Western Daily Press
Prisoners thank PM as hundreds released early
PRISONERS have thanked Prime Minister Andy Burnham as they celebrated walking free from jail early. The first wave of releases began yesterday, with 700 criminals expected to be freed across the country. One prisoner, dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and...
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US suggests ‘hand of foreign actor’ in Fairford incident
ASUSPECTED terror plot against an RAF base used by American forces “clearly involves the hand of a foreign actor”, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has claimed, but refused to provide further details. In a TV interview, the top diplomat mentioned...
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‘Open mind’ on Fairford Plot probe as five bailed
POLICE are considering “every possible angle” including the use of proxies by a hostile state after five suspects were released on bail over the suspected terror plot near an RAF base. Five British nationals were arrested on suspicion of explosives...
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Driver jailed for killing teen biker Alfie in crash
ABELOVED 18-year-old motorcyclist died on his way home from work due to a catastrophic error of judgment from another driver, a court heard. Alfie Gray, below inset, was travelling home from work on the singlelane A370 near Hewish, Westonsuper-Mare,...
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‘REMARKABLE LIFE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN’
> Avon Valley Adventure Park worker Sam preparing the Keynsham site for pumpkin picking yesterday. Avon Valley has grown a variety of gourds and people can pick their own pumpkins from October 3. The Pumpkin Patch is also open on selected nights, with...
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RNLI station ‘off service’ after hard-right protests
THE RNLI has paused its services in Portsmouth in the wake of abuse of its volunteers after anti-migrant protests. The charity’s volunteers have been targeted for helping migrants at sea, with footage posted on social media showing them described as...
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Ancient tradition of scything is bringing buzz back to meadows
HERITAGE bosses have reintroduced ancient scything methods at an historic abbey to help protect one of Britain’s rarest bumblebees. The centuries-old countryside tradition is being revived by English Heritage to help restore meadows at Muchelney Abbey...
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Man loses appeal bid over killing ex-partner
APUB chef who was jailed for murdering his former partner after an undercover police investigation has failed in a bid to challenge his conviction at the Court of Appeal. Darren Osment was given a minimum of 20 years in prison for killing 32-year-old...
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Speedboat killer stabbed his girlfriend with tongs
SPEEDBOAT killer Jack Shepherd has been jailed for 20 months with a further four years on extended licence after violently assaulting his girlfriend, including stabbing her with pointed barbecue tongs. The 39-year-old was sentenced at Isleworth Crown...
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Man ‘plotted to sabotage drone factory for Russia’
ABRITISH man prepared to sabotage a drone factory in the UK on behalf of Russia’s intelligence services, a court has been told. Joshua Cammidge allegedly researched four drone manufacturing sites in Swindon as well as a wifijamming device and is also...
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Rivals to ride again as series returns to screens
DISNEY+ has given fans a first look at the return of Rivals as season two resumes on November 11. The series, based on the novel by the late Cotswold author Dame Jilly Cooper, features famous faces including Doctor Who star David Tennant, Poldark’s...
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‘UK’s self-sufficiency in 10 vital foods has fallen’
THE UK’s self-sufficiency in key foods such as wheat, meat and fresh veg has fallen in the last 30 years, farming leaders warn as they call for action to reverse the trend. Self-sufficiency in 10 out of 11 everyday foods has fallen, while much of...
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Two new arrivals that show a city on the move
A NEW entrance to Temple Meads station and a new campus building for the University of Bristol opened yesterday. The great and the good attended a series of opening ceremonies, with leaders of Bristol University, Network Rail, Bristol City Council,...
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New city murals were unveiled at Dove Street Flats in Bristol on Saturday. Over the past few months, residents have been working with Bristol City Council and 16 Bristol artists, including Inkie, Sepr, Silent Hobo, Dave Bain, HazardOne, Cheo and...
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Trio ‘plundered’ money invested in tree scheme
THREE directors of a Bournemouth-based tree-planting company who splashed out on luxury holidays, supercars and a yacht while running a £70 million investment scam have been jailed. Matthew Pickard, 55, Stephen Greenaway, 48, and Paul Laver, 48,...
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‘Planting for the future’ helps the next generation of orchards
THATCHERS has commenced the earliest apple harvest in its 122-year history after a “challenging” summer. Martin Thatcher, managing director of the famous Somerset cider farm in Sandford, acknowledged that the 2026 heatwaves have been “devastating” for...
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CREWS BATTLE WAREHOUSE BLAZE IN CITY
Emergency crews on the scene in Brislington, Bristol yesterday after a major fire broke out on a trading estate
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Sir Mel out in shake-up of Tory economic team
KEMI Badenoch has replaced another member of her top team, ousting Sir Mel Stride as shadow chancellor and appointing Andrew Griffith in his place. The Conservative leader is carrying out a reshuffle of her shadow cabinet before Parliament’s return...
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Town wins small victory in war against hyphens
GOOGLE has agreed to remove hyphens from a town’s name – as part of its 130-year campaign to delete them. People living in Bradford on Avon say dashes first appeared in 1899 – when Great Western Railway (GWR) added them to its railway sign. Locals...
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Family ‘utterly let down’ by crash driver sentence
THE family of a man killed in a car crash caused by a motorist’s careless driving are fuming at what they feel was his overly lenient sentence. Michael Ramstedt, of Shurdington, Cheltenham, died just over two years ago when Nuno Gouveia’s car went...
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Long-serving Linda hits ‘45 summers’ at Butlin’s
ABUTLIN’S worker is celebrating 45 years at the holiday park in Minehead. Linda Carroll was only 20 years old when she began her career as a personnel clerk in August 1981. Now, almost half a century later, she remains a much-loved part of the Somerset...
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‘Frantic Friday’ getaway looms despite £89 tank
DRIVERS are being told to expect a “frantic Friday” as the summer bank holiday getaway is expected to be the busiest on the roads in more than a decade. The RAC issued the warning as it estimated 20 million leisure trips would be made by car between...
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Buy a ticket and travel back in time at revamped train station
PASSENGERS using a Somerset railway station will feel like they have stepped back in time after an £835,000 restoration to make it look like it did a century ago. Castle Cary station is most famous for being the gateway for the Glastonbury Festival...
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Drought order sought for river in bid to protect water supplies
WATER companies could be forced to reduce the amount they take from the River Severn to prevent parts of it drying out in the ongoing drought. It comes as parts of the UK were hit by “heavy pulses” of rain early yesterday, but forecasters and...
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Highways chiefs aware of junction issue for months
SAFETY issues with a “ghost” motorway junction that has not been used by a single vehicle since it was built seven years ago were known about months before the public was told its opening would be further delayed. National Highways – the government...
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Wessex imposes its first hosepipe ban in 50 years
WESSEX Water has become the latest utility company to announce a hosepipe ban after weeks of hot and dry weather have plunged large parts of the country into drought. The water firm said the temporary use ban came into effect from midnight for all 1.4...
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Rape conviction teacher banned from profession
ASOUTH Gloucestershire teacher who raped a woman has been banned from the profession for life. David Derrick, now 43, of Warmley, was jailed for two years and nine months and was required to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely in January...
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17 year-prison terms for ‘dangerous’ killer couple
AROMANIAN couple who killed two married men after drugging them unconscious to steal cash and jewellery during sexual liaisons have each been jailed for 17 years. Adina Mihai, 31, who posed as a sex worker, and her partner, Madalin Dumitru, 30,...
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Here comes the bride ... and her favourite cow
AWEST farmer bride rode her favourite cow into her wedding. Victoria Lee, 37, was carried into the church by a Swiss cow called ‘White Chocolate Button’. She then tied the knot with her new husband Mike Lee, 40, on Saturday. The dairy farmer says the...
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Family needs an end to agony, High Court hears
THE partner of a murdered woman has told the High Court that her family “need an end to the ongoing agony” after the Parole Board said her killer can be released from prison. Glyn Razzell was jailed for life with a minimum of almost 16 years in 2003...
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‘No hope of ever finding Linda if killer is released’
ALL hope of finding the remains of a woman murdered by her husband almost 25 years ago will be lost if her killer is released from prison, a relative has told the High Court. Glyn Razzell was jailed for a minimum of almost 16 years in 2003 for...
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Council warned over bringing in parking fees
INTRODUCING car parking charges to parts of rural Somerset could “deter shoppers, visitors, families and hikers”, according to one local resident. Somerset Council’s executive committee voted in March to begin a root-and-branch review of Somerset car...
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Mayor is ‘keeping nose clean’ over airport plans
THE West of England metro mayor has refused to say what she thinks about the proposal to expand Bristol Airport for the second time this decade – and said she is so worried about impacting the planning process that she is not even taking notice of any...
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Thatcher duo reunite to fix pub roof 35 years on
ATHATCHED roof pub near Cheltenham has had its roof redone for the first time in 35 years – by the same two men who last did the job in 1991. The Kings Head in Bishop’s Cleeve is just one of six thatched pubs in Gloucestershire, and one of around 500...
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Man held in traveller site murder investigation
A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following a fatal shooting at a traveller site. The victim, who has been named by police as Jimmy Ward, 36, was declared dead at the scene near Cricklade, Wiltshire, at about 8.15am on...
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Tributes as dad named as fatal shooting victim
AVICTIM of a shooting at a travellers’ site has been named as a “much-loved” husband and father. The victim, who is in his 30s and named locally as Jimmy Ward, was pronounced dead at the scene on Sunday morning. Latest pictures from the scene show a...
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West band banned from Singapore over flag row
BRISTOL music legends Massive Attack have been banned from reentering Singapore after displaying a Palestinian flag during their show. On Wednesday, the city trip-hop collective – whose current line-up includes Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G”...
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Inspector set to rule on future of Green Belt site
BRISTOL Port Company’s six year battle to expand one of the UK’s biggest car parks into the Green Belt of North Somerset has reached a climax – with a Government planning inspector set to decide on the row. The port wants to redraw the map of North...
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Neo-Nazi fined for racial abuse during city march
ASELF-PROCLAIMED neoNazi white supremacist who gave Nazi salutes, shouted ‘Heil Hitler’ and abused Jewish people on a far-right march through the centre of Bristol earlier this year has been fined by a judge. The judge yesterday described Ryan...
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Council calls time on seafront’s lamppost flags
UNAUTHORISED flags fixed to lampposts all along Weston-superMare’s seafront by activists have been removed by North Somerset Council. The council said it supports civic pride but that the flags – which were attached part-way up lampposts all along the...
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Asbestos pauses bid to tackle 200-tonne fly-tip
AMAJOR operation to remove hundreds of tonnes of waste dumped illegally on a site in Gloucester has been paused after the discovery of asbestos. The decisive action to remove the illegally deposited waste and bring an end to the unlawful activities on...
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West star reminds graduates: ‘There is no one else like you’
SOMERSET-RAISED Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams received an honorary doctorate at Bath Spa University yesterday. During her acceptance speech the 29-year-old actor joked about not taking a traditional route to graduation day – having left Norton...
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Ex-MP ‘was hit on head 21 times with hammer’
AMAN has appeared in court charged with murdering Ann Widdecombe by hitting her 21 times on her head with a hammer. Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday over the death of the Reform UK...
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This is a ‘circuit breaker’ for Britain, says new PM
ANDY Burnham promised to deliver the biggest change to British politics in 40 years as he became Prime Minister and swept away key figures from Sir Keir Starmer’s government. He promised to provide early “breathing space” for households struggling...
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Family ‘lose everything’ as blaze destroys home
DONATIONS are flooding in for a family left devastated after a fire that started in a neighbour’s garden completely destroyed their home within minutes. The flames engulfed homes in the village of Oake, near Taunton in Somerset, late on Friday night,...
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Pony population to be protected amid cull fear
DARTMOOR pony populations will be protected at their current levels, ministers have said amid fears a livestock-counting method would lead to a cull. Campaigners had previously warned that requirements to cut grazing on the moor’s commons under new...
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Anne honours West’s Imjin River heroes in Korean visit
THE Princess Royal has honoured the sacrifice of West soldiers who fought in the Battle of Imjin River as she began an official tour of South Korea. Anne, joined by husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, travelled to the vast United Nations Memorial...
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River debate will silence questions about boaters
COUNCILLORS have been banned from asking about the impact on boaters as they try to challenge plans to evict them from a Bath river. Bath and North East Somerset Council has told houseboat residents moored in the stretch of the River Avon downstream...
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Failures in Lucy’s care ‘probably contributed’ to her death
AJURY has found that a series of failures by the mental health system possibly or probably contributed to the death of a Bristol teenager, whose case saw the city’s only acute mental health unit for young people closed down soon after. The jury at...
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Graham’s gigantic garlic is no light bulb at 1.75kg
ACHAMPION veg grower has set his 10th world record – for the biggest ever garlic. Graham Barratt, 67, has been officially recognised for the giant bulb – which weighed a staggering 1.75kg. This pungent record breaker had a diameter of 19cm (7.5in) and...
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All creatures great and very, very small ...
FOR decades visitors to Longleat have been enchanted by the spectacle of seeing the magnificent kings of the jungle on safari drives. The Wiltshire attraction is home to hundreds of species – including its famous pride of fearsome lions, huge...
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Officers wanted to arrest sex offender after partner’s death
POLICE officers wanted to arrest a sex offender with convictions for drugging and sexually assaulting women on suspicion of manslaughter after his partner was found dead in his home but were overruled by a more senior officer, an inquest has...
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Murder inquiry after pet shop owner dies in crash
TRIBUTES have been paid to a businesswoman whose death in a head-on road collision is being treated as murder. Pet shop owner Barbara Mullaney has been named locally as the person killed in the crash on the B4696, near Royal Wootton Bassett,...
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It’s game on for 1am kick-off but some city pubs benched
PUB landlords in Bristol who gambled on England reaching the last 16 of the World Cup after qualifying as group winners are preparing to host a late-night football party on Sunday night – but those who didn’t have been told it’s too late to get a...
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Warmest June on record is ‘sobering’, say experts
LAST month was provisionally the warmest June in England since records began, as well as the second warmest for the UK, thanks to the recent heatwave that brought a run of sweltering days and balmy nights. The average temperature in England across the...
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Wimbledon sensation leaves pupils starstruck
ITALY’S Tyra Grant delighted a group of Bristol schoolchildren when she stopped to take photos with them and sign their merchandise at Wimbledon. After winning two sets against Britain’s Katie Boulter, Grant stopped to greet the group from Cathedral...
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Sunak aide pleads guilty over betting on election
ACLOSE aide to former prime minister Rishi Sunak has pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling with bets on the date of the 2024 general election. Craig Williams, 41, pictured, who was Tory MP for Montgomeryshire and Cardiff North, admitted using...
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Crimes not result of race but ‘deep-set misogyny’
DETECTIVES who prosecuted a group of young Afghan men who raped a girl one of them met out Christmas shopping in Bristol have praised the victim’s “incredible bravery” – but sent a message to anyone who might use the horrific crime for a political...
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UK’s hottest June day record broken again with 36.4C blast
ANEW record high temperature has been set for June for the second day in a row as the UK swelters in a punishing heatwave. The Met Office said temperatures had reached 36.4C at Yeovilton, Somerset, on Thursday afternoon, provisionally making it the...
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Pair fatally drugged two men in scheme to steal
AWOMAN who posed as a sex worker and drugged men unconscious to steal from them has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of two men. Adina Mihai, 31, and Madalin Dumitru, 30, arranged to meet men seeking sexual services at their homes and drugged them...
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Burnham to get official briefing on PM takeover
LABOUR leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham will start receiving Government briefings to prepare for power as the outgoing Prime Minister insisted he would seek to “resolve difficult issues” before his successor takes over. Sir Keir Starmer has...
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West braced for heat as rare red warning issued
TEMPERATURES are set to climb to as high as 40C as parts of the South West brace for a rare red extreme heat weather warning. The red weather warning, which will begin at 9am tomorrow, will last until 9pm on Thursday. Bristol, Gloucestershire,...
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Opening of huge drone site ‘clear win for town’
AHUGE centre that will be used for testing drones for warfare has opened in Swindon. The facility is based at the vast 370-acre Panattoni Park site, which previously housed Honda’s car plant until it closed for good in 2021. At 545,000 sq ft, the...
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