Local Authority

A FAMILY were awoken and saved by their smoke alarm after a fire tore through their flat while they were sleeping.

The family of three escaped the flames in the early hours of Saturday morning.

WEST Thames College has joined forces with the Hounslow Chamber of Commerce to encourage more businesses to take on apprentices.

As part of last week's National Apprenticeship Week, the organisations hosted a Business Breakfast for construction industry employers aimed at promoting the benefits of hiring apprentices.

WORK has begun on a £50,000 project to regenerate Hounslow Heath into an 'ecologically diverse, well managed nature reserve'.

The tree planting and heathland regeneration scheme, which began last week, will involve the planting of 130 trees, including birch, oak, rowan and resistant elm trees.

A MOTORIST is facing a £330 bill after being caught out by 'rip-off' CCTV cameras at Feltham Station.

Debbie McGovern, 38, started using a bus stand in New Road to drop her son off at the station last year, unaware she was not allowed to do so.

BEDFONT'S Southville Community Centre has benefitted from a £5,000 cash injection to help Hounslow's long-term unemployed.

The funding has come from SEGRO, one of Hounslow Council's business partners, and will enable the centre to run a weekly Job Club and provide sessions involving in-depth employment help for the long-term unemployed and parents returning to work.

HOUNSLOW Council has sent out 80,813 polling cards for next Thursday's by-election when voters will select Feltham and Heston's next MP.

The election was called following the death of Alan Keen last month, who held the seat since 1992.

Roger Crouch has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the forthcoming by-election.

Mr Crouch, who lives in Twickenham, is a solicitor specialising in mental capacity law.

He said: "It is an honour for me to have this chance to fight for the people of Feltham and Heston.

CANDIDATES have hit the campaign trail in Feltham & Heston as the battle to succeed the late MP Alan Keen steps up a gear.

Mr Keen represented the constituency from 1992 until his death from cancer on November 10 this year, at the age of 73.

A GLITTERING Feltham tribute to Freddie Mercury that fell into almost unrecognizable disrepair has been replaced with a smaller stone, in another part of the town centre.
A large floor tribute in the shape of a star was installed in the middle of The Centre in November 2009 as a tribute to the well loved musician who used to live in Gladstone Avenue with his family for 10 years in the 1960s and 70s.

THE SHOCKING waste of 23,500 tonnes of food each year by Hounslow residents is being tackled by the council.
The authority is making a connection with Waste Watch, an charity which promotes action on waste reduction, reuse and recycling throughout the UK, to launch the Love Food Hate Waste initiative in the borough.