August 2008 Archives

None of the youngsters at Queen Mary Sailing Club in Ashford want to be firefighters or doctors - they all want to be Olympic gold medalists.

Thousands drive past the club every week but, until members Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb scooped gold in Beijing, many had no idea it existed behind the steep embankments that flank the A308.

The Limes residential care home in Station Road, Ashford has applied for planning permission to build an outbuilding in the garden.

Neighbours were informed of the proposed development on Friday(29), which owners Elmbank hope to use as an activity room, laundry and store.

With the return of Olympic gold medalists and the town's football club top of the league, Ashford's sporting heroes are putting the area on the map.

Local sports clubs are buzzing after Ashford Town reached their highest ever league position last weekend and sailors Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb landed gold in the Yngling Class sailing in Beijing.

Spelthorne Council's planning committee refused an application to build eight properties on the site of two homes despite officers recommending it for approval.

The Hooper Homes proposal to build two two-storey blocks in The Drive, Ashford was denied planning permission at the council's committee meeting on Wednesday August 20.

WHEN Iona Ovenell returned home from a frantic search of Staines for her lost purse she was amazed to return home and find it in her 12-year-old son's hand.

But young Cameron is no pickpocket - her wallet had been handed in by two good samaritans who had found it on Kingston Road.

Pupils at Thomas Knyvett College continued their good progress with another improvement in results after being moved out of special measures in January.

The school, which was formerly Ash Technology College, was put on the government critical list because it was failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education three and a half years ago.

While her friends were toiling over their revision and worrying about their results, Ella Kirby's mind was elsewhere - she was dreaming of medals at London 2012.

Despite training 18 hours a week in the pool, Ella, who came fourth in the national junior championships breastroke race two weeks ago, managed to pick up four As and four Bs in her GCSEs.

An application to build eight properties on the site of two homes has been recommended for approval by Spelthorne Council planning officers despite two similar proposals being rejected in the last year.

Developer Hooper Homes wants to build two two-storey blocks in The Drive, Ashford and Spelthorne Council has received 31 letters of objection to the plans.

The troubled Harper Hotel is for sale for £2.5m but it may not end the misery for neighbours who have been plagued by vandalism, noise and antisocial behaviour.

Police have been called to the Fordbridge Road hotel, which houses homeless people from Hounslow, 55 times in the last two-and-a-half years and neighbours fear the disruption is likely to continue because the property is being sold as a business.

A woman and two children were treated for smoke inhalation after a blaze ripped through their home overnight.

The family were led to safety from their home in Marlborough Road, Ashford, on Tuesday August 19, and treated at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, before being discharged.