January 2009 Archives

A CHILD'S cuddly toy was stolen by a heartless thief during a shopping trip in Uxbridge on Sunday.

The mother was in Claire's Accessories in The Chimes shopping centre at 3pm when a bag was stolen when she wasn't looking.

The bag contained £20 worth of clothes and a soft grey elephant, belonging to her five year-old son, who was left in tears following the theft.

The mother said: "It's a dirty chewed elephant and I don't know why anyone would want to steal it, if anyone has found it lying around it would mean the world to have it back."

If you find the toy then please contact Dan Coombs at the Gazette on 01895 851030 or email dancoombs@trinitysouth.co.uk

TWO companies have secured a 10 year lease at a key business site in the borough, proving it is not all doom and gloom.

The first floor of Waterside House, Uxbridge, a modern office complex overlooking the River Colne, will be occupied by Xerox Property Services.

Cleanevent UK has taken the ground floor, and the cleaning and waste management company has also acquired a site at Unit 28 Riverside Way, Uxbridge.

A LOCAL resident who has written the first-ever Bollywood fiction series will be at the launch at an Uxbridge bookstore.

The launch will be held on Saturday,January 31 at Waterstone's in The Chimes Shopping Centre, beginning at 2pm.

The author Puneet Bhandal, of Oakdene Road, Hillingdon, will be promoting the first book 'Starlet Rivalry' at the event, which will feature dancing and a 'Bollywood-style dress up' competition.

The top three winners of the competition will receive signed copies of all forthcoming books in the series and the winner will be awarded a Bollywood goodie bag with Waterstones vouchers, DVDs and CDs, as well as a character named after them in the second book.

Ms. Bhandal will be a guest on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday, January 30 before the launch to talk about the first book, which tells the tale of the rivalry between two top actresses.

The show will also be broadcast on the BBC Asian network and more information on the books can be found at www.puneetbhandal.com.

TICKETS are available for the Uxbridge Choral Society's Winter Concert which takes place on Saturday, January 31 at 7.30pm in St. Margaret's Church, Windsor Street, Uxbridge.

The choir will be directed by Iain Ledingham who has led them for five successful years, supported by the Amersham Festival Orchestra.

Entrance is £10 and tickets can be purchased in advance from the secretary on 01895 847083, or bought on the door.

A DOG walker was furious to find rubbish from collapsed store chain Woolworths dumped at a local beauty spot.

The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, was horrified to discover flytippers had reeked such havoc at Little Britain Lake in Cowley.

She said: "I was out walking my dog when I saw the rubbish. There were eight bin bags of rubbish. It's absolutely appalling because someone has been paid to rid of this and they've just dumped it. It was all over the place. They've just fly-tipped it."

The resident told the Gazette how this was the third time in a week that council workers had to be called out to dispose of dumped rubbish.

Concerns were also raised on the affect fly-tipping could have on wildlife.

She added: "It was right where people go to feed the birds and the rubbish was all going into the lake. It's disgusting."

It is believed the rubbish originated for Woolworth's Greenford branch.

The company, which has gone into administration and closed its doors for good earlier this month, was not available for comment.

Kathy Sparks, deputy director of environment and consumer protection at Hillingdon Council, said that flytipping was an arrestable offence which carries a fine up to £50,000 and six months in prison at a magistrates's court. In crown court fines may be unlimited and imprisonment extended up to five years.

She added: "The council takes all envirocrimes such as fly-tipping very seriously and investigates all incidents reported. We encourage anyone who witnesses people illegally dumping waste to the council's customer contact centre."

To report flytipping call 01895 556000, email eet@hillingdon.gov.uk or visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/streetscene

ROAD layout changes have been approved in an area of Uxbridge which will improve access for shoppers and church goers.

Plans were given the green light to install a zebra crossing on Hercies Road to make the road safer for people wishing to reach the bus stop.

The crossing will be placed close to the junction with Auriol Drive and its was identified during the bus route U2 inspection in August 2007.

The crossing will cost £27,000 and is being funded by Transport for London as part of their budget to improve access for disabled and elderly groups.

Debbie King, chairwoman of the Auriol Drive Residents Association, said: "The road is dangerous, people go down it at 60 mph so hopefully the crossing will make a difference.

"There are a lot of elderly people around who need a safe place to cross."
New parking measures have also been introduced in the road to increase the time limit from two hours to four hours which will accommodate the request from Hillingdon Park Baptist Church for more parking spaces for worshippers there.

Hays Construction & Property, the UK's leading specialist recruitment consultancy, is opening its Heathrow office to the public in response to the continued demand from local jobseekers.

The office on Cromer Road in Heathrow will open its doors on January 13 from 8am-8pm and welcome local people looking for a new job in the construction and property sector.

Jobseekers will be able to speak to experienced consultants based in the area who are trained to advise and manage their job search

WORK has begun to replace two kilometres of water pipes in Cowley which could cause months of disruption.

Three Valleys Water are spending £300,000 on installing new more durable water pipes in the Church Lane area iof Cowley, which they insist will be less likely to burst or leak.

The work started earlier this week and is expected to continue until at least March, which could spell problems for residents and road users.

The company says it has been working closely with Hillingdon Council to develop a traffic management plan, and will try to minimise the number of holes needed in roads and footpaths and avoid digging long trenches.

Jaspal Bhandal, project manager, said: "I would like to thank people in advance for their co-operation. We do understand that work of this nature does cause disruption but the end result will enable us to continue to deliver fresh tap water to our customers for years to come."

Have you been affected? Call the newsdesk on 01895451030 or leave a comment below.

THE Tommy Burns Supper is being held on February 7 at the Brunel University Hospitality Suite, Uxbridge.

The Tommy Burns Supper is actually a variation on the theme of the traditional Robert Burns Supper that is celebrated throughout the world every January. Tommy Burns in this case was a football player and manager for Celtic Football Club, sadly Tommy died of skin cancer in May of last year aged 51.

Guests can enjoy a traditional Scottish Burns Night supper complete with the age old custom of piping in the haggis. After dinner speakers are two icons of football, Billy McNeill and Tommy Gemmell. Both players were part of Celtic's infamous Lisbon Lions, the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967.

The night will also include a charity auction and live music is provided by a the highly established local London Irish band The BibleCode Sunday's.

The event is open to all and promises to be unique fusion of food, poetry, legendary stories, music and sporting and literary culture.

Tickets are £45, tables of 10 for £450

All monies raised go to Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Further details and tickets information, email: graeme.shaw@brunel.ac.uk

BRUNEL University has been awarded a share of a million pound grant to lead research on a social taboo associated with ageing.

The Brunel Insitute for Ageing Studies (BIAS), will lead the three year project aiming at tackling ageing continence, one of the least socially accepted signs of ageing.

The project will ask how NHS treatments can be improved, how toilet facilities can be made more accessible, and how new technology can make continence problems easier and less stressful to manage.

The university was recently internationally recognised for the quality of its research, and joins together for this project with fellow universities, small companies and charities.