THIS atmospheric snapshot of singer Mari Randle has been named the winner of this year’s Worcester Music Festival photography competition. Amateur photographer Toni Charles, aged 27, from Kidderminster, took the black and white shot during a performance
CRITICAL new planning papers guiding planners and developers are “bitty” and unclear, according to leading council officers. The draft National Planning Policy Framework has been sent out to councils by the Government for consultation.
WORCESTER siblings Paul and Kate Oliver raised more than £1,400 for charity after successfully completing the Great North Run. The pair joined 45,000 other runners and ran the half-marathon together to raise money for the MS Society.
BBC HEREFORD and Worcester presenter Wincey Willis is urging more women to enter the Ladies Driving Challenge to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. The event is taking place at Throckmorton airfield in Pershore on Sunday. As part of the challenge
NEW powers tackling domestic violence are extending to police across the county after a pilot scheme’s success. The roll-out of Domestic Violence Protection Orders and Notices (DVPO/Ns) is continuing this month after their launch in south Worcestershire
LAUREN Shilvock’s second-half goal was enough to give Stourport women the derby honours over Worcester in the Midland Premier League. In a hard-fought encounter, which saw two Stourport players and one from Worcester yellow-carded, both defences had
A PICKPOCKET who travelled from London to Worcester to find work but instead stole a purse from a vulnerable pensioner has been jailed. Vana Ilieva had initially denied committing the crime but later pleaded guilty to theft at Worcester Magistrates
A CAR crash is delaying rail passengers during the rush-hour commute. A car left the road near the Bowling Green Inn in Shaw Lane near Bromsgrove at about 3.39pm today, ending up on a steep embankment which runs down onto the busy Birmingham
SERVICES to and from Worcester Foregate Street station have been disrupted by a line obstruction, passengers are being told. CrossCountry and London Midland services between Birmingham New Street and Cheltenham Spa are experiencing delays of
THOUSANDS packed a Worcester nightclub to see the first of the X Factor rejects perform. Amelia Lily and James Michael performed at Tramps in Angel Place before posing for pictures with clubgoers. The two contestants were booted off the ITV show 10
COLLEGE students have been left stranded miles from home by a bus service which is repeatedly late or does not turn up at all. Students at Pershore Agricultural College are often left standing at the campus bus stop at the end of lectures, without any
SATURDAY ENER-G MIDLANDS MEN’S LEAGUE Premier Division: Stourport v West Bridgford. Division One: Worcester v Melton (noon). West Midlands Premier Division: Bridgnorth v Droitwich Spa. West Midlands Division One: Leamington
A WORCESTERSHIRE firm of financial advisers has raised more than £3,000 towards pioneering new treatment that could save lives. McCarthy Taylor Limited, which has offices in Worcester and Evesham, held a quiz and auction evening at Evesham Rowing
ELGAR Group WI took a behindthe- scenes tour of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. From a friendly reception on the ground floor, we were able to take the lifts to explore the upper two floors and take an optional tour of the tower
THE next meeting of the Martley and Worcester West Deanery Ladies Prayer Breakfast is on November 5 at 8am. The November speaker will be Keris, who works at St Richard’s Hospice. The first Saturday in the month is car boot sale day at the Cob
THE December 20 meeting will be entitled Compliments of the Season with Frank Townsend, and the competition will be a home-made Christmas card. Following discussions, the WI will meet on the second Tuesday in the month starting in January 2012
A PINCH of Salt was the title of the talk by Bill Davies to 50 of our members and friends. He spoke about his career at sea with amusing anecdotes about the Royal Navy and his seafaring heroes. He was easy to listen to and we were thoroughly entertained
AT the September meeting, members and guests of the monthly Greek interest club enjoyed Madalena, a classic blackand- white film set on the small Cycladic island of Antiparos in the late 1950s; very much in the genre of romantic, music-filled,
A CONVICTED killer who bit off part of a prisoner’s ear in a Worcestershire jail has been cleared of wounding. Andrew Aston was given 26 life sentences in 2002 for two murders and 24 offences of robbery and assault. But eight years after being locked
THE President welcomed 25 members and three visitors to the October meeting. The Christmas meeting will again be held at The Firs and members were asked to make their choice of menu. An invitation had been received from Salwarpe WI to their fund
AT our latest social afternoon, we enjoyed good food with some good friends as we endeavoured to say thank you for all the support which is so readily extended to us. Opportunity was taken to present certificates to the many long-standing supporters
NICHOLAS Clark, having given talks to the club on many previous occasions, entertained members with his experiences while teaching on an exchange visit at a school in Corsica. This was a 12-month assignment, and, together with his family, gave
THE crumbling and derelict service wing of a stately home has been saved from ruin and can now be restored to its former glory. The grade one listed service wing of Croome Court, near High Green, Upton-upon-Severn, was bought and saved following
SIR – There is a saying in life that the biggest crooks are outside prison. About four years ago gas and electric prices were increased by 60 per cent. When their costs came down 50 per cent these rip-off sharks only put prices down 10 per cent
SIR – Re L Presley’s letter ‘Come on, let’s have letters of interest’ (Worcester News, October 5). I agree entirely except that he only mentions Messrs Cowley, Shearon and Pegler, which seems unfair; there are other culprits. Without intending
SIR – Worcester News readers can now view a petition to the health minister asking that all doctors and nurses who come to the United Kingdom to work for the National Health Service be government checked that they can speak, read and write English
SIR – It was upsetting to read about the cruel treatment of raccoon dogs who are skinned alive in China for their fur to make Ugg boots (Worcester News, October 10). Rabbits are also skinned alive to make fur items and trim on clothes that are
SIR – I listened with interest to the boss of First Bus on our local radio station answering questions. One of the thing she said was that there were timetables everywhere for passengers. Really? My wife and I had an overnight stay down south
SIR – It’s good news that the council tax will be frozen for another year. Listening to the Tories you’d think it was all Labour’s fault that the council tax doubled in 10 years – but they don’t mention that most councils were Tory-run. It was
SIR – As I asked previously of Mr [Robbie] Porter (Worcester News, October 6), how will he find three million jobs for British people if we have uncontrolled immigration? Can we have an answer, Mr Porter? It’s the belief of the British National
SIR – McAyla Johnston was given a Pride of Britain Award in recognition for her campaign to get two pelican crossings installed on London Road, Worcester, where three years ago she was hit by a car (Worcester News, October 4). Councillor Roger
SIR – Why do so-called supporters spend good money to travel and watch Worcester City Football Club play, then abuse them? Of course it was a pity that we lost 2-1 to Godalming in the FA Cup (Worcester News, October 3). Could these verbal hooligans
SIR – Here’s another example of waste. Who and how much was spent on fixing “cyclehoops” to the existing railings by the cathedral roundabout for bikes to be locked to? The means to lock your bicycle was and is already there – the railings!
A NEW play area designed by a year two pupil at a county school has been built thanks to a £4,000 grant. Powick Primary School installed the tyre area after it was given the grant by the Tesco Charity Trust, which has handed out more than £275,000 nationally
SIR – I was interested to see Jon Burgess’ letter claiming that Animal Aid’s campaign against the shooting industry makes unsubstantiated allegations (Worcester News, October 6. He responds with a series of rhetorical assertions that read like
SIR – Re: a letter from Carole Roberts (Worcester News, October 7), regarding travellers at Dale Farm. If these people are travellers, how come they have been static for the last 10 years? Also, she states, ‘There is plenty of room for immigrants
SIR – After two brilliant weeks in the Algarve, I was a little disillusioned to read through copies of the Worcester News that the three stooges ‘Mr Pegler, Mr Cowley and Mr Shearon’ still making a point about the state of the Government. This
SIR – Good news for Wychavon District Council – the chance of getting its money back which was banked in Iceland. It should never have been banked in Iceland in the first place. Money like that should have been invested for the benefit of the
SIR – In the year 2000, I wrote various letters to this paper attacking Blair’s illegal war in Yugoslavia. I’ve left Worcester, but I am writing this to say I told you so. Kosovo is now an independent state, which we recognise when we don’t recognise
SIR – The Worcester News covered two big stories on October 14 – the closure of the Noah’s Ark charity and job cuts at Worcestershire County Council, both as a consequence of central government funding cuts. In the case of the county council,
SIR – You published a letter from Councillor Marc Bayliss (Worcester News, October 11) taking exception to a letter from Lynn Denham claiming the city council’s apprentice scheme is too little, too late. It is a desperate situation that 20 per
POLICE are warning shoppers to be vigilant after a distraction theft in a Worcestershire supermarket car park. The victim, a woman in her 60s, was putting her shopping into her car at the Co-Op in Franche Road, Kidderminster, at about 2pm last Wednesday
RUNNERS from across the county are being urged to sign up for next month’s Croome Capability Canter. Hosted by the Black Pear Joggers, the 10k multi-terrain race takes place at Croome Park on Sunday, November 27, at 10.30am. Starting and finishing at
AFTER 30 years of helping Worcester’s women with their most intimate fashion choices, Chris Grinnell is retiring happy. Mrs Grinnell, manager at La Senza in The Shambles, is retiring on Saturday from the place she has worked since its days
THE damning and now infamous report by a health watchdog into poor care of the elderly at one of Worcestershire’s hospitals shattered morale and left the reputation of the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in tatters. When the Care
PLANS for a new pharmacy in a Worcestershire village appear to have fallen through. Bradford-based Oakley Enterprises has missed the deadline to gain full consent for its proposal to open a chemist in Kempsey, near Worcester. The initial plans to establish
AN estate agent has called for action to stop taxi drivers parking illegally in a busy Worcester road. Several complaints have been made to police and Worcester City Council about drivers parking on double yellow lines and blocking the pavement
WORCESTERSHIRE Grasstrack Club ended their season with a touching tribute to John Webb. During the interval, all officials and riders walked on the circuit and were joined by spectators in one minute of hand-clapping to celebrate the life of their Worcester-based
THE former chairman of a Worcester shooting club has been given a suspended jail sentence for possessing an illegal weapon and ammunition. Graham Lane kept an arsenal of weapons at his house in Kilbury Drive, off Spetchley Road, which were removed by
AMERICAN import Sherrad Prezzie-Blue believes Worcester Wolves have what it takes to reach the British Basketball League play-offs. The University of Worcester-based side start their championship campaign on Friday night with a long trek north
AN early exit from the FA Cup might have left Worcester City kicking their heels but Michael Taylor has been in the thick of the action. With his team-mates basking in the autumn sun instead of competing on third qualifying round day, the rookie
TODAY the Worcester News launches a major campaign to boost emerging local businesses. It is joining forces with other regional and local newspapers in Britain in a project that aims to deliver a huge shot in the arm to local business by pledging
DETAILS of a new university business park which could create 2,000 jobs on the outskirts of Worcester are to be revealed to the public next week. People have been asked to give feedback on the ideas for the University of Worcester’s University Park site
WORCESTER City are hoping their three-match winning league run will tempt fans to St George’s Lane on Saturday. The Blue Square Bet North match against Harrogate Town will be the first time City have played on home soil since beating Bishop
A LORRY fire spread to a large detached property in Kidderminster but was brought under control. Fire crews tackled a blaze at a lorry full of molten bitumen in Mill Street at around 9pm last night. The tanker contained 6,000 litres
A WORCESTER parish council has questioned the lack of police presence at its monthly meetings. Warndon parish councillors said the local policing officer and community support officer (CSO) were once regular faces at the Monday night meetings
A WORCESTER teenager who barricaded herself between police officers and her boyfriend when they tried to arrest him has been fined. Kirsty Price, aged 18, of Carlisle Road, Ronkswood, was fined £65 for obstructing a police officer and made
