⏩ The Gloucester Start: Wednesday January 8th
Flytip clues | City school best in SW | Charity thief jailed
Good morning, welcome to Wednesday’s Start. A reminder to flag up any news, events or community announcements to me via this form - I’d love to be including more submissions, particularly about things to do locally. And please hit the share button to spread the word.
🚯 Recognise this sign ☝️? It could be a clue to the identity of a brazen flytipper, who dumped this lot in the Westgate area of the city. Gloucester City Council would love you to help solve the mystery. - Gloucester City Council
⚖️ Finance manager Rachel Limbrick is starting more than two years in jail after stealing almost £460k from Age UK Gloucestershire while running their books over seven years. The 58-year-old was sentenced to two years and eight months at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday. “The old people of Gloucestershire were deprived by you so you could go on your nice holidays,” the judge told her. - BBC Gloucestershire
⛔ Valiant Way in Brockworth is closed due to flooding this morning, with bus services being diverted. - Gloucestershire Live
↪️ Flood alerts remain in place along the Severn in Gloucester and beyond, with river levels expected to stay high for a few days. - Gloucestershire Live
🧊 Today’s weather: Another cold one, with ‘feels like’ temperatures (the bottom row in the screengrab above) at 0C or lower. Expect an icy start.
🏆 Henley Bank High School has been named the best in the south west in new research which aims to spotlight where teachers are making a real difference. The Fairer Schools Index measures factors against a series of additional performance metrics to improve on official Department of Education league tables. - Gloucestershire Live
⛔ Overnight closures for digging and to remove street lighting start at the Air Balloon roundabout tonight for a week. It will shut from 9pm to 6am for the latest phase of the Missing Link construction work, except at the weekend. - BBC Gloucestershire
↪️ Although it was actually closed last night too for safety work. There were fears water from the recent heavy waterfall, combined with sub-zero overnight temperatures, could cause hazardous driving conditions, so it was shut to clear up. - Gloucestershire Live
🗳️ City MP Alex McIntyre’s bid to introduce a new law entitling domestic abuse victims to paid time off work passed its first hurdle in Parliament yesterday. It would be ‘huge’ if implemented according to Nick Gazzard, founder of the Hollie Gazzard Trust which exists to reduce domestic abuse and support victims. - BBC Gloucestershire
🏉 Are Gloucester Rugby really about to remove international flags from all capped players’ jerseys? That was the suggestion according to some reports yesterday after a complaint about the presence of the Russian flag on prop Kirill Gotovtsev’s shirt. It’s been there since he signed in 2021 but was picked up during coverage of the win over Sale on Saturday and criticised online. The club hasn’t said anything publicly yet, so watch this space. - RugbyPass
👗 In desperate need of a post-Christmas declutter? Gloucester’s charity shops are ready and waiting for your donations. - Gloucester BID
ICYMI: The most popular stories in Tuesday’s Start
♻️ Bin collections are behind schedule - latest dates - Gloucester City Council
💡 Add your ideas on how to make Gloucester the 2025 ‘place to be’ - King’s Walk and Eastgate shopping centres
📉 Zero growth predicted for county in 2025 by economic commentators - BBC Gloucestershire