Saturdays at Wyenot HQ tend to be rather busy and last week was no exception. Tina and I spent the day catching up with various Wyenot issues and other pressing business and after a late dinner we decided to go up to The Prince of Wales to relax and photograph the band 'Underwired.' When we arrived there however, landlord Jay Hill told us that the band had to cancel as the guitarist had 'flu. 'They are now booked for this coming Saturday, 17th February,' said Jay. 'There is a party going on in the function room, if you want to take a look.' he added.

It turned out that the party was to celebrate the 40th birthday of our old neighbour Lyndon 'Bambi' Hardwicke. It was a surprise affair organized for him by his family and friends and was extremely well attended, with lots of people wanting to be included in the photographs, some of which can be seen below.

After taking some photographs and enjoying a pint with the birthday boy, we adjourned to the public bar where, in place of the band Jay had set up his karaoke equipment, much to Tina's delight. We stayed for a while, catching up with friends, a group of which can be seen in the bottom photograph, then headed for home as Tina had an AFD (all day) at work the next day and we both needed some sleep. However, a good time appeared to be had by all and we are looking forward to photographing 'Underwired' on Saturday.

For the past two weeks I have published police requests for assistance covering the whole of Herefordshire. I intend to keep publishing these police press releases as they hopefully will help to keep the county crime figures down by helping to catch offenders.

However, although Wyenot.com to some extent covers the whole of Herefordshire and the Wye Valley, as does 'Wyenot News' to a lesser degree; as most of the stories I cover in the news magazine are from within 10 miles of Ross, I feel I would rather make the police issues for the rest of the county a separate(ish) and more frequent issue, with links from Wyenot News.

Why keep it separate?

• I will not keep it entirely separate. I will continue to cover Police News for Ross-on-Wye on the editorial pages of Wyenot News. Covering mostly happy news from just Ross but bad news from the whole of Herefordshire however on the same pages rather upsets the good to bad news ratio.
• I do not want those Wyenot News readers who do not know the geography of the area particularly well staying away due to what could appear as high local crime figures when they are actually very low.

• Keeping the Police News separate also means that I can update it more frequently than weekly. I can cover events as they take place, both in town and around the county. In future, I will publish police news daily - or as soon as I receive it (and am in the office to do so - there is only me working on the news). This will save delays with those having information coming forward.
• There are some days, of course, when there is nothing to report but if you would like to keep updated on what is going on locally, it will be worth checking the 'Herefordshire Police Issues' section of Wyenot News frequently.

To visit the 'Herefordshire Police Issues' page, please click here, or one of the links, which will appear on the last page of all future Wyenot News issues.

Burglary in Ashfield Crescent

Police are investigating a burglary at a property in Ashfield Crescent, Ross-on-Wye, between Thursday, 1st and Thursday, 8th February. It is likely that the burglary happened overnight on February 1st / 2nd as the householder discovered a door unusually open at that time. Nothing was noticed stolen at that time, however. Later a Canon Powershot A530 camera was noticed missing and it was realized that the burglary had taken place.

Police are appealing for local residents to cast their minds back to the beginning of the month and report any suspicious activity they may have seen. Officers investigating the burglary are also keen to hear from anyone who may have bought a similar camera in unusual circumstances.

Anyone with information should contact PC Neil Finch at Hereford Police Station on 08457 444888 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Road traffic collision in Morrisons car Park

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic collision involving two cars and a pedestrian in the Morrisions car park in Ross-on-Wye.

The collision happened at around 2.20 pm on Thursday, 8th February and involved a silver Chrysler Neon, a green Renault Megane and the pedestrian, a man in his 30s. The pedestrian suffered a non life-threatening head injury and has no recollection of the collision.

Police believe a number of witnesses spoke to staff from Morrisions but left before police attended. They are asked to contact PC Paul Challenger at Ross-on-Wye Police Station on 08457 444888.

Road traffic collision in Verschoyle Gardens

Police are appealing for information after a parked car was damaged when it was struck by another vehicle in Ross-on-Wye. The incident happened in Verschoyle Gardens between 6.15 PM and 7.15 PM on Friday, 26th January.

A vehicle, believed to be white in colour, collided with a red Citroen ZX which was parked and unattended at the time. Both doors on the driver’s side were damaged in the collision.

Anyone with any information about the collision is asked to contact PC Andrea Morris at Ross-on-Wye Police Station on 08457 444888.

Criminal damage on the Alton Road Industrial Estate

Police are investigating several incidents of criminal damage to premises and vehicles on the Alton Road Industrial Estate where stones have been thrown at tractors at the Ross Farm Machinery compound, causing some £2,000 worth of damage.

It is believed they were thrown from Penyard Lane and the footpath along the old railway line some time between Friday 2nd and Sunday, 4th February.

Damage has also been caused to windows at the nearby ATS tyres premises and also to private homes in the area.

A further £1,300 worth of damage was caused between February Tuesday, 6th and Wednesday 7th February to a lorry and a new JCB loader at Ross Farm Machinery.

A number of youths have been seen in the area in the early evenings and police are keen to hear from anyone who has seen suspicious activity or may be able to identify those responsible.

Anyone with information should contact PC Mike Edwards at Ross-on-Wye Police Station on 08457 444888.

The weight of snow on a fir tree in Castle Meadow, Ross on Thursday caused a large branch to break, hit a telephone line and split in two. Half of the branch landed in the drive of a home belonging to Greg Stephens and the other half blocked the adjacent lane. British Telecom removed the branch the following day.

Ross-on-Wye Weather Station is located by the tennis courts and bowling green at 'Crossfields' and is one of the important stations around the country which regularly sends data to the Meteorological Office. This is why Ross-on-Wye is sometimes mentioned on the BBC weather reports. It is currently still a manually monitored station and readings are taken twice per day by husband and wife team, June and Rex Swallow.

If you have a local news item or story of local interest which you would like to appear on Wyenot News you are very welcome to submit it by email, telephone or by post.

Please advise as early as possible if you would like me to photograph your local event so that I can put it in my diary. This service is offered strictly on a first come, first served basis.

Many Wyenot News photographs appear in various local newspapers and magazines. This does not imply that Wyenot News or any other part of this web site belongs to those publications. Wyenot News is a totally independent news magazine.

Contacting Wyenot News:

Email: please click here.

Telephone: 01989 763217 - Mobile: 0779 683 4077

Postal address: Wyenot News, 1, Hillview Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. HR9 7EY

If you would like to order prints from Wyenot News photographs, please click here.

Prints are only available for photographs taken by Wyenot News (Not of those which have been sent in by readers).

Prints of 'people' photographs are only available to those directly involved in the news event covered. i.e. I do not sell prints of people to the general public.