Bridgwater Conservative MP Sir Ashley Fox has accused Somerset Council of being "incompetent" in its handling of the Celebration Mile regeneration project.

It is one of 11 schemes being delivered as part of Bridgwater Town Deal, which is bringing £23.2m of government investment through local projects.

But Sir Ashley says a combination of the improvements and a series of roadworks on key routes is causing "chaos" for residents and businesses. "I'm really angry at Somerset Council," he told Radio Somerset. "I believe they've implemented this in an incompetent way."

Lib Dem-controlled Somerset Council has been approached for comment.

Sir Ashley went onto remark: "I get the impression that they really don't care."

Celebration Mile will create a pedestrian route linking the town's train station to the docks, providing "cleaner" access to community facilities, retail and parks, the council says.

The money comes from the Towns Fund, launched by the Conservatives under Boris Johnson in 2019 with the aim of regenerating "down at heel streets" across the country.

Sir Ashley told a BBC Radio Somerset political hotseat interview: "They have ignored local businesses, they've caused real anger and disruption. We have seen footfall drop by over 400,000 in the last year. The council need to come up with a plan to finish it as quickly as possible."

Sir Ashley also said housing was the "number one" issue that constituents contacted his office about. He said: "Despite the fact that there are building sites everywhere, new housing is being built everywhere not always with the proper infrastructure to support them."

Bridgwater is next to what has been hailed as Europe's biggest construction site, EDF's Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, along the west Somerset coastline.

Thousands of workers have moved to the area as a result, which in turn has placed pressure on the housing market.

Earlier this month, EDF announced a temporary campus next to junction 24 of the M5, housing 1,000 workers.

Andrew Cockcroft, head of stakeholder relations at Hinkley Point C, said: "The planned new temporary campus is an important step in easing pressure on the local housing market. It will also create 90 new jobs available to people in Bridgwater."

Workman on hammock mural mocks roadwork delays



A mural depicting a workman lounging on a hammock has been painted to convey the frustration felt by many over delays to major roadworks.

Road to Nowhere was inspired by the £231m Botley Road project to upgrade Oxford Station, which resulted in the route first closing in April 2023.

Artist Mani Manson-Reeves, known as The Big Orange M, said the idea for the piece came to him while he way stuck in a traffic jam on the train.

Network Rail said it understood why people felt frustrated and that the "vital" work was due to be completed by August 2026.

The artwork outside West Oxford Community Centre features a sign reading "work starts 11/04/2023 for 1,208 days and counting".

Reacting to the piece, resident Gillian told the BBC: "It's quite crude but it's quite clever, and I think it depicts the situation very well."

Lara added: "It shows the frustration of the people who live here - it's not very nice living here at the moment. The guys who are working down there wearing hi-vis suits are not lying down, they're working really hard - I think it should show someone from management lying down and not doing anything."

Business owners previously told the BBC they were "enraged" after learning they did not qualify for a goodwill payment for the long-term closure of Botley Road.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: "We regularly communicate with those affected by our work and welcome suggestions on how we can lessen the impact at the community sessions. Our work is vital to creating a bigger, better station for everyone, providing more services with East West Rail, adding rail capacity for the future and an improved and safer road layout."

Residents of a town that lost a key bus service due to funding problems have won their campaign to reinstate it.

Locals in Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire, previously said the Y8 route to and from Yate, which allows them to travel on to Bristol, was "essential" for their lives.

They have campaigned for the route since it was cut in August last year, arguing that it was vital for access to work, college, shops and medical appointments, and allowed them to socialise.

Councillor Linda Cohen, from Gloucestershire County Council, said the reinstatment of the route, beginning on 1 September, was a "fantastic outcome for our communities".



The service will run 15 times on weekdays and 12 times on Saturdays.

Gloucestershire County Council, South Gloucestershire Council, the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) and the local community worked together to bring the route back.

Weca holds responsibility for buses in South Gloucestershire as the transport authority.

The full timetable will be released in the coming weeks.

I think they refer to trains that are stopping at that point.

This is the moment police swooped on a gang of samurai sword-wielding teenagers suspected of carrying out dozens of robberies on the London Underground and trains.

Detectives believed the six - all under 18 - are linked to 51 offences where mobile phones and luxury watches were snatched in just two months across east London.

The Standard had been invited to join scores of officers - many in riot gear - as the family home of a 15-year-old boy was raided in Newham just before 3am.

As a force drone hovered in the skies, 200ft below they stormed through the front door ordering occupants to show their hands.

The youth is quickly located in his bedroom and shouts: “Relax, relax, relax.”

He calls out to his mother, who is screaming hysterically.

Once the teenager confirms his identity, officers yell “target secured” before he’s arrested and handcuffed.

British Transport Police allege he terrorised nine passengers between West Ham station and Grays in Essex, trains passing through Bromley-by-Bow and on Docklands Light Railway services at Devons Road and Cyprus.

Two muggings happened on February 25 and five others on March 13 alone.

The suspect is forced to listen as an officer reels off a list of offences.

But as he becomes distracted and fidgets, a police colleague interupts: “It’s probably best to listen to it.”

Asked if he understands the allegations, he replies “Nah” before being reminded not to stress out his mother further.

Body-worn footage shows police finding a samurai sword in a wardrobe in his brother’s bedroom.

As part of a separate Metropolitan Police investigation, the boy appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court last month in relation to 10 robberies - some at knifepoint - on buses in West Ham and Prince Regent, and breaching bail conditions by not attending school.

Later, officers smashed down the door of a townhouse where a 16-year-old boy lives with mother and sister in Dagenham shouting: “Police, stay where you are.”

Neighbours, awoken by commotion at 4am, later thank police for their transparency when asked about reasons for the raid. He is led away in handcuffs and a grey tracksuit.

At a third address, police video shows a second sword being seized at the home of an aspiring footballer aged 17.

His parents have to be held back as they challenge officers. The boy claims: “I haven’t been out in months. I have an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.”

The mother repeats his false story. She tells him to go with officers but warns her son as he continues to speak: “Shut your mouth”.

Thirteen arrests were made during Opertion Flycatcher, a week-long blitz last month. The six arrested on July 16 have been bailed until October.

Chief Inspector Nicholas Brandon said the crackdown was launched after figures revealed under-18s made up 72 per cent of 675 known robbery suspects in London and the South East. They include 11 and 12-year-olds.

Of that large cohort, 101 juveniles are linked to multiple robberies and one of them to 19 offences.

A 10-year-old is their youngest victim and the oldest 86, according to BTP.

Robbery is down 17 per cent in London but the capital still accounts for nine out of 10 of such crimes UK-wide.

Ch Insp Brandon said: “We are extremely conscious that robbery is a high harm offence. It causes an awful lot of fear and distress to the travelling public.

“The purpose of operations like this is to demonstrate that if individuals do come on to the network to commit such offences, we will track you down and execute warrants at your address with the aim of putting you before the courts.

“We’re talking about mid-teenagers and two swords that they’ve had in their bedrooms. It’s quite worrying they are carrying these weapons around.”

"Please note that only CrossCountry trains will be able to stop at Worcestershire Parkway while this engineering work is taking place,"

Mk5As confirmed:

https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/more-trains-newer-trains

"We're excited to introduce our newer trains to the Chiltern network, designed with your comfort, convenience and accessibility in mind."

A rail line is to shut for six days to allow tracks along the route to be upgraded or replaced.

Work will take place on the North Cotswolds line, between Worcester Shrub Hill and Moreton-in-Marsh, from 18 to 24 August to "maintain a safe and reliable railway," Network Rail said.

Passengers wanting to get to London can still get a service from Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington. Some direct services will also run between Hereford and London Paddington, via Cheltenham Spa.

Billy White, GWR station manager, said other train services will be operating between Worcester Shrub Hill or Worcester Foregate Street stations and Hereford during this period. "Please note that only CrossCountry trains will be able to stop at Worcestershire Parkway while this engineering work is taking place," he said. "Customers should also be aware these alternative travel arrangements will make journey times much longer, so please plan ahead."

Track that's reached the end of its working life will be replaced at Honeybourne station and a new walkway will be built for train drivers. Rail will also be replaced near Evesham.

Maintenance work will also take place inside Chipping Campden tunnel, which opened in 1853.

Network Rail programme manager Jason Pankhurst apologised for the temporary closure but said it would benefit passengers "long into the future."

"Our work will ensure the continued safe and reliable running of trains through the Cotswolds," he said.

A listed railway station damaged when a bus crashed into it and a man later died is set to be repaired.

Network Rail's plans for the main entrance of the Grade II* listed Carlisle station were approved by Cumberland Council on Tuesday.

Pedestrian Roger Denwood, 75, from Cockermouth, Cumbria, was injured in the crash in November 2023. He died 15 days later.

Damage affected the entrance arch, electric door and the WH Smith shop next to the main door.

Network Rail will undertake a repair scheme to the station's main entrance from Court Square. As part of the repairs, stone masonry arches will also be repaired, which reflect the station's historic significance.

According to the planning report, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the station is considered to be important in the development of rail travel within the UK, due to its role with rail connections between England and Scotland.

A 47-year-old man from Flimby was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and is due to appear at Carlisle Crown Court on 8 September.

The British Transport Police says its priority is to take "high harm, high impact offenders off the street"

Nearly two-thirds of suspects linked to robberies on Britain's rail networks are children, figures from the British Transport Police (BTP) show.

The data, published on Wednesday, shows that of the 1,680 reported robberies in the year to March, 848 were linked to named suspects, of whom 61% were aged under 18.

It also reveals that a small number of offenders were linked to many crimes, with the most common age of robbery victims and suspects being 16.

The BBC joined officers on overnight raids to detain four suspects aged 16-17 believed to be responsible for a combined 39 robberies. Police say the four all knew each other.

During the raids in London and Essex, police seized large blades from two of the suspects.

Robbery is a more serious offence than theft as it involves the use or threat of violence - with or without a weapon.

The BTP data covers incidents reported on the rail network in England, Wales and Scotland, and shows that almost a third of victims - 495 out of 1,547 - were also children. Of these, the most common age for child victims was 16. The youngest recorded victim was aged 10.

The BTP says the most commonly stolen items were mobile phones and watches. Sometimes expensive clothes were taken.

Some suspects were implicated in multiple robberies, with one child linked to 19 separate offences.

A suspect is "linked" to an offence on the police national database when they are identified by investigators as potentially being involved.

The BTP says the railway network is covered by lots of CCTV, which helps them track down suspected robbers.


More than 60 officers were deployed as part of Operation Flycatcher, led by Ch Insp Nick Brandon (pictured)

During Operation Flycatcher, the BBC witnessed officers execute search warrants on four addresses to detain some of these suspects.

The first raid took place at 02:46 in east London, where a 17-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of nine robbery offences. The team recovered a large samurai sword during a search of the property. At the same time, other teams raided two addresses in Essex. Another large blade was seized, and two teenagers were taken into custody.

We then travelled to the border between London and Essex, where at 04:00 officers had to breach the front door to take another youth away in handcuffs. Later, two other under-18s were arrested, suspected of a further 22 robberies. All have been bailed pending further enquiries.

Ch Insp Nick Brandon, who led the raids, told the BBC: "The message is quite simple: we will put the resources behind this, we will investigate this, we will identify you, we will come and arrest you, we'll search your home for all possible evidence and then we will seek to put you before the courts." He said it was "extremely distressing" for someone to be subjected to a robbery, "especially if they've been threatened by a weapon". But Ch Insp Brannon added that the number of robberies on Britain's railways equated to less an one per million journeys.

Rail replacement bus disruption 'unacceptable'



Calls have been made to address "unacceptable" issues with a rail replacement service that has left passengers stranded.

Northern is running buses instead of trains between Workington and Sellafield in West Cumbria after a survey found issues with the tunnel floor at Corkickle. The buses cannot run through Braystones and Nethertown, Northern said, leaving the villages without a service and other passengers complaining about missing and delayed buses.

Josh MacAlister, Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, wrote to Northern asking it to address the issues quickly. A spokesperson for Northern and Network Rail apologised, saying: "We understand how frustrating this disruption is."

MacAlister's letter said: "I have had reports of some buses not turning up, others severely delayed, some not stopping at scheduled stations, leaving people stranded." He added some drivers were allowing dogs, while others were not, causing confusion for passengers. MacAlister said: "The confusion and disruption is unacceptable, especially as this is going to continue for most of the year."

Northern said it planned to run replacement buses between Sellafield and Workington until 10 August. From 11 August, the buses would run between the nuclear site and Whitehaven.

Northern and Network Rail said: "From Monday, trains will run to Whitehaven on the northern side of the tunnel, and we are looking at the options available to be able to run trains to Corkickle on the other side."

But MacAlister said he had been told by "experienced engineers" there was no reason for such a large railway closure and he wanted to see just the section between Whitehaven and Corkickle closed, with buses running between the stations.



He asked the rail firm to give its "urgent attention" to implementing changes so that buses are only needed for the shorter route, meaning Braystones and Nethertown would no longer be "isolated".

Network Rail carried out survey work last week, ahead of a planned three-week closure from 30 August to replace tracks and carry out drainage works. Part of the line had been affected by contaminated water flowing from abandoned mines through Bransty railway tunnel and discharging into the harbour at Whitehaven, causing the water to turn orange.

During the survey engineers discovered further repairs to the tunnel floor were needed. Network Rail said this would likely mean a delay to the planned work.

Pecorama at Beer, East Devon.

Half price entry on Sat 13 Sept  icw it’s 50th Anniversary and also a special exhibition of working models of various stations on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

Gartell light railway, Templecombe

Launceston Steam Railway?

Long time since I was there - I think it was called the Lappa Valley Railway back then