Headlines: Hot binmen and curious crop circles
Our pick of local website stories
A campaign to complete fundraising for the Gympanzees project at the old Aust service station is doing well for Bristol Live. Organisers want to build the country's first permanent play centre for disabled children.A crop circle appearing near Stonehenge in the shape of what looks like a joker is a popular read for Somerset Live.Three of those jailed for the murder of Max Dixon and Mason Rist in Bristol last year have applied to appeal their sentences, says Bristol Live.The Trilogy nightclub in Gloucester has shut ten months after it was refurbished according to Gloucestershire Live.
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What to watch on social media
A story of some young boys in Warminster calling for help after spotting someone unresponsive in a mobility scooter has had lots of love in this Facebook group.In Somerset, the Roman Baths are introducing live music nights for the first time.You may be enjoying the sunshine this week but spare a thought for those that have to work in the high temperatures, bin collections will be half an hour earlier this week in the Cotswold District Council area because of the warm spell.
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BBC News
37 minutes ago
- BBC News
Owner of home wrecked in car crash had spent years doing it up
A couple whose home was turned into rubble when a car crashed through their front room say they had only just finished renovating it. Mark Talbot-Phillips, who lives with partner Marc, said working on the house near Martock in Somerset had been therapeutic while he recovered from cancer."I spent years updating the house," Mr Talbot-Phillips said. "It took my mind off the cancer and it helped me through some very dark days."Unfortunately, all that effort has now gone. It was just wiped away. It is very difficult to come to terms with that." A black Audi A4 crashed into the home at Long Load Road in Stapleton in the early hours of 6 July. Mr Talbot-Phillips said that although the building was "just bricks and mortar" and "can be replaced", the incident had been "incredibly traumatic". "It was truly unbelievable," he said. "It was something out of a disaster movie." The couple said it could take more than a year to rebuild the property due to the availability of local hamstone, which still has to be are currently living in about 40% of the house, in an upstairs bedroom and the kitchen – "and with two cats", they said."Winter is going to be quite interesting. It's nice and warm at the moment but we'll probably be suffering in the winter," Mr Talbot-Phillips said that neighbours had given them "unbelievable support" following the crash. "They were around our house with buckets and brooms, helping to move the rubble from our house," he said."An older couple made us lunch and dinner that night."Avon and Somerset Police said the investigation into the accident was ongoing and no charges had been made.
The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Black warehouse worker wins £3,000 payout over colleague's ‘slave' graffiti
A Black warehouse worker has won a race harassment claim after a disgruntled colleague wrote the word 'slave' on a piece of machinery. The colleague had meant it not as a racial slur but as an expression of his anger at, as he saw it, being overworked and underpaid, an employment tribunal heard. But the presence of the word in the workplace violated Seedy Fofana's dignity and created a 'hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for him,' the tribunal ruled. Awarding Fofana £3,000 compensation, the employment judge David Hughes concluded that the graffiti did relate to race even though that had not been the intention. Hughes said: 'This is because the term 'slave' will, we find, evoke in contemporary English speakers the enslavement of Black people. All right-thinking people regard slavery as a monstrosity. 'Mr Fofana, an evidently proud Black man, feels the evil of slavery viscerally. That is understandable and respectable. We accept his sense of hurt at the graffito is genuine.' He added: 'The graffito could bear a number of meanings. It could carry the meaning that [the colleague] intended. It might have been understood as a comment on obedient machinery … taking the place of the labour of humans, or on humans' relationship to machines. 'But when one hears the word slavery, English speakers in this jurisdiction in this decade will probably first think of the enslavement of black people by white people.' The hearing in Bristol was told that Fofana was the only Black man at Window Widgets in Gloucester, which deals in plastic and metal parts for windows. Another worker, Tony Bennett, had taken to writing graffiti referencing 'modern slavery' and 'slavery' around the warehouse in protest at working conditions. This included writing the words 'Slave No' with an arrow pointing to the number 3 on a Hubtex machine, which is similar to a forklift truck. Bosses removed all the graffiti created by Bennett except the one on the Hubtex as they had not spotted it, but Fofana saw it during a stock take. He did not report it but resigned the following month complaining about hostile behaviour and sued the company, claiming £500,000 in compensation. The judge said the conclusion that the company had failed to remove a piece of graffiti that it had not seen may be seen as harsh. The judgment said that once the company was made aware of it, it removed it.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Ex-councillor warns of 'venom' in politics after attacks
A former county councillor has raised concerns over "the venom that has spread in politics" following personal attacks, blackmail attempts and damage to his car during recent Fifield served as the deputy leader of Gloucestershire County Council for the Conservatives before losing his seat earlier this said he had noticed an increase in "political outrage" since standing for election in 2017 – and said support was "non-existent" for councillors and council said it provided councillors with "comprehensive guidance and resources as part of its induction and ongoing training programme". Its leader, Lisa Spivey, said it was "not acceptable" for them to be targeted. Mr Fifield said that, during the 2024 Cheltenham Borough Council elections, his car was keyed twice while canvassing, his car window was smashed, and election leaflets were said he had also received threatening emails and aggressive notes through his letterbox, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Fifield said he believed the quality of public discourse had worsened in recent years."When I got elected in 2021, the attitude was that you must put your address on the website so people know that you're local," he said the county council now recommended its members did not put their private address online."That's indicative of what's happened," he said. 'Toxic environment' Mr Fifield said a more aggressive type of discourse had made its way into council debates."The heightening tone as part of the political outrage has become more common in recent years and it's creating a toxic environment," he Fifield believes this is putting off potential candidates."Would a councillor who was older than me, or may have had mental health challenges in the past, want to put themselves under that sort of duress?" he asked."We talk a lot about the mental health of society, but it seems we've decided that politicians don't have mental health."He said candidates in particular had "no support network" and were simply advised to report abuse issues to the Fifield added: "I think we need to have a bit more of an open discussion if we want a good mixture of people coming in to stand as councillors."
