THOUSANDS of Worcestershire families could find themselves in chaos tomorrow as council workers stage their biggest strike for the past 20 years. Council chiefs have admitted they have no way of knowing how much disruption will be caused as workers protest
A MALVERN accountant's three young children arrived home from school to find her hanging from the staircase. Virginia Croft, aged 35, hanged herself at home after writing a "dignified and affectionate" suicide note, said Worcestershire coroner Victor
POLICE are searching for a man who went missing after leaving work on Wednesday, July 10. Timothy Underhill left his office in Worcester at around noon, but failed to return after lunch and has not been seen since. Mr Underhill, of Martley, near Worcester
A CASH-strapped woman used a credit card stolen from a teacher's handbag, a court heard. Joanne Bridgewater was later spotted on CCTV using the stolen Nationwide card to purchase cigarettes and mobile phone top-up cards on Friday, March 22. John Burnett
A 300-STRONG crowd rounded on councillors who approved a controversial application to allow a Worcester supermarket to open 24 hours a day for a year. Residents crammed into St Peter's village hall last night and hung through the windows to hear the explanation
POLICE caught three men red-handed as they carried out a £37,000 antiques raid on a country house near Droitwich. They were arrested after a chase but one of them has since gone on the run and has still to appear in court, said Antonie Muller, prosecuting
RIVAL MPs today clashed over the worth of a £50,000 spending boost to every secondary school in Worcestershire. The cash was announced in Chancellor Gordon Brown's spending review yesterday, along with an extra £10,000 per year for the typical primary
OFFENDERS in Worcestershire and Herefordshire who refuse to pay court fines will have their cars clamped or their goods seized, under a new Government crackdown. Ministers are set to unveil tough new plans to stop tens of thousands of people escaping
A DRUG addict robbed a retired civil servant of cash as he collected it from a bank cashpoint, Worcester Crown Court heard. Russell Gooding tried to grab £100 from Malcolm Prior but a brave member of the public raced to the rescue as the two men struggled
MOTORISTS will face a fine of up to £80 if they drive in a bus lane, under a new crackdown to be piloted across Herefordshire. The county council is among only 54 local authorities, which will be given powers to set up speed cameras in bus lanes, or even
A STUDENT at a Worcester college has become the first in the country to achieve an NVQ through internet-based assessment. Lee Vernalls, a student at Worcester College of Technology, produced a computer-generated set of log sheets as evidence against his
TOM Moody has vowed that Worcestershire's three one-day wins over Somerset this season will not lull his players into a false sense of security in tomorrow's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final showdown at Taunton. "Complacency never comes
THREE Kidderminster men have been jailed for more than 15 years after they were trapped by Operation Gatecrash which was mounted to clear drugs from the town. Between them, the trio averaged a daily sale of 90 wraps of heroin, worth £900, and their main
PACE ace Andy Bichel could miss the final month of Worcestershire's season if Australia's plans to take part in another tri-nation one-day series gets the thumbs up. Earlier this season the Queenslander returned home for a three-match series ag-ainst
THERE was no lounging around for organisers of a Worcestershire village festival after a massive fund-raising effort. The Fladbury Festival and Walkabout raised around £13,000 for the village church and school. The village, near Evesham, opened up its
A WORCESTER man denied murder and theft yesterday when he appeared before a judge at Worcester Crown Court. Martin Rauwley, aged 38, of Willow Court, Stanley Road, denied killing 63-year-old Alexander Clark. He also denied stealing coins and a compass
PENNY the labrador will be treading the boards with more than 70 youngsters in a new production of the musical, Annie. The popular show is being staged by Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Youth Section and opens at the city's Swan Theatre later this month
A 31-YEAR-OLD Worcester man has been charged with murder following the discovery of a man's body in Bidford. The body of Michael James Kelly, aged 35, from Worcester, was discovered by a farmer in a copse off Grafton Lane, at just after noon last Thursday
PACE ace Andy Bichel could miss the final month of Worcestershire's season if Australia's plans to take part in another tri-nation one-day series gets the thumbs up. Earlier this season the Queenslander returned home for a three-match series ag-ainst
MALVERN Town have added three new players to their squad including prolific goalscorer Billy Davis. Former Kidderminster Harriers youth player Craig Williams and Nathan Owen complete the trio of signings. Davies, aged 24, scored 27 goals in 30 games for
HEREFORD'S David Park earned a place at Muirfield after successfully negotiating a play-off during Open qualifying at North Berwick yesterday. Park added a one-under-par 70 for a two-round total of 136 and a shoot- out with Roger Wessells and Tom Whitehouse
WORCESTER has six races on offer in tomorrow's evening event at Pitchcroft. Racing gets under way at 6.30pm with the selling handicap hurdle followed by the novices' hurdle. Top jockeys Richard Johnson and Tony McCoy are then set to improve their percentages
A DANCE performance that moves around The King's School gardens in the shadow of Worcester Cathedral will be held as part of the Three Choirs Fringe Festival. Members of Dancefest, a local dance agency, will be staging Moves Out... Moves In... a performance
IT'LL be "truly scrumptious" at this summer's Memorabilia show at The NEC on August 3 and 4 with the best loved car in movie history, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on display, plus 1968 movie stars Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley aka the children of the classic
WITH reference to the naming of the "New" Severn Bridge, do you think that it would have been more appropriate to have named it "The Single Lane Carrington Bridge?" I find it amazing that a man is honoured for instigating such a major misjudgement of
HOW I agree with the comments made in The Phillpott File regarding Worcester's Shrub Hill and Foregate Street stations. I have lived in the area for more than 35 years. Both stations have always been dilapidated, creating a terrible first impression for
High street sales continued to grow last month despite the rainy weather and distraction of the World Cup. The monthly survey, by the British Retail Consortium and accountant KPMG, said like-for-like sales in June were 4 per cent ahead of June 2001 -
The first national strike by council workers since the 1979 Winter of Discontent will cause "severe disruption" to local authority services across the country, union leaders warned. More than 1.2 million workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
WEST Midlands Euro MP Philip Bradbourn has welcomed the admission by traffic experts this week that congestion charging in Birmingham would cause traffic chaos. Jeremy Evans, who heads the Transport for London congestion charging project, has said that
COMPANY directors in Worcestershire are being targeted by an anti-drink-driving organisation. TTC 2000 wants directors to introduce alcohol and drug awareness courses into the workplace to create a better-informed workforce and ultimately safer roads.
RICHARD Smith's proposed move from Worcester Rugby Club to Cardiff will be rubber stamped in the next 48 hours after a compensation package was hammered out. The scrum-half announced his intention to quit Sixways last week after holding talks with the
WORCESTER played host to its own version of Band Aid last night as four groups helped raise money for a city charity. The gig at the Marr's Bar, in Pierpoint Street, raised £410 for Acorns Children's Hospice. Seymour, from Bromyard, in Herefordshire,
AN Evesham man could land a huge compensation payout after customs seized his car and a haul of tobacco he was bringing into the country. A judge has told customs officials they must reconsider a decision to confiscate 3,400 cigarettes and 30 kilos of
PACEMAN Andy Caddick could make a dramatic return for Somerset in tomorrow's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final clash against Worcestershire tomorrow. The England star had a fitness check yesterday on a side strain which has kept him out
PLANS to demolish an historic building to make room for new apartments have been given the thumbs down. Stourport-on-Severn town councillors voted by nine to four to recommend refusal for the scheme, submitted by John Martyn Construction. The firm had
A RANGE of extra recycling facilities will be on offer at a new rubbish disposal site in Hereford. The new site at the Rotherwas Industrial Estate in Chapel Road will replace the existing household waste facilities in Fir Tree Lane. As well as paper and
A WORCESTER woman who lost her £200,000 home after becoming hooked on heroin as she struggled to come to terms with a serious assault, has been jailed. Magistrates heard how Jacqueline Burbridge became hooked on the drug after being told it would block
INQUESTS have been opened into the deaths of two men killed in a motorbike collision near Malvern. Motorcyclist Kevin Taylor, aged 28, of Bosbury Road, Malvern, and his passenger, Mark Hitchins, also 28, of Boswell Court, Howsell Road, Malvern, died when
A LITTLE more than a generation ago, Britain was brought to its knees by a series of strikes in the Winter of Discontent. The disputes, which saw public service workers among those who walked out, eventually led to the collapse of Jim Callaghan's government
TOM Moody has vowed that Worcestershire's three one-day wins over Somerset this season will not lull his players into a false sense of security in tomorrow's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final showdown at Taunton. "Complacency never comes
PACEMAN Andy Caddick could make a dramatic return for Somerset in tomorrow's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final clash against Worcestershire tomorrow. The England star had a fitness check yesterday on a side strain which has kept him out
RICHARD Smith's proposed move from Worcester Rugby Club to Cardiff will be rubber stamped in the next 48 hours after a compensation package was hammered out. The scrum-half announced his intention to quit Sixways last week after holding talks with the
KIDDERMINSTER Harriers fired four goals past Evesham United as Ian Britton's side blew the close season cobwebs away in style last night. Following Saturday's lacklustre 1-1 draw at Stratford Town, Harriers were looking for a lift to their confidence
AN FOUR-GOAL blitz of Evesham United gave Kidderminster Harriers their first win of the pre-season programme. But it took 38 minutes for Harriers to take the lead against their Dr Martens League Western Division opponents. Andy Ducros, running onto Lee
SOUGHT-AFTER striker Matt Lewis bagged Kidderminster Harriers' first pre-season goal in Saturday's 1-1 draw at sunny Stratford Town. Harriers were given a useful work-out by their competitive Midland Alliance opponents who took the lead in the first half
Sporting Memorabilia is the first ever large scale collectors fair dedicated entirely to sporting collectables and makes its debut at The NEC August 3 and 4. And the Shuttle/Times and News has got five pairs of tickets to give away to the show on August
THE issue of who owns Pitchcroft crops up with monotonous regularity. There are good reasons to bring this matter up - we shall have to keep a wary eye on Arena to ensure Pitchcroft Park remains in our hands, otherwise it will be taken by stealth. I refer
WHILE M A Clark may advocate a return to pre-Blair democracy, the fact remains that our politicians no longer serve us. Isn't that why fewer and fewer of us are exercising our right to vote? Look how corrupt our elections have become. In 2001, Labour
KIDDERMINSTER Harriers fired four goals past Evesham United as Ian Britton's side blew the close season cobwebs away in style last night. Following Saturday's lacklustre 1-1 draw at Stratford Town, Harriers were looking for a lift to their confidence
IN the year to December 31, 2001, Phoenix Venture Holdings Group, which includes MG Rover, Powertrain, XPart, MG Sport and Racing and MG Rover Property made a loss before goodwill and tax of £18m. This was half the annual loss for 2000, which was about
A LEADING rural business organisation plans to give the Government food for thought. The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) plans to highlight the benefits of buying locally-produced food at the Labour Party's first Rural Conference. The conference
Three different groups unhappy with British Airways' policies were today lobbying shareholders at the airline's annual meeting in London. One protest was from the Heathrow Airport anti-noise organisation, Hacan ClearSkies. Wearing screaming face masks
A WORCESTER law firm is offering free consultations for people worried about the collapse of a major insurance company. Lucy Small, a solicitor who heads up Harrison Clark's Personal Injury Department, said many people would be concerned about the business
Economists were today expecting a further slide in inflation after a fall in the cost of food and petrol. The underlying rate of inflation - which excludes mortgage interest payments - slid from 2.3 per cent to 1.8 per cent in May and another dip is forecast
