Bath Pubs

Thousands of animal-lovers braved the rain on Sunday to come out in support of Bath Cats and Dogs Home.
The charity held its annual open day with the aim of getting around 5,000 people through the doors and raise £40,000 for the good cause.
Visitors were given the chance to meet some of the animals looking for homes at the moment, take along their pets to take part in shows and pick up advice from a series of experts.
There was also a whole range of music, games, stalls and demonstrations on offer in the grounds behind the Claverton Down home.
Event organiser and fundraising manager Sarah Thorne admitted that the bad weather had worried her, but said she had been impressed by the numbers turning up.
She said: "I think the people here today want to have a good day out, while at the same time supporting the home.
"There is so much going on. If people want to find out more from pet experts, get some more information on what we do here or maybe see what animals we have here at the moment, there is something for everyone.
"When I was putting the signs out early this morning I was a little bit worried because of the rain, but it has brightened up and it hasn't put anybody off.
"This event makes a lot of money for the home and it all goes to the animals. It is our biggest fundraising event of the year."
Emma Chillman, who lives just off London Road, was at the open day with her boyfriend Tom Filer and their pet Staffie Joey, who they got from the home six weeks ago.
The 26-year-old said: "It is sad that there are so many dogs here that need homes, but it is great to see what a difference the staff here make to their lives.
"We wanted to come along and support the home and we haven't let the rain put us off. It isn't absolutely hammering it down."
Raymond Trowbridge, from Frome, had taken his 15-year-old dog Pepper.
He said: "We normally come along every year to this event anyway and I always think it is very good.
"I like all the attractions and I think the home does a good job."

A police sergeant faces the sack after being caught on CCTV injuring a woman from Colerne by pushing her into a cell.

Sgt Mark Andrews is shown dragging Pamela Somerville, 59, across the floor of a police station before shoving her into a cell.

CCTV footage captured her lying on the floor for a minute before struggling to get up with blood pouring from a head wound.

Former soldier Sgt Andrews, 37, was eventually convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm after a trial at Oxford Magistrates' Court earlier this summer. He will be sentenced on Tuesday and is expected to lose his job.

The case was brought after another officer at Wiltshire police's divisional base at Melksham reported his behaviour to a supervisor.

It happened in July 2008, after Ms Somerville had been arrested after being found asleep in her car near Colerne. She was detained for failing to provide a sample for a breath test, although she says she had not been drinking and had slept in her car after a disagreement with her partner.

Then aged 57, she was thrown in the cell at Melksham police station after being grabbed in the station lobby by custody sergeant Andrews.

CCTV footage shows Andrews coming back into the cell after she gets to her feet and calls for help before another person comes to check her and paramedics are called.

She was taken to Royal United Hospital in Bath and needed stitches in a gash above her eye.

Ms Somerville told the Mail on Sunday: "I still find it hard to watch the images of me staggering to my feet with blood pouring from a head wound because I can remember how terrified I was."

She said that at point she thought she was going to die.

The market researcher said: "The emotional and physical trauma of the past two years has not been easy to deal with. Had I been beaten up by a gang of thugs in a busy city centre, I think I would have been able to come to terms with being a victim a lot sooner."

Wiltshire police said the incident was a very rare one and that the force had apologised to Ms Somerville.

"The public have a right to expect that the police will always act with their safety and welfare as their first priority."

A Bath secondary school could be converting into a new-style academy much more quickly than predicted and could also start taking in boys.

In a notice published on Oldfield School's website yesterday headteacher Kim Sparling announced her hopes for the school to become an academy on November 1.

She said: "I am pleased to be able to update parents on our progress with our conversion to academy status.

"After speaking to the Department for Education last week they have agreed a provisional date of November 1st 2010 for us to become an academy."

Mrs Sparling also gave her first indication in a long time that the school may be considering turning co-educational.

This is a move both local parents and the local authority have been calling for.

She said: "You will be aware that in the past the governors had indicated that they might be willing for the school to become co-educational in the future, this was always subject to funding being available for the appropriate building improvements/adjustments to be made.

"Until recently no capital funding was available to make any such building improvements.

"In the last week the governors have been offered funding by the local authority to facilitate capital improvements to allow the school to go co-ed in the future.

"The chair of governors and I are planning to meet shortly with the LA to find out when this funding might become available.

"Obviously we cannot make any changes to our admissions to admit boys unless specific building adjustments have taken place."

Bath and North East Somerset Council has said the money for the necessary changes to allow boys has always been offered to the school, and in a report published earlier in the summer promised Oldfield £1.5 million.

This announcement from Mrs Sparling comes after the publication of a list by the DfE earlier in the week, which showed that Oldfield was not in the first wave of schools to become academies for the new school term.

In the past Mrs Sparling has always said the plan was for the conversion to take place over the summer holidays so that it could break free of local authority control ready for September 1.

But it seems that has not been possible because of B&NES Council's refusal to support the plans.

The authority is in the middle of a reorganisation of the city's secondary schools and has argued that it is in the best interests of the community for Oldfield to be co-educational.

It has offered the school an ultimatum to switch its academy application by September 17 so it will start admitting boys or the council will look into shutting it down and reopening a new school on the site, which would probably be run by the local community.

If Oldfield does decide to become co-educational then boys would probably not start entering Year 7 until September 2012.

Mrs Sparling also said that brothers of girls already at the school would get first preference.

She said: "It is important to remember that consultation has already taken place regarding admissions for September 2011, they therefore remain the same, GIRLS ONLY.

"If in the future the school has facilities to admit boys we would nevertheless want to retain the admission criterion which gives priority to SIBLINGS of existing students."

This could make it difficult for Bath children to get a place at Oldfield, because at the moment the majority of current pupils are from either South Gloucestershire or Bristol.

​A memorial has been unveiled to honour Bath's own Last Tommy Harry Patch.

The First World War veteran, who was born in Combe Down, was remembered during a short service at Royal Victoria Park this weekend.

Two lead planters filled with colourful flowers have been placed at the war memorial as a lasting tribute to the 111-year-old, who died last year.

City dignitaries, war veterans and members of the public came together for the service, which began with a lone bugler playing The Last Post.

Chair of Bath and North East Somerset Council Councillor Sarah Bevan read an extract from the poem Harry Patch – Last Man Standing: A Tribute, by RG Williams, before revealing a plaque at the side of the memorial.

The two planters were then unveiled by the three men who initiated the campaign for the tribute, Bath in Bloom committee chairman Barry Cruse, former chairman of B&NES Council Councillor Bryan Chalker and Bob Standen, formerly of the council's parks department.

Mr Cruse said he felt the planters were a fitting tribute to the soldier, who is now buried in Monkton Combe.

He said: "It is a very emotional moment.

"It has been a year in the making, a year to get all the money together and get the planters organised and I am just so delighted we are able to do this here for Harry Patch in Bath.

"It is so good to have so many people here this morning, it has been lovely. We did not want it to be a sombre occasion, because we are here to celebrate his life.

"The planters look magnificent and I think they are very fitting. I am really, really pleased."

The campaign for the memorial was launched not long after Mr Patch's death in July last year, when the trio decided they wanted to create a permanent tribute in the city.

An appeal for donations began and the £1,500 needed was raised thanks to the generosity of the public, BLM British Lead, Cross Manufacturing, the Bath Platoon of the Somerset Army Cadet Force and city engineering company Rotork.

The High Sherriff of Somerset Patricia Hunt, who was a guest at the service, said she was impressed by the memorial.

She said: "I think it is absolutely brilliant, I think the whole idea is excellent.

"It makes me very proud to be here and celebrate his life in this way."

Councillor Bevan, who also picked up an honorary fellowship for Mr Patch from Ben Bradshaw at the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers during the service, said she was pleased with how the event had gone.

She said: "I think his family and everybody who understands the significance of the First World War will be able to appreciate this memorial for generations.

"They are a permanent recognition of his service in the war and of his value as a working man."

The Bath Spa Band was at the event playing before and after the ceremony.

​More than 200 people were expected to turn out for Weston Village Flower Show this weekend.

Queues built up around the All Saints Centre on Saturday as the event opened and visitors crowded to find out who had been crowned the winners in the various classes.

The show always proves a hit with local people and this year's organisers were hoping to break all the records.

Chair of the committee Bernard Rymer paid tribute to the community spirit in Weston and said that was the secret to the event's continuing success.

He said: "It is the community that makes this event so popular.

"Weston has quite a vibrant community and people look after each other and support each other."

He added that the village had recently started its own gardening club, which had helped to encourage people to enter.

The afternoon was kicked off with a performance by the Boys' Brigade Brass Band, who played in the courtyard outside the centre.

This was then followed by the official opening of the show by Viv Duffee, from Weston Fruit Stores, who thanked everyone for coming.

She said: "What a lot of hard work everyone has done and I thank everyone for organising the show, which is a part of village life which we all love.

"There is once again a wonderful turn out and I hope everyone enjoys the day."

The show had more than 400 entries from around 85 different competitors in a whole range of classes, from the traditional Victoria Sandwich to the most humorous vegetable category.

Last year's event raised almost £500 for a number of local charities, including Weston Brownies and the Primrose Hill Community Woodland, and it is hoped that this year's will be able to help even more people.

Mr Rymer said: "It is really nice to be able to support local causes.

"For example if we can give just £50 to the Brownies, then that money can go a really long way for that group."

Former Mayor of Bath Councillor Colin Barrett, who represents the Weston ward, was at the show with his wife Pam.

Although he admitted that he had not entered any of the classes himself, he praised the people in the village for coming out to support the event.

He said: "This show is always popular because we have still got such a lovely village community here.

"Weston is still a village and people get involved with the village."

​Refuse teams in Bath are preparing to launch food waste collections in the city.
The weekly collections will begin next month and see around 72,000 households benefitting from the service.
In the next few weeks properties across Bath and north east Somerset will be given two new containers for the initiative, which aims to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
From September 20 the new containers, which will come with 52 small biodegradable sacks, will be delivered to residents ahead of the October 4 start date.
After collection the waste will be sent to a site in Gloucestershire, where it will be made into compost for use on agricultural land.
Councillor Charles Gerrish (Conservative, Keynsham North), B&NES Council cabinet member for service delivery, said it was estimated a third of the waste in an average household bin was food.
He said there was an urgent need to tackle climate change as well as save money on landfill tax, which  currently costs the council £48 per tonne of rubbish sent to the dump, and is rising by £8 per tonne each year.
He said: "Not only is there is an urgent need to tackle the causes and effects of climate change, but landfill tax charges are higher than last year.
"It is really important that households play their part alongside the council and participate in food waste collections."
The scheme has cost the authority £400,000 to implement, with more funding coming from the Government's Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
A video is also being broadcast with hints and tips about how to recycle food waste with the help of Fairfield Park resident Lin Patterson.
She said: "I'm really keen to start food waste recycling and pleased to take part in the video and help encourage others.
"By recycling our food waste, less methane will be released into the environment meaning our planet will not be damaged as much for future generations."
The video can be found by visiting the council's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/BathnesCouncil.
For more information about food waste go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/foodwaste or contact Council Connect on councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk or call 01225 39 40 41 or Text SMS 07797 806545.

​Two 12-year-old boys have been ordered to clean up the offensive graffiti they sprayed over the walls of a Bath primary school during the summer holidays.

Police officers used restorative justice to punish the young culprits for the £2,000 worth of damage at Moorlands Infant School.

Beat manager in the area PC Mark Brain said making them clean up the mess had been a good way to teach them a lesson.

He said: "It was a classic example of restorative justice – RJ – being the best and most appropriate way of handling the matter.

"The boys' parents were horrified when they saw what they'd done, and the boys themselves were mortified when they realised the damage and hurt they'd caused to the school."

The boys were given a stern telling off by the police and the school's interim headteacher Linda Bamber and it was agreed they should write letters of apology.

They then had to spend a day at the school, in front of the pupils, working with Bath and North East Somerset Council's anti-graffiti team to clean the windows and wall they had defaced.

PC Brain added: "In the past these boys would have been arrested and ended up with a criminal record.

"As it is, restorative justice means they've said sorry for what they did, they've learned a very sharp lesson and we hope they'll never offend again."

​Two waiters from an Indian restaurant in Bath needed hospital treatment after being attacked by a group of men.

The staff, who worked at Curry Nights in Augusta Place, were set upon by the gang in Royal Victoria Park at around midnight on Tuesday.

It followed an incident where a stone had been thrown at the window of the restaurant and the waiters had decided to follow the suspected culprits.

They were then attacked on the path leading to the children's play area in the park, before their assailants made off towards the city centre.

The victims, one aged 46 and the 20, were taken to the Royal United Hospital for treatment but were not badly hurt.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact them on 0845 4567000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

​The man in charge of Bath and North East Somerset Council is the third best paid local authority chief executive in the south west, according to a union survey.
B&NES chief executive John Everitt's pay package added up to more than £211,000 last year – putting him third behind his counterparts at Cornwall County and Bristol City councils.
The GMB union – which represents thousands of lower paid council workers – has criticised the size of town hall bosses' pay packets.
It looked at published accounts for 151 county councils, London and metropolitan authorities and found that 129 chief executives were paid more than £150,000 a year.
Its report said that two chief executives earned more than £300,000, 14 earned between £250,000 and £300,000, 62 earned between £200,000 and £250,000 and 51 earned between £150,000 and £200,000.
GMB regional secretary Richard Ascough said: "Council workers will be sickened to learn how much their bosses are creaming off and the levels of their bosses' pay.
"This is at a time when councils say they are hard up and are slashing jobs and services while telling staff to put up with a pay freeze. These same chief executives have had the gall to say their lowest paid workers will not get any pay rise this year.
"I can't believe that the council chief executives salaries have got so high with no obvious logic to explain this."
Mr Ascough added: "There has to be restraint at the top combined with fairness at the bottom and there is no point having one without the other."
Local government minister Bob Neill agreed that the issue was a concern, and said more councils needed to share chief executives.
He said: "Councils need to be leading from the front and exercising prudence in these difficult times.
"We need to stamp out a culture of duplication, which is why, in many cases, councils should be looking towards sharing chief executives."
B&NES is to commission expert advice on the future of the chief executive's role, with Mr Everitt able to exercise his right to retire from the job he has occupied since 1997 in a year's time.
Mr Everitt – who is in charge of an authority employing nearly 7,000 people – was paid a basic £164,963 last year, the same as in 2008/9. His total remuneration package including pension contributions and expenses – of which he claimed £1,406 – takes the figure to £211,859.
John Ransford, chief executive of the Local Government Association, defended the size of local authority bosses' salaries: "Chief executives are responsible for multi-million pound budgets in highly complex organisations, and councils are determined to attract the best and brightest people to deliver not only value for money, but the highest standards of public services.
"It is right that chief executive pay is subject to public scrutiny.
"Councils need talented people in top management positions and in deciding salary levels they have to balance this with other policy objectives, including the need, in a tight financial situation, for all salaries to be demonstrably reasonable."
The GMB said it was awaiting figures for Wiltshire Council, whose chief executive Andrew Kerr started work only this February.

​Police are planning to educate motorists in Bath as the new school term gets under way.
The Avon and Somerset force's Operation Relentless initiative will see extra patrols around school - to deal with inconsiderate parking by parents, and catch motorists who ignore lollipop men and women.
There will also be truancy "sweeps" to look out for children who should be at school.
Officers will also be going into schools, youth clubs and parks, offering crime prevention advice to youngsters on the issues most likely to affect them, such as bullying, anti-social behaviour and personal safety.
The main focus of police activity will be next Tuesday but the force says that over the next three months it will be unveiling a host of activities which aim to promote personal safety for children and young people.
Officers will also be targeting youth-related crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as dealing with prolific young offenders, the force says.

​More than 250 young people in Bath and North East Somerset are claiming sickness benefits, sparking criticism that they had been "written off".

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said he was shocked at the number of people aged under 25 'parked' on incapacity benefit (IB).

He pointed to it as evidence that the previous Labour administration had lost control of the benefit system.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that 260 people aged 18 to 24 in the B&NES are claiming IB, and a further 530 in Wiltshire.

Nationally, 99,630 people aged between 18 and 24 - and a further 1,240 aged 16 and 17 - were claiming IB. Payments range from £68.95 a week to £91.40 a week.

It comes amid moves to slash the welfare bill, with the emphasis on whether claimants are fit to work. Sickness benefits cost the taxpayer £12.5 billion a year.

Mr Grayling said: "I'm shocked at the scale of the challenge we now face. Thousands of young people with their lives ahead of them just parked on sickness benefits with no way out.

"That will change. We are going to assess everyone currently on incapacity benefit to see what help and support they need to get them back to work.

"For those who are genuinely too sick there will be more help not less. For those who can work there will be a proper programme put in place to help them overcome the barriers that have stopped them working and get them into a job."

The Government is to further roll out a controversial health test to decide who will get long-term sickness benefits.

There are concerns the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is finding people with serious illnesses "fit for work", and so end up penalising the genuinely sick.

While it is already used for new claimants the new coalition government wants to press ahead with a plan to re-process the millions of people who are still on the old incapacity benefit system - using the WCA test.

At the moment, three quarters of those new claimants for sickness benefits either drop out or are found fit for work.

A project set up to restore a sense of pride and community in Whiteway celebrated the positive difference it has made with a neighbourhood event this week.

Residents in the area got together to hold a celebration in Rosewarn Field on Bank Holiday Monday.

The group behind the event, called Changes, was formed as part of the Regenerate project, which aims to encourage people to take an active role in their community.

Changes is made up of residents who are developing initiatives from music performances to environmental work and held the event to raise money for them.

Monday's celebration, which attracted more than 300 people throughout the day, went some way to helping these smaller initiatives by raising more than £800.

Regenerate project director in Whiteway Nick Gardham said: "Residents have been developing projects for the past 12 to 15 months and have now decided that they wanted to work together.

"It was a really good, successful event.

"They want to develop some kind of sustainable enterprise and overcome some of the issues in their area by creating a sense of pride and interest in the community by promoting active involvement."

Elaine Thomas, who lives in Rosewarn Close, is vice-chair of Changes and also helps to run the environmental group Proud of Your Doorstep.

She said she had noticed a big difference in the area since Regenerate started work more than a year ago.

The 34-year-old mother of three, who has lived in the area most of her life, said: "There are more activities now for the children and we are trying to do something with the park now to keep the children off the streets.

"There have been lots of changes since Regenerate have been working here. The place has been a lot cleaner and there is less anti-social behaviour."

She added: "The community is getting together a lot more."

Monday's event featured games, a barbecue, and a bouncy castle and could now become an annual event.

Chief executive of Regenerate Stephen Kearney, who attended the event, said he was impressed by the progress being made in the city.

He said: "I was extremely pleased to be able to attend the event and see the process in action.

"There were hundreds of people at the event and it gave people the opportunity to talk more about projects that they want to do in the area."

He added: "I'm really pleased at the way young people have been so involved and it is really encouraging.

"If everyone listens to each other, we get amazing results."

Retired diplomat and high-flying civil servant Sir Donald Maitland has died at the age of 88.

The onetime press secretary to '70s Prime Minister Edward Heath lived near Bradford on Avon and was involved in the life of a number of charities and groups in the Bath area.

The Scotsman ended his national public life as chairman of the now-defunct Health Education Authority (HEA), steering a campaign for greater awareness of Aids and HIV.

Sir Donald served in the Army in the Middle East, India and Burma, with his knowledge of Arabic leading him to the Foreign Office and a post in Iraq.

In 1960, he became deputy head of news at the Foreign Office and after a spell in Egypt returned to London in 1965 to head the FO's news operation.

Sir Donald, who was just 5ft 1in tall, had a tempestuous relationship with the new Labour government's Foreign Secretary, the volatile George Brown.

After one particular Brown eruption, he replied: "Secretary of State, you don't think somebody my size has got where I am by kow-towing to bully-boys, do you?"

Sir Donald was later appointed ambassador to Libya, which coincided with the rise to power of Colonel Gaddafi. During one meeting with the eccentric leader, an unflappable Sir Donald nonchalantly pushed away a pistol pointed at his stomach.

When Mr Heath won the 1970 election, he made Sir Donald his press secretary, and three years later Sir Donald moved to New York to be Britain's ambassador to the UN.

Two years later, with Labour back in power, he was in Brussels as ambassador to the then EEC. In 1979, he returned briefly to the Foreign Office, only to be promoted by Margaret Thatcher in 1980 to permanent secretary at the Department of Energy.

After his retirement in 1982, he became a government director of Britoil, deputy chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and chairman of the Independent Commission on Worldwide Telecommunications Development.

A qualified pilot, he was made an OBE in 1960 and knighted in 1973. His leaves his widow Jean, a son and daughter, and two granddaughters.

He was a onetime pro-chancellor at the University of Bath. Vice- chancellor Professor Glynis Breakwell said: "Sir Donald brought energy, enthusiasm and an immense wealth of experience to any activity he undertook on our behalf. His international expertise was an immense asset to us."

He was closely involved with the city's Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and was president of the Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases (BIRD) charity for 10 years.

Ali Taylor, executive director of BIRD, said he had been a "much-valued supporter".

"I didn't know him, but people who did said that, although he come across as a bit scary on first meeting him, he was a very astute, warm and thoughtful man."

His family will be organising a thanksgiving service on a date to be arranged.

A postgraduate student from Bath has become the fastest person to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats and back again.

Ben Rockett lived up to his name and completed the 1,781-mile challenge in just five days, 21 hours and eight minutes, smashing the previous record by almost a whole day – and proving the strength of the human spirit to overcome adversity.

The 23-year-old was born with dysplasia of the hip and learned to walk in a frame. Then in 2006, he was struck by a car and the damage to his leg threatened his ability to walk properly ever again.

He was working with a support team of seven fellow students and close friends, who helped keep his spirits up and made sure he was on schedule during the journey.

Ben, who is studying for a PhD in education, researching children's mental health and animal assisted therapies at the University of Bath, likes to set himself challenges.

Writing in his blog, he said: "With enough effort and determination, we are all capable of achieving exceptional feats. Sometimes people just need a little extra encouragement."

An ecstatic crowd welcomed him back to Land's End as he finished the last 12 miles at a sprint supported by team riders Dan Tudge and Tony Solon along with Simon Williams, brother of Olympic Gold medallist Amy Williams, who had joined Ben for the ride at Exeter.

There had been drama from the start as the team physio had been admitted to hospital and was unable to start the journey, the support vehicles had suffered punctures and a blown exhaust and torrential rain sapped both energy and spirit.

Thousands of people had followed his progress on the internet, inspired by his story.

After the ride, Ben went to hospital in his home town of Taunton for precautionary checks. He has had a lot of fluid removed from his knees and is also nursing a possible broken foot but is otherwise none the worse for his ordeal.

Ben has always been interested in physical challenges and adventures and is also a keen cyclist and deep sea diver.

One of his lecturers, Dr Eric Anderson, said his latest challenge was typical.

He said: "There is only one phrase to describe Ben Rockett and that is "absolutely driven", in everything he does, especially his postgraduate studies.

"His crazy idea of cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats is an example of that."

The previous record of six days and 20 hours had been set by Bobby Brown in April 2000.

Ben was raising money for Cardiac Risk in the Young, a charity which helps raise awareness of heart disorders and encourages young people to have heart screenings.

It also researches the symptoms and treatment of cardiac arrest.

Ben has already raised more than £3,000. To support the charity and sponsor him in his challenge go to www.justgiving.com/rockettrides.

To find out more about his ride, go to www.rockettrides.com.

Campaigner June Player is trying to mobilise opposition to plans to convert a shop into an estate agency office in Oldfield Park.

But the firm behind the plans insists the move will not damage the area's retail heart – and that it is itself a vital part of the Moorland Road community.

Pullin Knight, which already has an office in the street, applied for planning permission earlier this year to take over the shop.

The application was rejected by B&NES Council because of the adverse effect the loss of a shop would have on the vitality and viability of the road, but Pullin Knight has now appealed.

Mrs Player, who has long campaigned to protect the shopping area, believes that the make-up of the street was finely balanced.

She said: "The last couple of years have seen change in the balance of shops, but it does still manage to flourish and attract locals and non-locals alike.

"However, should this balance be tipped any more in favour of professional and financial services, then Moorland Road will lose its attraction and the footfall will reduce to the extent that more and more traders will be forced out.

"There are already a lot of estate agents in this row and there is absolutely no need to have a shop changed to become another one."

She said the section of the road was already quieter: "Once this section dies off to shoppers, it will then affect the footfall further up the road and so Moorland Road as a shopping area will cease to be."

She has urged residents who share her views to object to the appeal.

However, Pullin Knight director Adam Knight said the business whose store it wanted to take over – gifts and craft shop Bizzy Fingers – was relocating to another spot in Moorland Road, and that the new premises would be a replacement for its existing office which would be closing.

He said the firm agreed that Moorland Road should remain as a strong shopping centre.

"We are lucky in Moorland Road to have some very good shops that only survive by offering a first-class service and an excellent product.

"However, supermarkets mean that centres like Moorland Road have seen a reduction in retail uses and more cafés, bars and offices appear. This trend has kept people coming to Moorland Road."

He said most people now did their main grocery shopping in supermarkets and visited Moorland Road for the range of speciality facilities and shops it offered, a trend likely to strengthen if Tesco gets permission for a supermarket at the old Bath Press site.

Mr Knight added: "Most traders in Moorland Road recognise the huge challenges we face. As a local family firm, we have worked hard in the middle of a recession to build a successful business. More than 50 per cent of the people we employ live within two miles of Moorland Road, and our customers certainly do.

"It is a shame that a growing local business has not received the support it might expect to maintain and grow in Moorland Road."

When you launch a competition in the paper – particularly one that has never been done before – it is always with a certain amount of trepidation.

Will anybody bother entering? Will people take it seriously? And if nobody enters, is there a big enough cloth to wipe away the egg from my face?

All of these went through my mind when we launched our short story competition as part of our 250th anniversary celebrations.

I came up with the idea of getting readers to write a story about The Bath Chronicle in exactly 250 words – it is not an easy task, not one that wouldn't require a good amount of thinking and planning and certainly not one we had done before.

Would this be an idea like the Sinclair C5 or playing Emile Heskey up front – ideas that were just not meant to be?

Well, I need not have feared. When we closed the entries earlier this week we totted up that we had received more than 150 – a remarkable figure in my opinion as each entry took time and thought to produce.

What has particularly pleased me is the wide range of ages of those who have taken part. It is said that there is a good book (and presumably a good short story) in everyone and clearly age was no barrier in this context.

We have received entries from people of all ages – schoolchildren, students, those in their 20s, 30s and 40s, a big batch from those in their 50s and 60s and then plenty in the 70-90 brackets too. We deliberately asked for ages on the entry form to get a flavour of who enters and it was amusing to see how many people qualified their ages – ie, hello Dean Gallagher of Odd Down who is nine years AND ten months and also to Suzanna Mead of Southwick who is 41 but was keen to tell me that her son says 'she looks 35'!

One of the other things we did was to make the subject matter for your story completely open and we've been astounded at the variety of subjects covered.

We have seen stories set in the past, set in the future, set on the day of Armageddon and set during a number of major historical events including the Second World War.

In addition we have seen all manner of odd chracters entering The Bath Chronicle newsroom with King George III, Beau Nash, Roman soldiers, talking lions and even the odd gull muscling in as our readers let their imagination run riot.

And now comes the tricky bit. Along with a number of my colleagues (who unwisely agreed to help me judge!) we've got to try to whittle down this amazing collection of stories into a shortlist – and it really won't be easy.

There can ultimately be only one winner but I have been so impressed with the quality and breadth of the entry this year that I'm very tempted to make this an annual contest because clearly we've got some very talented story writers out there and it would be great fun to have this battle every year.

251 words next year perhaps?

Council chiefs have been urged to ensure they back a series of plans to safeguard Bath's World Heritage status with hard cash.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has just launched a consultation exercise over a 122-page blueprint for the future of the city's sensitive buildings and heritage setting.

The document – which stresses the need for a balance between conservation and the demands of a busy living city and would-be investors – includes 75 action points for the next six years.

But a number of the proposals – ranging from the development of a tall buildings strategy to training sessions for councillors – have no extra money allocated to them.

Bath Preservation Trust chief executive Caroline Kay said the council needed to keep things simple – and make sure its proposals were properly resourced and backed from the top of the organisation.

"It's better to have a few action points with absolute commitment to implementation than 100 actions that depend on so many partnerships that they get dissolved in the process. Unless and until there is proper resource and proper senior management direction, the impact will always be partial."

She said there needed to be dedicated officers and budgets for the priorities established in the document, the revised Bath World Heritage Site Management Plan, which has been prepared by the World Heritage Steering Group with the support of the council.

The council is required by the international body Unesco to update its management plan, which sets out why Bath is a World Heritage Site, the opportunities and pressures facing the city, and how heritage issues will be managed over the next six years.

The council said, however: "Although it contains sound aspirations for the future, the timescale for implementation of individual actions will depend on the availability of both public and private resources."

The public consultation will run until October 7 and the council is asking people to answer three key questions:

Are the main issues which affect the site correctly identified or are there others to be added?

Do the actions proposed address these issues or are there other actions required or under way?

Are there any further opportunities to benefit from World Heritage status?

The document is on the website www.bathnes.gov.uk/worldheritagesite and at public information points.

Mrs Kay, who stressed she had not yet read the whole of the final version of the consultation document, said the principles behind the city's World Heritage status should be "inscribed on the heart of every councillor" – and that it was often the smallest details which were the most important.

She said there ought to be "absolute and clear" policies about "nitty-gritty" issues such as the design of shopfronts and street lights.

The city's other high-profile conservation campaign group, Bath Heritage Watchdog, is studying the document and said it was too early to comment.

There had been claims that development on the Western Riverside could risk the city's cherished status but two inspectors who staged a fact-finding mission two years ago raised no fundamental concerns about the scheme.

The consultation document says: "The whole of the city is a World Heritage Site, and this brings both opportunities and challenges. The city's unique and much-celebrated heritage generates the economic and cultural vibrancy that is essential for its long-term protection.

"But while heritage is one of Bath's key strengths in attracting clients and employees, this may also inhibit investment in contemporary buildings and the growth of businesses and employment."

Council officials have issued an order to forcibly buy areas of land so that children at a Bath primary school can have a playing field.

Oldfield Park Junior School has been fighting for years for green space and at the moment pupils have to travel to a public park half a mile away for games lessons.

Now Bath and North East Somerset Council has issued compulsory purchase orders on seven plots of land to the back of the Lymore Terrace site.

The authority says every effort had been made to privately purchase the sites, which are designated for educational use, but negotiations have proved unsuccessful.

The council's cabinet member for children's services Councillor Chris Watt said he was pleased that he had started the ball rolling and that the application process had now been approved by the Department for Education.

He said: "This has enabled the council to start the next stage of the legal process needed to secure the land to provide a playing field for the school."

But several of the landowners are unhappy with the way they have been treated by the council.

Raymond Mancini, of Ivy Avenue, used to run his site as an allotment with his wife Una, but more than two and a half years ago they were told by B&NES Council that they would forcibly buy the land from them within six months.

They decided to stop working on the site and have now had to watch it become overgrown and derelict.

The 79-year-old said: "It is sort of thieving, I think, and it has gone on and on. We are annoyed with the council's attitude. We used to have a little nursery up there and we could feed ourselves on it.

"But it has become overgrown now because they have taken so long to sort it out."

Lesley Hawkins, 88, and his sister Joan Hiscocks, 84, own another allotment there and although they are former pupils of the school, do not think there is any need for the playing fields.

Mr Hawkins, who lives in Manor Park, said: "It is a very old-fashioned school and I am sure it won't be long before they pull it down. In the long term I don't think it is right to sell these plots for the playing fields."

Mrs Hiscocks, who lives in Milton Avenue, added: "We have been hanging around for two and a half years and nothing has been done."

All the landowners now have six weeks to formally appeal against the orders.

Funding for a three-year research project to help find new solutions to Bath's gull nuisance headaches has been refused.

A plea for cash to investigate the living, eating and breeding habits of gulls across the South West has been rejected because of Government spending curbs.

Bristol-based urban gull expert Peter Rock applied for £500,000 from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to track urban gulls in Bath, Bristol and Gloucester, using global positioning satellite technology to work out their feeding sources and migratory movements.

He had hoped the research would go some way to finding a solution to the ever-increasing gull populations in urban areas and to reduce council and private sector spending on the problem.

However, along with most other government departments and quangos, NERC is having to cut its spending by 25 per cent, and has turned down the approach.

Mr Rock described the news as a 'bitter blow' and is now trying to explore other funding possibilities.

Bath and North East Somerset Council spends £10,000 a year using egg oiling and egg replacement techniques to try to reduce the gull population but the cost to tourism businesses of the birds will be far higher.

Mr Rock said the £500,000 he needed for the research – including specialist equipment, staff wages and use of university facilities – would be considerably less than had been spent attempting to solve the problem over the past 20 years.

He said nothing tried so far had had a significant impact on the gulls, although he rejects the idea of culling the birds – as has been suggested by the newly-formed Bath branch of the Taxpayers' Alliance.

"A great deal of money has been spent on deterrents and other bits of equipment," he said.

"We have probably spent millions on urban gulls and we haven't seen any kind of results so far. "Are we going to sit back and say it is too much money to spend because of the economic climate at the moment and we don't care if we sort this out?

"The truth is that everybody is picking up the tab at the end of the day and council taxpayers' money is being spent on the problem."

He estimates that there are now around 1,000 breeding pairs of urban gulls in B&NES, a figure which has been rising annually by eight per cent, with numbers in the city centre going up by 2.5 per cent each year.

Bath MP Don Foster, who has been pressing successive governments to take the issue of urban gulls more seriously, said such a research project was necessary to find a solution which would work.

He said: "I am very disappointed that the research grant has not been approved.

"I think part of the issue is that people, unless they are directly affected as people in Bath are, don't realise how serious the problem is.

"It is sometimes treated as a bit of a joke but the truth is it affects many people, it is a growing problem and action does need to be taken."

He added: "Unless we have the research we will continue to use measures which, on the whole, are not very successful.

"The problem is growing despite the fact that the council is taking action.

"We need the research project and we need to get over to people that this is a much more serious problem than many people believe it to be."

Mr Foster said he would continue to lobby for research funding in Parliament.

According to Mr Rock the vast majority of urban gulls have now left towns and cities. However, the next breeding season begins in November, with the majority of the gulls returning by the end of January.

He said: "We need to start preparing for the 2011 season as soon as possible."

Police believe children may have been behind an arson attack which destroyed two buses at a council depot in Bath.

Flames spread from one to the other in the fire at Windsor Bridge and a further seven minibuses were damaged in the blaze.

Detective Inspector Andy Gwyther, who is appealing for anyone with information to come forward, said: "I believe that it was probably vandalism caused by kids and it probably took more than one person.

"We were lucky that there wasn't more damage. We could have lost all the coaches.

"The schools are going back this week and we are just appealing to anyone who hears any whispers or sees anything on Facebook to get in contact."

The vehicles, owned by Bath and North East Somerset Council, went up in flames late on Monday afternoon in an incident that did an estimated £14,000 of damage.

The damaged buses were specially designed to transport disabled adults and children. DI Gwyther said the culprits obviously did not care or think about the consequences of their actions.

The two vehicles destroyed were a 15-year-old Mercedes 16-seater accessible minibus, valued at £3,500, and a nine-year-old Optare Solo 33-seater low floor bus, worth around £8,500.

The damage to the other seven vehicles has been put at around £2,000.

A spokesman for the council said the vehicles would be replaced and repaired as quickly as possible.

He said: "The council deplores the actions of the mindless vandals that perpetrated this crime."

The authority said it was aiming to have the damaged buses back in action by today and would have enough vehicles to cover journeys this week.

Eight firefighters put out the flames after being called to the car park at 5.39pm.

Anyone with information about how the fire was started is asked to contact Bath police on 0845 4567000.