Archive

  • Foyle is left to rue Hereford loss

    FRUSTRATED manager Martin Foyle reckons Hereford United deserved better from their 1-0 defeat at home to Wrexham. A deflected Jay Harris free-kick 13 minutes before half-time decided a poor Blue Square Bet Premier clash at Edgar Street. It

  • Happy couples help mark church's anniversary year

    MORE than 30 couples whoo married at Droitwich Spa Methodist Church gathered to help mark the building’s 75 anniversary. A special service celebrating marriage was held at the Worcester Road site on Sunday, February 10. The event was part of

  • Clergyman jailed for fleecing pensioner out of £61,000

    A DISGRACED Worcestershire clergyman who fleeced a dementia victim of over £61,000 while he was in a nursing home has been jailed for three and half years. The Rev Peter Hesketh, a chaplain at Worcester Royal Hospital, was unanimously convicted

  • Scam device found on cash machine

    A CASH machine at a supermarket was found to have been tampered with after it swallowed a customer's cash card. The woman got in touch with staff at Morrisons, Malvern Link, after the machine, operated by Nat West, took her card, and police were

  • Anti-social Polish criminal removed from city

    A POLISH national who caused ongoing crime and disorder in Worcester has been removed from the city. Unemployed Piotr Kij, aged 37, of no fixed abode, was subject to removal action by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) following a request by West Mercia

  • CCTV image released after school burglary

    POLICE have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to about a burglary at a school in Malvern this week. During school hours on Monday, specifically between 11.30am and 3.45pm, someone entered Malvern St James girls’ school and

  • The Sunshine Years by Afsaneh Knight

    NEW FICTION The Sunshine Years by Afsaneh Knight is published in hardback by Doubleday, priced £16.99 (ebook £9.20). Available now. The theme of the hang-up of getting older and leaving your best physical years behind you has to be handled

  • Back To Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

    CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK: Back To Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald is published in hardback by Orion, priced £9.99 (ebook £5.99). Available now. Sarah Moore Fitzgerald is a professor specialising in psychology and this is her first work

  • Ex-teacher appears in court on school sex abuse charges

    A FORMER teacher has appeared in court today charged with 22 offences relating to the alleged sexual abuse of pupils at two schools, one of which is near Kidderminster. Jonathan O’Brien, aged 55, of Fairfield Road, Bosham, West Sussex, was brought

  • Road closed after man taken ill

    A MAIN road was closed in both directions after a person was taken ill in their car. Police and the ambulance service were called to the A449 Wells Road, near Eaton Road in Malvern at around 12.40pm today. A police spokesman said the person

  • Fashion chain Republic in administration

    FASHION chain Republic has collapsed into administration after sales declined in late January. Ernst & Young, administrator to the group, said the 121 shops, including the branch on the High Street, would continue to trade while it looks for

  • Peace hoping to be In Love with debut album

    PEACE will be hoping to realise the hype when they release their debut album next month. The four-piece began life in Worcester as November and the Criminal and are now set to release In Love on Monday, March 25.  Having already proved to be

  • Worcester boss Heeley baffled by form

    MANAGER Carl Heeley says he is at a loss as to why Worcester City can’t win at St George’s Lane. Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Solihull Moors was played in front of City’s lowest gate of the season — 653 — and was the sixth time they have lost at home

  • Pay £20 extra council tax: Labour's County Hall argument

    RESIDENTS in Worcestershire should pay £20 more council tax to help fund better services for pensioners and the young, according to County Hall’s Labour group. The party will be arguing for a 1.99 per cent council tax rise tomorrow - equivalent

  • City players sign up for supporters trust

    WORCESTER City Supporters’ Trust has received a further boost after the entire City playing squad signed up as members. The fans organisation, who last month unveiled plans to build a community stadium at Perdiswell, are continuing to recruit members

  • City defence boosted by skipper’s return

    CAPTAIN Stuart Whitehead should be fit to shore up the Worcester City defence at Harrogate Town on Saturday. The experienced centre-half missed Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Solihull Moors at St George’s Lane because of an eye infection. Manager Carl

  • Wrong picture used

    SIR – While the report of the demolition of the medical centre in Priest Lane, Pershore, was interesting (Worcester News, February 1), the before picture was actually the former Cottage Hospital in Defford Road. JOY L DOBBINS Pershore

  • Cuts to Duke's award scheme

    FUNDING for the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh award scheme could be slashed in a review of council finances. Schools and colleges in Worcestershire could be asked to make “more realistic” contributions towards the cost of the award scheme.

  • Let’s have more

    SIR – You ran a Letters Extra page on January 19. Please give us one every Saturday – please, please, please. GEORGE COWLEY Worcester

  • Is this really fair?

      SIR – Have you been to Wales and travelled their roads? Unlike our pothole-infested roads, they are well-maintained, which is hardly surprising as under the Barnett formula, Wales receives no less than 18 per cent more from the public purse

  • So many problems for the bus drivers

    SIR – Re the letter by S Mason ‘Two buses didn’t show – the third was full’ (Worcester News, February 6). I would like to ask if S Mason read and believed the timetable. Most of us know they are only there to be read while waiting for the bus as

  • We’ve been taken over by the mad customers

     SIR – So now we are to have gay conjunctions sanctioned by law – hurrah, hurrah. When are we going to get compulsory homosexuality for all, together with majority age, passports, voting rights, insurance numbers, school certificates and, perhaps

  • We’re giving cash to kids who live abroad

     SIR – British taxpayers are are handing out £1 million a week to EU immigrants whose children live abroad. The payments include child benefit which was stripped last month from more than one million families. This amount will no doubt rocket

  • It was Labour who got us in this mess

    SIR – Re Councillor [Richard] Udall’s letter (Worcester News, February 5). Since when did the Labour Party care about the British worker? It was Labour who opened the floodgates to millions of low-paid immigrant workers, thus putting British workers

  • More snow on the way

    WORCESTERSHIRE is bracing itself for for more snow as the cold snap looks set to continue. The Met Office has issued an amber warning with small amounts snow expected this afternoon. An amber warning means people need to be prepared for the

  • There’s clearly one rule for the rich...

      SIR – According to reports, Sir David Nicholson, head of NHS, is on a salary of £211,000 with a bonus of £20,000. His £1.9 million pension will bring in £110,000 a year. It is reported he has claimed £48,900 expenses and it is thought

  • Buzzards to soar day and night

    MALVERN’S iconic buzzards will soar day and night after a decision to illuminate them with floodlights. Members of Malvern Town Council have voted to illuminate the statue, in Rosebank Gardens, between dusk and midnight every evening using energy-efficient

  • £14.2 million transport boost for city

    MORE than £14 million of funding towards transport improvements across Worcester have been given approval by the Government, it has emerged. The Department for Transport has today finalised the massive cash injection towards easing congestion around

  • Worcester CCTV will get £10,000 boost, reveals council

    AN EXTRA £10,000 is being ploughed into CCTV in Worcester - amid high hopes the city will have another bumper year. The city council’s Conservative leadership has agreed to ring-fence the cash into a special kitty so extra staff can be handed shifts

  • Malvern look for vital funds boost

    MALVERN Rugby Club have called an open meeting to discuss measures that can be implemented to improve their precarious financial position. Projections show the Spring Lane-based club are on track to suffer a loss this year, but steps are being

  • Toys at city’s hospital had blood on them

    SIR – My three-year-old grandson suffered a minor head trauma recently and was taken to casualty. He had to wait three-and-ahalf hours for treatment. The floor and the toys had blood on them and he and his father were largely ignored the whole

  • Mrs Carter has earned the right...

    I DON’T think a single British person can hand on heart say that they truly understand the whole fascination with the Superbowl. Piers Morgan described it this week as the biggest sporting weekend in the American calendar, but it wasn’t the actual

  • Oil clean-up a success

    OIL dumped in a stream in Malvern should not cause any long-term damage, the Environment Agency has said. Staff found the oil in a stream just off Sandys Road, near Spring Lane Industrial Estate, while they were carrying out work in the area on

  • Carol closes book on time in the library

    A LIBRARIAN has reached the final chapter of her career after nearly two decades of service at a Worcestershire school. Carol Smith retired last month having kept the shelves of Pershore High School’s library in order for 17 years. The 61-year-old

  • Tractor donation

    YOUNGSTERS using the forest school at Charlton with Cropthorne PreSchool, near Evesham, have been given a new toy. A mini-tractor has been donated by John Deere, based at nearby Hinton, and is the latest addition to the children’s outdoor studies

  • Children sending cases to Zambia

    CHILDREN at a Worcestershire school are busy filling their pencil cases to send out to an African school. Pupils at Inkberrow First School, with the help of their families, have been stuffing the colourful cases with pens and pencils for the children

  • Girls are offered Oxbridge places

    FOUR girls from Malvern St James School have been offered places at two of the world’s top universities. Anna Baird and Weiyi Zhang will read classics and engineering respectively at Oxford, while Sara Devereux and Jia Ying Yan have both been offered

  • Cabinet agrees student homes crackdown in Worcester

    A CRACKDOWN on student homes has been agreed by the city council’s leadership - with bosses saying it is aimed at creating “cohesive” neighbourhoods. Councillor Marc Bayliss, the authority’s deputy leader, insisted the move was “not an attack on

  • High Court rules against GCSE re-grading

    THE High Court today ruled against a legal challenge over last-minute changes to GCSE English grade boundaries. Hundreds of pupils, schools, councils and teaching unions formed an alliance in a bid to secure a judicial review after accusing AQA

  • Forty tasks for Jo the fiery redhead

    COMPLETING a firewalk and dying her hair bright red are just two of the 40 challenges a Worcester woman plans to complete before she turns 40. Jo Hobbs has set herself a variety of tasks from the extreme to the ordinary and hopes her journey will

  • The Cohen Brothers return to Malvern on Friday

    The Cohen Brothers return to the Great Malvern Hotel on Friday before taking some time out. Their blues-funk grooves proved to be a big draw at last summer’s innaugural Malvern Rocks festival and their set starts at 9pm. As well as showcasing

  • Orphan Annie will be performed Tomorrow (and today)

    STUDENTS have been bringing the musical of loveable orphan Annie to life in their school’s new professional theatre. Tudor Grange Academy students have been donning the distinctive curly ginger wig and belting out classic songs such as Tomorrow

  • Owumi named in BBL line-up

    ALEX Owumi (right) has been rewarded for his match-winning display against Newcastle Eagles with a place in the British Basketball League team of the week. The Worcester Wolves guard scored 34 points as his side recorded an impressive 94-88 BBL

  • Sun oven a ray of hope for the world

    A PIONEERING solar-powered oven aimed at helping people in the Third World is being developed and tested in Malvern. Dytecna, based at Malvern Hills Science Park, is collaborating with Oxford University on the oven, known as ‘Albedo’, which it

  • 34 people living rough in our city

    WORCESTER has one of the highest number of rough sleepers in the country, outside of London, new figures have shown. Government figures show the city has an estimated 34 people sleeping rough which is only topped by Brighton and Hove and Cornwall