilbert the headmaster in The Inbetweeners, he’s deputy mayor of Klangbury in We Are KIang and he’s the tall bloke in countless comedy panel shows. He’s Greg Davies, and when he brings his latest stand-up show to the Wyvern Theatre on Sunday,
ONE of the most successful stage shows of recent years is rerturning in its latest British incarnation to the Wyvern Theatre. First performed in New York 16 years ago, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues rapidly became a near global phenomenon. Audiences
A MINI-Who’s Who of British comedy and musical talent hits the Wyvern Theatre for a sold-out show tomorrow. The Idiot B*****d Band features Ade Edmondson of Young Ones, Comic Strip and Bottom fame on everything from guitar and banjo to trumpet and coconuts
A VIOLENT robber on remand for a knifepoint raid on a Swindon social club laughs in the face of justice as he lounges back with a can of lager in a picture uploaded to his Facebook page. Dean McHugh added the shot to his profile last month, despite
HUNDREDS of Honda employees are returning to work today after production of the CR-V model was suspended due to a technical fault earlier this week. About 750 people employed in Car Plant 1 in South Marston, where the CR-V is produced, were off
A musician is going head to head against X Factor this year for the coveted Christmas Number One – but says he still wishes Jahmene Douglas all the best for the competition. Singer songwriter Gaz Brookfield, 33, has been a fixture on the Swindon
A STREET team member working for town centre management company InSwindon has been dismissed following a probe into claims that he approached retailers for loans. Kulv Gopal was fired for gross misconduct after an investigation lasting several
The polls got off to a slow start across Swindon this morning as Wiltshire gets set to elect the county’s first Police and Crime Commissioner. Things were quiet at St Barnabas Church Hall, in Ferndale Road, where about 23 voters had passed through
Laura Kirby Deacon knows only too well the heartache that parents of stillborn children go through after losing her baby when she was 32 weeks pregnant, The nurse, who works in the Great Western Hospital intensive care unit, is helping to raise funds
A SWINDON mum is backing a national campaign to get more children diagnosed swiftly with diabetes. Judith Alexander, of Wroughton, is supporting Diabetes UK’s efforts to highlight the main symptoms – or four Ts – of Type 1 diabetes: Toilet, Thirsty
THE popular annual Christ-mas market in the town centre has been axed due to a ban on trading in Canal Walk. InSwindon, the town centre management firm, said the future of the festive event, planned to run from December 1 to January 5, was called
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a development of 12 homes in a field in Wanborough have been approved by Swindon Council. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey received support from the council’s planning committee on Tuesday for homes on the 1.1-hectare greenfield
BT HAS been chosen as the preferred bidder to provide superfast broadband to premises across the Wiltshire Council and South Gloucestershire Council areas. Both councils have announced the company as preferred supplier for the £23m joint project
ON TUESDAY night, a product of Swindon Town’s youth programme started for England Under-19s. Here was an 18-year-old lad who picked himself up from the heartbreak of being released by his boyhood club Wolves, a young man who refused to believe
MAX Bartholemew hit a hat-trick as North Wilts returned to winning ways in East Central 1 with a 4-0 thrashing of county rivals West Wilts. The Dorcan side, who dropped their first points of the campaign in the 0-0 draw at City of Bath A last Saturday
SWINDON were denied three precious points against Lansdown as the visitors grabbed a late equaliser in Premier Division 2A. Heading into the final minutes 2-1 up, Swindon conceded and therefore had to be content with a point. Lansdown had initially
OKAY, so I get the point about young footballers not always realising their potential. There have been plenty of those over the years. I also get the point about overhyping something or somebody. After all, we live in an age when a person becomes
DAVID Howell will make one final push to get himself up into the top 60 in the Race to Dubai rankings today. The Swindon star is currently ranked 61st and should he make up one more place this weekend, he will play at the lucrative World Tour Championship
SWINDON Robins’ title-winning rider Jason Doyle could be on his way back to parent club Poole after the Pirates declared an interested in using their asset next season. The Robins are keen to retain the gritty Australian after he increased his
PAUL Bodin is hopeful that the number of youth-team graduates making an impression on the Swindon Town first team will help attract the stars of tomorrow to the County Ground. This season Miles Storey, Nathan Thompson, Louis Thompson, Aaron Oakley
ENGLAND Under-19s boss Noel Blake was well aware of Miles Storey long before he burst onto the scene with two goals against Aston Villa. The Town striker started the Young Lions’ victory over Finland in Telford on Tuesday night, alongside another
IT IS not just Miles Storey’s friends, family and coaches who knew he had something special from an early age – his teammates were well aware of his talents too, writes ANDY WARREN. The striker has made the step from youth team football to involvement
