⏩ The Gloucester Start: Thursday December 19th
Flats flooding | School smell | House prices rise
Good morning all and welcome to Thursday’s Gloucester Start. We’re perilously close to 150 Start subscribers - a quick share could really help spread the word if you have a sec. Here’s today’s briefing.
🚫 An 11-hour closure hit the M5 between the Brockworth and Gloucester junctions after a serious incident involving a teenage girl. She’s been taken to Bristol Children’s Hospital. Lanes were shut by police from 4.20pm yesterday until 3.30am this morning. - Gloucestershire Live
👃 Children had an unexpected morning off school after teachers arrived to an unusual smell. Field Court Juniors, in Quedgeley, asked pupils to stay away while it was investigated - a seized motor on a convector heater was the source of the problem. - BBC Gloucestershire
🌊 Flats undergoing repair work are being hit by serious flooding every time it rains. Video shows water cascading down the stairwell at the building in Matson, which has temporary roof and canopy covers in place while work is being done by owners Gloucester City Homes. - Gloucestershire Live
🎄 The Christmas Day weather forecast is in - and snow is definitively off the agenda. Boo. It’s set to be a mild but grey day with overcast skies and temperatures of about 11C. - Met Office
⛅ Today’s weather: Noticeably cooler with temperatures peaking at 6C. An increasing likelihood of showers this morning.
👮 Increasing concerns surround the welfare of a missing teenage girl last seen at Gloucester Railway Station. Elizabeth, 15, hasn’t been seen since Sunday evening and has links to London and Birmingham. - Gloucestershire Constabulary
🚗 Several cars were damaged in an alleged vandalism spree. At least three had wing mirrors, windscreen wipers and bodywork attacked in Tweenbrook Avenue, Linden. A man has been arrested. - Gloucestershire Live
🏡 House prices in Gloucester have risen slightly. The average cost of a house in the city is £261,000, up 1.4% on the same time last year. Average monthly rent is £966, up 6.1% and first-time buyers are parting with £222,000 on average to get on the ladder, up 1.5%. - ONS
↪️ Just up the road, Tewkesbury has seen some of the biggest jumps in house prices in the country. The average house cost there is £368,000, up 12.6% in a year. - MailOnline
🏗️ A tunnel is being planned to allow a home-owner access to his property alongside the A417. Brian Garlick lives next to what is currently the construction site for the massive Missing Link works, but won’t be able to get to his house without a new access route once it’s finished. - BBC Gloucestershire
⛪ Church services can continue to be held in vacant city centre offices. Christ Embassy Gloucester has been worshipping in rooms in The Oxebode, above the March Hare Cafe which had said the noise of 30 people dancing, clapping and singing had caused ‘noticebale disruption’. - Punchline Gloucester
💼 Gloucester Cathedral is hiring for a senior role. It needs a new chief operating officer to fill the shoes of long-standing incumbent Theo Platt when he leaves after Christmas. The salary is up to £70,000. - Punchline Gloucester
🎤 Two Gloucester-based creative arts hubs were praised in Parliament this week. Strike a Light and The Music Works were hailed as inspirational by Stroud MP Dr Simon Opher in a debate about creative arts education. - Hansard