Archive

  • Up The Pace

    ANDY KING will add a fresh face to his squad on Monday after unleashing 'the beast' at Mansfield Town today. The County Ground boss has agreed a deal to bring an unnamed left sided midfielder/defender to the club in a bid to pep up his sluggish outfit

  • Hospital is put on Gulf War standby

    MARCH 15: WAR casualties will be treated at Swindon's new hospital under government plans to prepare for conflict in Iraq. The 541-bed Great Western Hospital, given its proximity to military casualty reception centres at RAF Lyneham and RAF Brize Norton

  • Comic Relief - Mayor is seeing red

    Swindon mayor Stan Pajak, entered the spirit of Comic Relief this week by dyeing his hair red. Councillor Pajak enthusiastically volunteered for the image change as part of his contribution to fundraising for Red Nose Day. But the mayor is no stranger

  • Comic Relief - It's big, it's mad, it's red

    Swindon went into Comic Relief overdrive as hundreds of people raised money for charity. The charity was set up 18 years ago and uses both comedy and laughter to get across the message about issues and problems that affect the lives of many people. Comic

  • Suicide attempt lover jailed

    AN ARGUMENT with his girlfriend prompted Darren Haakanson to try and kill himself by smashing his car into her home. Swindon Crown Court was told that the 33-year-old ploughed his Renault Espace into Kerry Dobson's Penhill Drive home after the couple

  • Rags to Riches

    A MASSIVE cash boost is set to transform Shrivenham Football Club's dated facilities and clubhouse. The Hellenic League club have been handed £215,652 by The Football Foundation the UK's largest sports charity. The money will be used to construct a modern

  • Just drop in

    PINEHURST: Free drop-in workshops are available at the Pinehurst People's Centre in Olive Grove during term time. Classes are held from 1pm until 4pm and from 5.30pm until 8.30pm on Wednesdays and on Thursdays from 10am until 3pm. Call Tony Hillier on

  • Cars vandalised

    PARKS: Vandals caused more than £1,200 damage to five vehicles parked in Walcot and Park North. All had their tyres slashed and two had their windscreens smashed with bricks. One of the cars was in Drakes Way and the others close to the Walcot Dome between

  • Unprovoked attack

    A man needed hospital treatment following an unprovoked attack in the town centre. He was crossing Station Road around 2am on Thursday when he was attacked by a group of men. One of the group kicked him in the head. He was then dragged to the ground and

  • Boy left stranded by 'callous' theft

    Teenager Mark Huggins was robbed of his independence when his wheelchair was stolen. Although the thieves have returned the chair to 13-year-old Mark, it has been completely ruined. Mark, of Thresher Drive in Groundwell, left his wheelchair outside the

  • Relax away from phone

    A MOTORWAY services relaxation zone is to be trialled on the M4 from next month. It will consist of a mobile phone-free contemplation room at Leigh Delamere to the west of Swindon, with white walls, plain seating and soft lighting. Another will open at

  • New chief executive announced Wednesday

    COUNCILLORS know the identity of Swindon Council's new chief executive but taxpayers will not find out until Wednesday. Candidates were whittled down from an interested list of more than 70 to three, which included acting chief executive Simon Birch,

  • Working to meet new A&E targets

    HEALTH chiefs in Swindon are pulling out the stops to meet stringent government targets on accident and emergency waiting times. The Department of Health has ordered that by the end of the month, 90 per cent of casualty cases should be seen within four

  • It's a make or break weekend forWestlecot

    WESTLECOT men will be bidding this weekend to extend their season on two team fronts. They face a regional play-off in the Famous Grouse Top Ten today (10am) against Victoria (Street) and then tomorrow meet Thornbury (10am) in the quarter-finals of the

  • The litter crusader

    A WOOTTON Bassett man fed up with moaning at the council about litter has decided to do something about it. Equipped with a council litter-picker and fluorescent coat, David Whiting, 60, has begun his own freelance litter round. He hits the streets once

  • Hospital is put on Gulf War standby

    WAR casualties will be treated at Wiltshire's new hospital under government plans to prepare for conflict in Iraq. The 541-bed Great Western Hospital, given its proximity to military casualty reception centres at RAF Lyneham and RAF Brize Norton, is almost

  • Comic Relief - Scarlet fashion sense

    THERE were no red noses at Swindon's Job Centre. But around 50 employees at the Job Centre in Clarence Street were allowed to dress in red and paid £1 for the privilege. Ruth Remington, Job Centre manager, said: "We would love to join in the fun more.

  • Comic Relief - How many does it take to pull a plane?

    A number of staff from the Nationwide are nursing sore limbs after pulling a Hercules for Comic Relief. A group of 50 from the building society was joined by 50 personnel from RAF Lyneham to help pull the 46-tonne transport plane 100 metres down the runway

  • Comic Relief - Just relaxing in the tub

    In a change from big hair or waxed legs, one member of staff from Brake Bros in West Swindon bathed in beans for Comic Relief. Angela Mullan, 22, who works in the telesales department, volunteered to bathe in baked beans outside the Westmead Industrial

  • Comic Relief - It's all gone a bit slapstick at nPower

    Managers from nPower in Dorcan were soaked to the skin to raise funds for Comic Relief yesterday. Employees at the firm paid £1 for three sponges or £3 for a bucket to soak their favourite managers in the car park of the firm in Dorcan. The managers had

  • Comic Relief - Having a big hair day

    Big hair was the style of the day at the Leapfrog Day Nursery as staff and children celebrated Comic Relief. The children, all aged between three and five, came to school with natural hair, but nursery staff showed off their creative skills and performed

  • Hospital is put on Gulf War standby

    WAR casualties will be treated at Wiltshire's new hospital under government plans to prepare for conflict in Iraq. The 541-bed Great Western Hospital, given its proximity to military casualty reception centres at RAF Lyneham and RAF Brize Norton, is almost

  • Spring bazaar

    WROUGHTON: Wroughton Parish Church will hold a spring bazaar on Saturday, March 29, from noon until 3pm in aid of Prospect Hospice. Stalls will include crafts, health products, books and cakes. Call Gillian Richardson on 01793 815142 for more information

  • The litter crusader

    A WOOTTON Bassett man fed up with moaning at the council about litter has decided to do something about it. Equipped with a council litter-picker and fluorescent coat, David Whiting, 60, has begun his own freelance litter round. He hits the streets once

  • Capturing the spirit of Swindon

    EXERCISE your poetic skills and capture the essence of Swindon. The Swindon Learning Partnership Family and Community Learning are launching a poetry competition called Poems from the Bus Shelter. Budding poets, aged 14 and over, should try to express

  • Young engineers build a bridge to a better education

    CHILDREN from Lawn Junior School in Swindon put science into action when they constructed a rope bridge strong enough to support their weight. The youngsters spent an afternoon building the bridge under the expert direction of volunteer parent Paul Houldey