The South Glos Post

Fire crews attending a blaze at a storage shed in a remote location in Iron Acton called police after discovering an illicit alcohol still.

Officers were called in at about 7pm on Sunday 22nd August and found around 30 barrels of alcohol, bottles and bottling and labelling equipment.

Neighbourhood PC Ian Matthews said HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are investigating the incident.

He said: “It seems that vodka was being illegally made and bottled at this site. Tests will be carried out by HMRC to check the alcohol content, but indications suggest it would be seriously harmful to health if drunk.

“I would urge anyone who has bought ‘Chekov Imperial Vodka’ or ‘Chundoff Russian Vodka’ unusually cheaply to contact either police on 0845 456 7000 or HMRC on 0800 595000.”

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Source: Avon and Somerset Police

The architect of a youth bus pass scheme is encouraging local youngsters to take advantage of the scheme before the school holidays end.

Cllr Sheila Cook, Conservative Cabinet Member for Children and Young People on South Gloucestershire Council, is appealing to local youngsters to take advantage of cheaper bus fares that are available to them, thanks to the council.

The district’s youth concessionary travel scheme entitles 14-18-year-olds in full time education to half adult bus fares on evening, weekend and school holiday journeys.

The scheme was the brainchild of Cllr Cook who first proposed a council motion on the subject back in 2006. She said:

“One of the biggest issues young people raise locally is transport, particularly its cost and how that discourages greater use of public transport, and so we have been determined to do something about it.

We are proud to be one of the few councils in the country to have introduced this sort of travel concession for local youngsters and we very much want them to take it up.

With just one week left of the summer holidays, it’s an ideal time to get hold of a pass, which will help access the huge range of activities available across the local area.

We have a special website for South Gloucestershire youngsters called ‘Youth Unlimited’ and all the information they need is on there.”

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

Work is about to start on a scheme to tackle traffic congestion and improve road safety at the Kingsfield roundabout in Longwell Green.

The roundabout, which provides access to the Aspects Leisure Park and to Asda, has seen a considerable increase in traffic levels and queuing during the rush hour due to the significant expansion of local retail facilities over recent years.

The scheme will include widening the ring road to three lanes on the approaches to the roundabout and a widening of the Marsham Way approach to provide an extra lane for traffic turning onto the ring road. Traffic lights will also be installedto control traffic on all the main approaches to the junction, with the exception of Leisure Road which will remain under give way operation.

Similar improvements made last year to the Deanery Road roundabout on the ring road resulted in a reduction in commuter journey times and a positive impact on road safety – reducing accident numbers by more than 30 per cent.

It is hoped that there will be a similar improvement at the Kingsfield roundabout, which is one of the district’s main accident concentration sites.

The work is starting on Monday 23rd August and will last for 15 weeks. Outside of peak hours, the ring road will be reduced to one lane on each of the approaches to the roundabout and a temporary speed limit of 30mph will be in force for the duration of the works.

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Source: South Gloucestershire Council

Jack Lopresti, the MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, teamed up with one of the most famous names in English women’s cricket to celebrate a new coaching initiative at a local cricket club.

Jack joined Charlotte Edwards MBE, the England Women’s cricket captain and ECB Coaching Ambassador, at the recent special lunch event, held at Frenchay Cricket Club.

The event was organised to mark the latest initiative to promote and expand women’s cricket at the club, by improving its coaching facilities and techniques – a three-day coaching session of girls’ cricket.

During the event, Jack and Charlotte met with officials from the club, as well as the Grade 2 coaches to learn more about how the club is promoting the sport to girls of all ages in the local area.

Speaking after the event, Jack said: “Encouraging our children to participate in sports is so important, and I was delighted to see how the cricket club is trying to get as many youngsters as possible involved in cricket.

“To see the determination at the club, and hear about the plans that they have for the future, was extremely impressive and should be commended.”

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Source: Filton and Bradley Stoke Conservatives