Police are appealing for witnesses following a collision at Moreton-on-Lugg, Hereford, where a woman sadly died.

At around 1.50pm on Tuesday 8 December a Nissan Micra was travelling along the C1120 towards the A49 when the collision occurred.

Police Sergeant Andy Wortley said: “The vehicle was travelling along the road when it was in collision with a bridge which crosses over the River Lugg.

“While investigations are on-going to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident, we are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision or has dash cam footage to come forward.”

Sadly, the driver, who was in her 80s and the only occupant in the vehicle, died at the scene and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this very difficult time.

Anyone with information or footage is asked to report it here on the West Mercia Police website or call 101 quoting incident 301i of 8 December or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

The vehicle crashed into the main entrance.

Other vehicles in the area also suffered damage. Early reports indicate that the driver failed to stop.

In a message on their FB page Central Bakery wrote

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"Despite the drama this afternoon/evening....the shop will still be open tomorrow at 8am until 2pm as usual.

We will not been beaten..#justcarryonregardless

Thank you for all your kind wishes and help. We appreciate it"

In light of this challenge to their business in these extraordinary times, it is wonderful to hear such a 'positive' response from the bakery. Well done to their team and we wish you good luck in the future.

#herefordvoice #positiveleominster #herefordshire

In future the council will need to provide a food waste collection. Will this reduce your household waste?

Herefordshire Council need to know your views on what the future of rubbish & recycling collection looks like to you in the county:

Take the survey

The application details:

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Proposed refurbishment and amalgamation of existing building and site layout to create a single retail unit (Class E); creation of a new shop front and entrance extension with associated cladding; reconfigured car parking including parent and child spaces; trolley corral; bollards; and associated works.

Planning application P203578/F full details 

Vehicle failed to stop for Police and a pursuit commenced, after some handy work from Leominster Police and the bed of nails it soon came to an abrupt end! Both occupants arrested.

International singer Feargal Sharkey most widely known as the lead vocalist of punk band The Undertones in the 1970s and 1980s, and for solo works in the 1980s and 1990s has condemned the recent work carried out along the banks of the River Lugg in Herefordshire and has urged the Environment Agency and others to prosecute the perpetrator in a Tweet.

In another Tweet, Sharkey challenges the Environment Agency (Midlands) asking them why didn't they act after the were alerted to the work that was taking place at the River Lugg.

Environmental campaigning

Sharkey is a lifelong fly fisherman and has campaigned against the pollution of British rivers. 

We reported on this story and in a follow up article earlier this week and now many questions are being asked even though there are some local people who are pleased with the work that has been done.

What are your thoughts?

One of the Renaissance wall paintings at Church House Farm in Herefordshire. Photograph: Courtesy of John Stevenson

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A discovery of exceptional Renaissance wall paintings at a Herefordshire farmhouse has prompted a leading expert to warn that the chances of such treasures surviving in domestic settings in Britain are falling because owners are destroying them by modernising their homes.

Stephen Rickerby, who is a consultant to the Getty Conservation Institute and works closely with the Courtauld Institute and English Heritage, was taken aback by the “stunning and extremely high quality” of paintings dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries that have been uncovered at Church House Farm in Wellington.

Although the Herefordshire discovery was made in 2018, it has taken until now to expose the full scheme of paintings, as well as to consult historians, including specialists from Historic England, and to plan its conservation.

The owners have had to move out of their bedroom into a spare room. The coronavirus lockdown has delayed plans to apply for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as it could involve up to £20,000 for painting restoration.

Article: The Guardian 5th December 2020

It's not only rivers that are at risk with this urge to modernise and improve for the natural beauty of things to disappear.

Statement:

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Kingsland Parish Council is aware of the recent work done on the banks of the Lugg at Kingsland.

The parish council has had a dialogue with the Environment Agency, and officers have attended online meetings in recent months.

A site meeting with the Environment Agency in September 2020 identified issues near the bridge and the Environment Agency subsequently wrote that “the left hand bank directly upstream of the bridge could do with some reprofiling due to bank slumping… to ease conveyance as it is currently partially obstructing the 3rd arch of the bridge and will look to the landowner to carry out these works”. Another issue highlighted by the Environment Agency was “a build-up of silt and growth mostly Himalayan Balsam on both the upstream and downstream sides”.

The parish council supports work to improve the Lugg that is undertaken at the direction and instigation of the Environment Agency and is in line with the appropriate guidelines, regulations and processes that may be applicable.

The landowner has given an interview in The Telegraph today 5th December. You can read it here

A new purpose built security centre is to be built at Skylon Park Rotherwas in a joint venture between Herefordshire Council and the University of Wolverhampton. The University of Wolverhampton has approved £1.5 million to contribute to the centre as well as successfully securing grant funding of £4 million from the Marches LEP Local Growth Fund and £1.16 million of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).  Herefordshire Council has approved funding of £3.5 million to contribute to the Centre for Cyber Security

Congratulations to the urology team at Hereford Wye Valley NHS for being the first users of the Ambu aScope 4 Cysto in the Europe!

A disposable flexible cystoscope. Improving a great service for their patients.

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust have highlighted this destruction to a section of the River Lugg, in Herefordshire. 

One of the most beautiful and important rivers in the UK, has been intentionally destroyed over a stretch of approximately 1.5km with huge repercussions for wildlife downstream.

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has discovered that the river and its banks have been bulldozed, straightened and reprofiled into a sterile canal, with all bankside and riverside habitats completely obliterated.

The Lugg flows from its source in Powys through Herefordshire before meeting the River Wye just outside Hereford. Its riverbanks, gravels and beds of water crowfoot are home to crayfish, otters and salmon, lampreys and dragonflies and a host of rare river wildlife.

The river is so important for willdife that it is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in its lower reaches.

This should give it multiple layers of protection, with statutory agencies such as Natural England, the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and Herefordshire Council all given a statutory duty to protect the river from harm.

Work has already started on to expand the existing Belmont Road store into the former Bath Store unit next door. Once complete, farmfoods will dominate the small retail park. 

On Monday evening paranormal investigator Jayne Harris was filming a live Facebook stream at the Pavilion and send us the photograph of the little boy below 👇

She wrote: 

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"Viewers all took screenshots as they saw the ghost of a little boy peering at me from behind a toilet door. The door incidently later opened on it's own! Before I visited I'd been told by the staff there that a little boy haunts the staircase. I also caught a video of a large shadow figure downstairs"

Video

Pavillion is built on the 13th century foundations of the former Hereford Castle and the gaol building is still attached forming part of the structure. Staff say there is the ghost of a WW1 soldier in the cellar. 

Check out all the details on her Facebook page 👉 HD Paranormal

Instead Herefordshire Council leaders have opted for an eastern river crossing between Rotherwas and Ledbury Road, with more investment for walking, cycling and public transport.

A new river bridge for Hereford are you in favour of this option?

The temperatures will be dropping this week and the Gritter teams are on standby to respond when necessary.

The Herefordshire Council preparation is complete, there are 6,000 tonnes of rock salt in their barns and they are monitoring the forecast for the county.

We may get a bit of snow too, particularly on higher ground.

Police searching for a man missing from Herefordshire have found a body.

As part of enquiries to locate 33-year-old Rok Simsic searches of the River Wye have been carried out and yesterday a body was recovered from the water.

The family of Rok has been informed however formal identification has yet to be carried out.

Rok was last seen in Herefordshire on Thursday 5 November.

A foggy day in March 2012, WK275 outside Sheppards surplus where she had sat for over 50 years. This was taken on the day a team from Jet Art turned up to start the dismantling process and extract the aircraft so the restoration work could begin.

All work carried out and photographs courtesy of Jet Art Aviation

Jet Art Aviation Facebook 

Crews from Peterchurch Fire Station were called to attend reports of unattended fire near Madley this morning, on arrival appeared to be more than one that had been lit.

Fires extinguished using 1 hose reel jet and raking out due to proximity of nearby gas tanks.

Advice given to owner