This week's 'Tina Dancing' photo was taken as she danced to the sound of the Zebras at the Yew Tree, Longhope. The Yew Tree is a nice, friendly place - first time in many, many years I have been there. The acoustics in the building are really good and the Zebras sounded great!

We did not get there until late but we both enjoyed the evening.

There were lots of events taking place in Ross leading up to Carnival Day. One of them was a fun prize bingo might which was held at The Prince of Wales on Wednesday, 1st August. Lots of prizes were played for, raising funds for the carnival and a good time was had by all.

Police are appealing for information about an assault on a man and woman in Gloucester Road, Ross-on-Wye. The incident took place at around 1:00 am on Monday, 30th July as the man and woman walked through the town centre.

The man is thought to have been set upon by another unknown male and when the woman went to intervene she was pushed to the floor. The attacker then got into what is believed to have been a silver-coloured Mercedes with three other males and drove away.

The incident was reported to police, who took both victims to hospital for treatment for their injuries. The male victim was detained overnight for treatment to a head injury. Neither victim has any further recollection of the incident, although it is believed there may have been a number of people in the general area at the time.

Anybody with information about the assault is asked to contact PC Dee Flowers at Ross-on-Wye Police Station.

No need to rush to the opticians to get your eyes tested. These are the Willis twins. The 80 years young twins enjoy confusing people and on Sunday, once again, they tricked me into thinking I was acknowledging regular customer Harry as my next customer when in fact, I was addressing his visiting brother, Eddie. 'You really are naughty, you two!' I playfully scolded them. 'You're always doing this to me'. They eagerly took their beers into the garden, giggling between themselves like a couple of schoolboys.

Harry and Eddie had got together at the weekend before embarking on a mission - to attend a couple of RAF reunion parties. I just hope that they behave themselves.

Bream Silver band (pictured below) took the stage for Sunday afternoon's 'Bands in the Park' this week. With the weather being nice and sunny, quite a few people went along to watch and listen.

Herefordshire Council celebrated the completion of the Affordable Warmth Strategy on Tuesday, 31st July,with its launch at the Shire Hall in Hereford. The strategy has been developed over the last year with expert guidance from the national fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action and after considerable consultation from a wide range of partners, many of whom were able to attend the launch event.

Partners involved have included Herefordshire Council's private sector housing, welfare rights, social services, sustainability unit and enabling team. There has also been vital involvement from numerous external organizations including energy suppliers, Warm Front, the local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, the Pension Service, the Primary Care Trust, Age Concern, Citizens Advice Bureau, housing associations and installers.

Councillor Olwyn Barnett, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for social care adults and health, said, 'We are committed to improving access to affordable warmth for all county residents and this strategy will take us in the right direction. As the county's population gets older and more people are relying on pensions as their only income, we need to make sure everyone can afford to keep their homes warm and stay healthier.

As a council, we can encourage, help and assist people to receive the benefits they are entitled to'.

Mr Peter Massey of National Energy Action, said, 'In Herefordshire alone, 100 people die of the cold every year and our main role is to raise awareness of fuel poverty and act as a catalyst for action among our partner agencies.'

The aim of the strategy is to reduce the level of fuel poverty in Herefordshire. A fuel poor household is one that cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost. Many of these households often face the difficult choice of either paying for sufficient fuel to keep warm or paying for other basic necessities. It is estimated there are 8,450 homes (10.7 per cent) in fuel poverty in Herefordshire.

The highest rate of fuel poverty is found in the privately rented sector where 17.3 per cent of homes are in fuel poverty. In Herefordshire, fuel poverty is found in 4,290 households (16.9 per cent) where some form of benefit is received. The affordable warmth strategy and action plan it contains will help by bringing agencies together to promote energy efficiency grants, to give advice on cutting fuel bills and saving energy and to help residents gain access to benefits. Affordable warmth strategy aims to end fuel poverty.

It is intended that this strategy, when linked to other local initiatives, will play an important role in reducing health and debt problems associated with living in cold, energy inefficient homes, and at the same time achieving comfort and energy savings for low-income households throughout the county. From an environmental perspective, more efficient use of fuel, from improved energy efficiency, reduces the emissions produced from burning fossil fuels. This, in turn, helps to mitigate the impact of climate change. The main aim is to end fuel poverty for vulnerable households by 2010 and by, 2016, it is hoped no person should have to live in fuel poverty.

Herefordshire Council, working with partner agencies, can help those in fuel poverty make their homes more energy efficient by offering grants to provide insulation and towards installing better heating systems, both of which will cut fuel bills. These include:

• Special Energy Efficiency Scheme (SEES) providing a grant of up to £500 for insulation measures and heating controls to be installed in the home.
• Herefordshire Council promotes the government's Warm Front grant scheme, telephone 0800 3162814.
• Herefordshire Council, is also a member of the West Midlands Fuel Poverty forum, where ideas are shared and developed to promote good practice.

In addition to grant schemes affordable warmth is promoted through the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (EEAC) service. Herefordshire Council has a service level agreement with the local EEAC where households can telephone 0800 512012 for free impartial energy and grant advice.

Anyone who would like to know more about these initiatives should contact Herefordshire Council's Home Energy Conservation Officer Harry Fitch on 01432 261887 or the Energy Efficiency Administrator, on 01432 260398.

Police are appealing for witnesses to a collision involving a pick-up truck and a motorcycle which left the bike rider with serious injuries. The collision happened at around 1.48pm on Sunday, 5th August on the B4234 at Bishopswood, near Ross-on-Wye.

A silver Aprilia 250cc motorcycle and a yellow Vauxhall Brava pickup collided close to the Post Office in the village. The 17 year old male rider of the motorcycle struck a wall as a result of the collision and was left with serious head and hand injuries. The male pickup driver was uninjured. The motorcycle rider was taken by ambulance to Hereford County Hospital for treatment to his injuries which are understood to be non life-threatening.

Gloucestershire Constabulary Officers and the Gloucestershire Ambulance Service both assisted West Mercia officers at the scene. Both vehicles were travelling north at the time of the collision and were left with extensive damage.

Police want to speak with anyone who witnessed the collision or saw either vehicle on the B4234 beforehand. They are asked to contact PC Rich Davis at the Hereford Roads Policing Unit on 08457 444888.

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.

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