FORD UK chairman Roger Putnam said his visit to Swindon was almost like coming home. The recently appointed boss of the car giant's UK operation was in town for a first-hand look at his company's award-winning Motability and General Information Centre
SOLICITORS have teamed up with council and voluntary sector advice providers to help ensure that Swindon people know their rights. The new Community and Legal Services Partnership was launched by MP Michael Wills (Lab) at the Steam Museum. Members of
A man has been arrested following the alleged rape of a 35-year-old woman at Swindon Bus Station in the early hours of Tuesday. Police spokeswoman Alvina Kumar said the 23-year-old local man was in custody at Swindon Central Police Station, awaiting questioning
IT was cracked open to celebrate the completion of part of Swindon's Great Western Railway works. Now, almost 100 years later, it has been unearthed and is going on sale as a unique reminder of the town's links with the railway. The bottle of Dry Monopole
BURGLAR Ross Dixon got into the home of a 91-year-old woman, grabbed her around the neck then forced her to hand over her £400 savings. Today, he was starting an eight year jail sentence for a crime that disgusted a whole town. Sentencing bespectacled
A man who gave police a false name after being arrested for the theft of £51 worth of clothes from C&A has been given a two-year conditional discharge. Swindon Crown Court heard Marc Aldridge had been cautioned for the offence after police checked
MIKE Lusty, the council's director of education and community, has confirmed that he is to retire from his post at the end of the month. It is thought that it was unlikely that he would return to the council after he suffered a serious accident at his
Baroness Thatcher will never make a public speech again on doctors' advice, her office has announced. The announcement disclosed that she had suffered "a number of small strokes" over recent months, and that doctors had told her that these could neither
PURTON: St Mary's Church has come up with a novel way of raising cash over the Easter period. Visitors are given tubes of Smarties. In return for eating the sweets, they are asked to fill the tubes with money as a donation. The cash will go towards the
The Women's Branch of the Worker's Educational Association has launched its new summer programme of courses for women, including confidence and assertiveness, an introduction to counselling skills, self defence and Egyptian dancing. The first course starts
Cricklade police encouraging more people in the town to join the Neighbourhood Watch scheme and help in the fight against crime. WPC Karen Ferris at Cricklade police station, who is promoting the scheme, said: "Neighbour-hood Watch is not just about reducing
Every five minutes, someone in the UK has a stroke for the first time. The Stroke Association is a charity which hopes to reduce death and disability from strokes and it is looking for people to get on their bikes and take part in the Great Ridgeway Ride
GERMAN energy giant RWE today reassured Innogy workers in Swindon that their jobs are safe. The company, which already owns Thames Water, has bought the Swindon-based electricity supplier for £3.1 billion. Innogy will become integrated into the RWE empire
A GROUP of men who did their National Service together 50 years ago were meeting up again in Swindon today (Saturday) for a reunion. It was taking place at the Rifleman public house and about 13 of the old soldiers were expected to travel from all parts
MAVIS and Kenneth Triggs met and fell in love while working at the dairy. Now they are celebrating 50 years wedded bliss. Mavis, 72, and Ken, 74, were joined by friends and family from as far as Norwich and Fareham for a special party at the White Hart
SWINDON Council is to spend £2.5m on repairing the town's schools. Work will start next month following recommendations by the Education Partnership Steering Group, the new body which has been set up to help run Swindon's ailing local education authority
YOUNGSTERS from St Joseph's School brought Easter cheer to elderly patients at Princess Margaret Hospital when they delivered a collection of chocolate eggs. Pupils from the Roman Catholic school raised enough money to buy 300 eggs through contributions
EMMA Stockwell was thrilled when she gained a place at Ridgeway School but she cannot attend because there is no room on the buses. The same situation applies to 71 other pupils who live outside the catchment area and rely on privileged bus passes provided
ANDY KING admits he does not understand the complexities of administration but hopes it means there is light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. The Town manager insists it is crucial to remain positive otherwise efforts to same the club will be rendered
There is a big difference between Administration and receivership. A receiver strips and sells all the assets of the club to pay off debts and once that process has been completed then the club faces extinction unless a major investor can be found. Administration
HIGHWORTH'S open air swimming pool is getting a make-over. The charitable trust which runs the lido at Highworth Rec is splashing out £18,000 on re-painting the pool. Workmen started sandblasting the pool basin this week. New paving work has already been
SOLICITORS have teamed up with council and voluntary sector advice providers to help ensure that Swindon people know their rights. The new Community and Legal Services Partnership was launched by MP Michael Wills (Lab) at the Steam Museum. Members of
MONTHS spent by Wootton Bassett teenagers designing a new youth and development centre paid off today when it officially opened its doors. They helped shape the new centre 18 months ago when 1,000 questionnaires were sent out asking what young people
FORD UK chairman Roger Putnam said his visit to Swindon was almost like coming home. The recently appointed boss of the car giant's UK operation was in town for a first-hand look at his company's award-winning Motability and General Information Centre
TRAIN operator First Great Western is warning customers that services between south Wales, Bristol and London Paddington via Swindon will be severely disrupted tomorrow (Sunday) following a landslip near Bath. Railtrack is closing the line between Bristol
Tailbacks were caused last night (Friday) after a car overturned, blocking part of the A419. The accident happened at 2.30pm, half a mile south of the A420 Oxford turn-off. Police spokeswoman Alvina Kumar said: "It would appear that a black Renault Clio
Police want to hear from anyone who knows the whereabouts of 29-year-old Stuart Jones, who has not been seen by his family and friends since Monday. Stuart has not returned to his home address in Chiltern Way, Hungerford, or to his temporary residence
MONTHS spent by Wootton Bassett teenagers designing a new youth and development centre paid off today when it officially opened its doors. They helped shape the new centre 18 months ago when 1,000 questionnaires were sent out asking what young people
SWINDON Council and other South West authorities are ganging up on the Government over social services in the region. The council's head of adult services, Avril Evans, was among more than 100 delegates who attended a regional conference in Exeter recently
The Swindon Animal Sanctuary has raised £100,000 towards the cost of building and funding an animal centre for Swindon. The organisation is looking for fundraising volunteers, who have their own transport. If you can spare a few hours to help, please
HEROIN addicts have been jailed for robbery after one held onto a terrified teenage shop worker while the other made off with a vacuum cleaner. The court heard Christopher Holland (pictured) and his 17-year-old accomplice, who cannot be named for legal
THE Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas swaps war-torn Afghanistan for Swindon tonight (Saturday). The band of the elite Nepalese fighting regiment comes to town after last playing at a Kabul United versus security forces football match. They are the guests
Cricklade residents who say their lives are being made a misery by heavy lorries using the town as a rat-run are demanding action. People from Cricklade, Ashton Keynes and Leigh packed out the town hall for a public meeting with North Swindon MP Michael
CHILDREN in West Swindon currently studying at Ridgeway School face a long detour from September. Instead of hopping onto their usual school bus, they will have to take a scheduled service into the town centre and then another bus out to Wroughton. Kim
DRINK-fuelled James Bailey carried out a savage baseball bat attack on a wheelchair-bound man and left his victim with a broken left hip, broken right leg and smashed fingers, a court heard. And afterwards the 25-year-old continued his attack on the man's
TOWN fans hearing the word 'administration' should immediately experience a touch of deja vu. This is not the first time the Evening Advertiser has had to report such a development at the County Ground. The front page on February 2 2000 screamed 'It's
SINCE ousting Danny Donegan from the chairman's set on November 5 last year, the problems have simply piled up for the Willie Carson-led board. The consortium (as it came to be known) wanted the old regime thrown out because promises made were simply
SWINDON Town's directors must convince the High Court to grant a second period of administration if the club is to survive. Bob Holt and a team of lawyers will head for London on Wednesday to launch stage one of their rescue mission. If the court agrees
