Goodnight Joe Grundy you were always a good one.  Sleep tight.

For those not in the know he was a main character in The Archers!

Hereford's H. Samuel store to close

By Charlotte Moreau, Ledbury Reporter

The jewellery retailer is set to close this summer.

THE number of empty units in High Town is set to increase with the loss of another big name shop.

Jewellery chain H. Samuel have today confirmed that the company will not be renewing the lease on their long-established Hereford store.

A familiar feature in Hereford's High Town, the store will permanently close its doors when its lease comes to an end this summer.

An H. Samuel spokesperson said: "The H. Samuel store at 22 and 23 High Town, Hereford will close on June 22.

"We continually re-assess our portfolio of stores on a store by store basis, particularly when individual store leases come up for renewal.

"We are sorry to be leaving Hereford, however we do have a wide online offering."

The company was keen to assure shoppers that the Hereford closure is an isolated one which bears no reflection on the future plans of parent company Signet's business estate overall within the UK but declined to comment further.

The company, which was established in Liverpool in 1862, was acquired by the Signet Group, which also owns the Ernest Jones and Leslie Davis jewellery chains.

H. Samuel currently has around 300 stores across the country and employs around 17,000 staff.

Belmont Avenue was closed off about half an hour ago after the junction with Belmont Court. There were several police vehicles parked on Belmont Avenue. They were turning back anyone wishing to drive further than Belmont Court.

Breaking News: Hostage Situation.

We have received 'unconfirmed' reports that a man is holding a male and a female hostage at a property in Poole Close.

Armed police are at the scene and this has been an ongoing situation since about 3am.

There is also now a fire appliance and crew on site.

Police and Balfour Beatty have cordoned off Belmont Road (A465) between Walnut Tree Avenue and Asda and motorists are being diverted to the Ross Road (A49)

There is no risk to the wider public. Police have advised the public to avoid the area.

Police Statement:

Quote

"We were called at 3.21am this morning following concerns for a man's welfare. Specialist officers are on scene but there's no risk to the wider public at this time and the incident is contained to a single property. Please avoid the area where possible."

If the PM IS GRANTED A EXTENSION to leaving the EU then the UK will more than likely have to take part in EU elections...but I would urge folks in the UK not to take part in but rather boycotting with the setting up of picket lines to peaceful encourage people not to take part in them so as not to give them legitimacy so as to send a clear message to our corrupt politicians & the EU itself that we have had enough of there shenanigans in trying to keep us in the unholy union which is contrary to the referendum vote in 2016

But the big question is would people actually take part or just act like sheep in excepting their fate?

By reporting a scam, you may prevent others from being scammed 

Scammers are targeting Herefordshire households by telephone, pretending that residents are due a refund on their Council Tax and asking for bank and card details.

Herefordshire Council will always write to customers to advise them of any refund and would never ask for bank or card details over the phone.

Fraudsters often use the phone to cold call their way into your home. They trick you by pretending to be from a trusted source, such as the council, your bank, the police, a utility provider or a computer company. Their aim is to get hold of your personal or financial information like bank details and passwords. Scammers can be very persuasive and relentless - if they can get access to your bank cards, or persuade you to transfer money into bank accounts they control, then most of their work is done.

The good news is that it’s easy to protect yourself:

If you receive an unsolicited call from a company you don’t recognise, hang up

Never give out personal or bank details over the telephone

Don’t feel pressured to make a decision over the telephone

Consider a call blocking device to filter out unwanted calls

If you think you have been targeted by a scammer, call Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.

Citizens Advice will give you advice on what to do next, and report the scam to Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards team for investigation.

Well she has made Sun, Mail and Express in recent days I'm afraid I can't do the links with her revelations regarding the regiment all having STDs!!

What is it with this women and the Military?

First memorial benches now this.

Sooner she is voted out the better.

For info if you live in a rural area of the County.............

I fully accept that a person is innocent until proved guilty in a Court of Law ..............

At about 10.30am today Sunday 14th April 2019 the occupiers of Blossom View, Crowmoor Lane Tillington HR4 8LD ( that's the old Coop farm office opposite the Fruit Farm ) heard a vehicle stop on the road outside their bungalow, looked out of the window and saw a male , 35yrs, medium to stocky build ,with sandy short hair with one of the occupiers plants in his hand , the plant had been planted in their garden which fronts the road . The occupier shouted to the male who dropped the plant in the road and jumped into his vehicle , he was the only occupant . He drove away in a Silver Nissan pickup RegNo.BL03OLJ . 
Police have been advised , bit  disheartening , it appears that the Call Taker told the Complainant that as the Offender didn't take the plant not a lot the police could do ( What about Attempt Theft for starters ) The plant cost the Complainant £50 . It's not the first time that pants gave been stolen from gardens in the village , recently a householder had 25 laylandi trees stolen .
If you see this vehicle it or know where it's parked please phone 101 and advise the Call Taker using the West  Mercia Police Ref No 239/N/14.04.19 
Thank you .

Before you head for Ladbrokes on Monday morning, just run your eye down this race card to see if you can spot the winner.                      

David Davis  The first government Brexit Minister who should have seen it through to the end. Instead, there have been three further ministers.

Liam Fox  All anyone can remember about him is that he used to have a friend called Adam.

Michael Gove  Good at gurning. But gurning lost popularity in the era of the Victorian music hall.

Matt Hancock  His permanently vacant expression says it all: “Lights out, nobody home.”

Jeremy Hunt  The numpty with the Assad-like jug ears.

Savid Javid  The self-satisfied slaphead who chose to take his daughter on a £1700-a-night safari, instead of meeting Port Talbot steelworkers.

Boris Johnson  Now being described as ‘The pneumatic huckster’. That new haircut won’t garner many votes from the 1922 Committee.

Andrea Leadsom  Alleged Leader of the House who seems to have difficulty knowing which day of the week it is.

Dominic Raab  On 29 March he voted for the deal he had resigned from the Cabinet over in order to vote against it. Priceless.

Amber Rudd  The Home Secretary who couldn’t say how many Windrush  migrants were forcibly repatriated to the West Indies.

Gavin Williamson  Former fireplace salesman, being heavily tipped by the Daily Mail, who describes him as having “matinée idol good looks.”

With all the news at the moment highlighting knife crime and shootings how does it come to this? 

My theory is that organised high level crime is where it starts well before it gets to the kids on the street. I believe it is linked to illegal immigration. 

Imagine you want to get into the UK - unless you are a good swimmer or forger of documents you will be tempted to use a trafficking group who for thousands of pounds will get you across the channel. Arriving and secreted somewhere in the UK your traffickers know your illegal and say to you that in order to earn money to survive and pay them back for their services you carry drugs for them. Seems a good idea until you stray into someone else's patch. The health and safety advice is you need to protect yourself and the recommended form of defence is a knife. 

You are now have an established source of income and you like to spread the message so everyone can be enticed into have a piece of the cake. By getting children on board and setting up the county lines of distribution is when trouble at the local end begins. Kids involved talking to their friends on how easy it is to get a nice handout for introducing substances to the playground result in arguments and jealously. Jimmy Smith appears to be doing very well at the tuck shop and using a brand new smart phone in the playground. Soon our illegal immigrant is a human resources manager creating his own little empire. 

Arguments years ago at school revolved around bullying with name calling and the rare fisty cuffs when the gathered spectators would call out "fight fight", until a teacher appeared to bring the situation under control and the offenders marched off to the head teacher for a good flogging. Nowadays matters are sorted out after school hours on the street corner or in the local park with devastating consequences. No policemen to investigate who is involved, no community policemen looking after their patch, no Neighbourhood Watch operating - you are better off asking the local postman what is going on. Everyone is now on their own including the general public. 

All this can be reduced with proper border controls and we don't want the military helping out or it is going to be machine guns all round. The real problem is we have no idea who is actually here in the UK.

I have just been listening to the live stream from Full Council held yesterday at the Shire Hall in particular, the reactions from various Councillors about the alternative budget proposed by IOC.

Live Stream can be found here

At around 228 of the live stream Cllr Paul Rone speaks, during his brief response I notice that he says that if turning off the traffic lights is such a good revolutionary idea, then why has nobody else done it? Well actually Paul, quoting you using your own words from yesterdays meeting, "Seek Before You Speak"

Turning off traffic lights has been successful in several towns and cities, one that comes to mind is Portishead, check out the video below:

Portishead Traffic Lights

Furthermore, you suggest that nobody has done this other than Invercargill in New Zealand, you also suggest that this place has a mere population of 7,500 people, well actually you are wrong sir, it is almost as big as Hereford! 

Education Lesson below:

Quote

Invercargill is the 13th-most-populous city in New Zealand by population (50,800). The top 10 cities in New Zealand are: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier-Hastings, Dunedin, Palmerston North, Nelson, Rotorua.

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region.

You also say that it would be dangerous for pedestrians?? I am confused as there is no suggestion that any of the pedestrian traffic lights would be turned off at all, they would still be working, if this was given a trail and yes that is all we have ever asked for, a trial. Cllr. Rone also suggest that it would work for maybe 12 hours and then there would be mayhem? Again, we have video evidence much of which you will find on our youtube channel where the traffic lights have been out of order for several days and it is common knowledge that when these lights are out of service and using our words, the 'traffic just flows' in Hereford.

To suggest that the members commenting on here are irresponsible keyboard warriors is totally unfair, there has been a lot of research over the past 20 years including that of one of our members Martin Cassini, you can check out his credentials here

Martin Cassini on the One Show

Finally, you also ask why is nobody else doing this? Because people like you are all too quick to reject these proposals. Well as you can see above other towns and cities are doing this successfully or is your dismissal just down to the fact that this is not your or Cllr Edwards idea?

Cllr. Rone and Cllr. Edwards, I am passionate about our city and keen to explore all ideas that may eliminate the terrible daily congestion in Hereford, I just wish others would look and explore some of these ideas. 

Town Hall Rich List 2019

In 2017-18: 

There were at least 2,454 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000. That's 148 more than in 2016-17.

608 council employees earned over £150,000.

A total of 28 local authority employees received remuneration in excess of a quarter of a million pounds in 2017-18.

The local authority with the greatest number of employees receiving remuneration in excess of £100,000 was Essex council with 55 employees in total earning over this amount. Essex also had the highest number of employees earning over £150,000 at 13.

The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) presents the Twelfth Town Hall Rich List, the only comprehensive list of its kind, with council-by-council breakdown. Praised in the past by politicians from across different political parties, it is the go-to guide for local government executive pay deals. It details the full remuneration and many of the names of all local council employees whose remuneration exceeds £100,000.

Many senior managers at local authorities have performed well in tough financial times. There are many reports of residents seeing no difference in the services they receive despite the necessary savings being made. However, the Town Hall Rich List also showcases the executives who have overseen failing departments, or received bumper pay-offs after poor performance in the job.

THE REPORT

COUNCIL BY COUNCIL BREAKDOWN OF DATA

Salaries £278,603,551    
Expenses £1,106,790    
Bonuses £654,920    
Compensation £8,710,473    
Pension £38,528,461    
Total £329,948,787

Herefordshire's top 6"earnt" £713,500

Wonder how many of these were women.

Here are a few photographs taken along the river path opposite the Hereford Rowing Club this evening. 

Herefordshire Council has approved expenditure to invest £150k in improving car parking across the county.

The council operates 43 car parks throughout Herefordshire and as these are well used and important assets in local economies it is vital that they remain fit for our visitors and ensure continued growth countywide.

Herefordshire Council, as a member of the British Parking Association, considers factors such as accessibility and car safety as a priority when promoting the use of a car park in a local area.

The programme of enhancement works we are carrying out include works to improve signage and accessibility at Maylords car park, particularly for those parking with children – including 12 new parent/child spaces; Improving the car park surface and signage at Merton Meadow car park; Improvements to tackle anti-social behaviour and improve safety at Garrick Multi-Storey Car Park, as well as a new lighting system at the heavily used Plough Lane car parks.

Several car parks in locations throughout the county have also been identified as being in need of some minor enhancement, such as surface repairs, line markings or replacement drainage.

Chris Jenner, Assistant Director for Technical Services, said:

Quote

 

“The council is always striving to improve the general amenity of public car parks in a positive way for local communities. Car parks are an essential part of our vibrant local economic centres and it is critical that they are accessible, safe, convenient and easy to use.

“We are members of the British Parking Association and subscribe to the values of the Positive Parking Agenda, and so our priority with these works has been improving accessibility for parents and ensuring an environment where car park users feel safe.

“We are committed to improving your car parks, and we are delighted to announce this programme of works.”

 

Would you give up your car? I already have - only hire one when I need it to travel further afield.

Motorists will be paid up to £3,000 to leave their car at home and take a bus or ride a bike in government plan to cut congestion and air pollution

Motorists will be given cash credit for public transport and electric cars 
They will have to hand over their cars for a period in a bid to reduce emissions 
Trial, which will take place in Coventry, could be rolled out nationwide  

Drivers who promise to give up their cars will be given £3,000 a year as part of a scheme to reduce pollution.

A pilot scheme, which will be launched in Coventry, West Midlands, later this year, will see motorists given cash credits for public transport, electric car and bike hire.

Those who agree to leave their cars at home are set to gain as much as £3,000 a year, according to a report in The Times.  

The plans were approved by the West Midlands Combined Authority on Friday and will see credit added to a smart card with the aim of encouraging motorists to 'give up their private vehicles in exchange for a limited time period of support'.

Documents presented at the meeting said the aim was to 'stimulate a long-term sustainable shift in travel behaviour' among drivers, who will be asked to surrender their car for a period.

John Seddon, head of transport and innovation at Coventry City Council, told the newspaper around 100 people would initially take part in the trial, funded by a £20 million Department for Transport award.

'We see it as a variant of scrappage schemes of the past but rather than trading in an old car for a newer one, it is trading in the car for the ability to use other modes of transport,' he told the paper.

Ah I see a problem - "other modes of transport"

SETTING: Early morning in the kitchen of the Speaker’s Residence, Houses of Parliament.

Rt Hon J Bercow: “Sally dearest, I do wish you would come in properly attired. A torn pair of pink knickers bearing an unsmiling emoji across the crotch is hardly appropriate for the Speaker’s spouse. Anyway, what time did you get it?”

Mrs Bercow: “Just after 4.00 a.m. Is there any Merlot left?”

Bercow: “I think I’d switch to Nescafé if I was you. Can you please pass me that tool kit under the sink?” (The chimes of Big Ben striking 9 o’clock ring out, causing the whole kitchen to shudder. With difficulty, the Speaker’s wife delivers the heavy tool box.) Mr Bercow lifts its twin lids, mumbling to himself: “It HAS to be Imperial. Metric would never do!”

Mrs Bercow: (pouring herself the last of the Merlot): “What on earth are you on about, John?”

Bercow: (Furiously rummaging through the contents of the tool box): “I’m looking for the 16” adjustable with the chromed handle. I need it for tomorrow morning. Before the Prime Minister’s final Brexit statement.”

Mrs Bercow: “What are you planning to fix? My bathroom shower?”

Bercow: “I’m not planning to fix anything, my dear.” (Triumphantly waving aloft a large mole wrench.) “THIS is to be my final Spanner in the Works!”

I can't seem to post a comment on this topic in the Hereford Times today. I am not sure what it is that the HT do not like so I am posting the comment on here.

Quote

I feel that there should be a maximum prize of £10 milllion. There is only so much an individual needs to live on, the rest is wasted on meaningless bling usually suggested by family, friends and advisers. £70 million split across more winners (say 10), the money would enter the local area and stimulate the economy. One big winner will spend maybe £10 million and then be advised by the vultures in the city to put the rest in funds boosting their bonuses.

The net worth of the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans almost equals that of the bottom 90% combined.

The combined wealth of Zuckerberg ($62.3 billion), Bezos ($131 billion), Brin ($49.8 billion) and Page ($50.8 billion) is larger than the combined wealth of the bottom half of the American population.

Is this what we all wish for?

They have posted comments I have made concerning the above.