Hereford Voice

We are now using our new hosts, you may see an improvement is speeds etc.

Another update folks, we are now in the process of changing servers, we should be active on the new server within the next 24 hours, you may see a few glitches during this process but in general it should just be a smooth transaction.

Just a quick update. Most of the main forum files have now been updated. We have not moved hosts as yet, we need to get everything up to date and functioning perfectly before we make the move. We will continue to update you during this process.

A black Carrera road bike has been stolen from an address on St Martins Street, Hereford. It was taken during the early hours of Tuesday 20th Feb 2018. It was taken by an unknown male who was caught on CCTV heading to the river path towards the back of ASDA. If anyone has any information in regards to the whereabouts of this bike, please contact Police on 101 with reference 0550S 200218.

This looks like one of the new digital cameras, I am not sure if they need a film or they work off wifi perhaps?

Hi Alex, There are still quite a few changes taking place, we are hoping to have everything complete within a week, hopefully before. We will make an announcement once all is complete.

The forum has now been upgraded so you can continue to post and create topics as usual with some additional features. We will be adding additional features during this week.

We are in the process of changing hosts and upgrading the whole website. You may see some big changes taking place on the website over the next few days and the website may actually go offline for a short period of time while the transfer takes place. This will not actually happen until Friday or Saturday but we just need to give you notice incase you think something is wrong. If you cannot login, please find us on Facebook and Twitter until everything is up and running again. Thank you

Someone obviously complained as Facebook removed the same topic from our page.

Nightmare Neighbour Next Door from Hereford is airing tonight at 8pm on channel 5. Gordon Bell, 54, of Roman Way, Stretton Sugwas, was found guilty after trial at Hereford Crown Court in June last year of criminal damage and affray towards neighbour Emanuel Spencer. The incident dated back to August 8, 2016, when the relationship between Mr Bell and his neighbours had broken down.

Earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 hits parts of England and Wales this afternoon. The British Geological Survey has confirmed the tremor, saying it was "reasonably sized."

We ran a competition in January 2018 in partnership with 'The Beefy Boys' and the statistics speak for themselves. The competition reached almost 56,000 people, with 575 likes and over 1,150 shares!

Hereford Bypass proposed routes and river crossings video in full HD showing the proposed western bypass. It is suggested that the bypass will include 6,500 new houses, 6,000 jobs, a new university and the expansion of the Hereford Enterprise Zone at Rotherwas. The bypass will also include improving air quality, reducing HGV's vehicles travelling through the city, thus reducing congestion, encouraging walking, cycling, bus use and improving public space, reducing maintenance costs and improving safety on the A49. The video also claims that once complete the bypass will reduce morning peak hour traffic on the A49 northbound by eight minutes and five minutes southbound. The council has released a budget estimate with the most costly route listed as The Black 2 route at £135m to £140m. This is a preliminary estimate for the project. The consultation exhibition is at Hereford library until March 20.

New Safety (speed) camera currently being installed on the A465 opposite the Three Counties Hotel Belmont Road) Hereford. This is been in discussion for sometime so no real surprises here however, the traffic queues along this part of Hereford are constant so we do not envisage high earnings to come from this one... Your thoughts?

A woman was taken to hospital and a child received minor injuries following an accident at the junction on Widemarsh Street along the new city link road yesterday evening at 5.50pm (Sunday) Photo courtesy of OPU Herefordshire

RAIDS to discover illegal tobacco were carried out at two shops in Hereford and one in Ross-on-Wye and led to 21,000 cigarettes being seized. On Tuesday around 20 officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), with support from West Mercia Police, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and Herefordshire Council visited three shops. At International Food in Commercial Road, Hereford, officers discovered cigarettes inside a hidden compartment that was fitted with an electro-magnetic lock and operated by a key fob. When the fob is pressed, the electromagnet is switched off and the inside of the wall slides out on runners. Raids were also carried out at Europe Quality Food in Brookend Street in Ross and Zabka in Eign Gate in Hereford. Across the three shops there were 21,000 cigarettes seized as well as 8.7 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco, which are suspected to be illegal. In addition, £1,600 was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Sergeant Duncan Reynolds, of West Mercia Police, said: "We are continually building up our intelligence picture to identify those individuals and businesses who are operating outside of the law and a number of future enforcement operations are planned." A tobacco dog and their handler helped officers uncover cigarettes hidden in various parts of the shops. Herefordshire Council’s principal Trading Standards officer, Tim Thorne, said: “We will continue to work with partner agencies to tackle serious criminals and protect honest local business and consumers." All three shop owners were interviewed by HMRC officers and investigations are ongoing. Richard Young, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.5 billion a year." He added: "We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco to contact our fraud hotline on 0800 788 887 or report it online." Information about any type of tax fraud can be reported to HMRC online at www.gov.uk/report-an-unregistered-trader-or-business.

Man charged with Hereford murder A 22-year-old man from the West Midlands has been charged with the murder of Robert Eacock, who died in hospital in Hereford on Monday night. Anthony Boyd from Willenhall in the West Midlands was charged late last night (1 February). He remains in police custody and will appear at Hereford Magistrate's Court today (2 February). Mr Eacock died in hospital on Monday night (29 January), after being stabbed during an incident on Hereford's Commercial Street at around noon that day.

Normally we hear of pubs closing down, so this makes for a refreshing change.

Planning permission was refused for a Costa Coffee to be located on a Retail Park on Holmer Road Hereford with concerns over lack of parking. Full details of decision below:

I heard this earlier and thought it was a joke

Fraudsters target residents across Warwickshire and West Mercia Officers from Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police have received eight reports of attempted frauds, which have targeted residents across three counties. Working in conjunction with Action Fraud - the UK's national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre - we are now investigating reports of two incidents in Warwickshire, five in Herefordshire, and one in Shropshire. All were reported to us on 25 January. In one incident in Rugby, a woman received a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer from 'the serious fraud office in Westminster'. The caller asked the woman to provide her bank details and to withdraw £5,000 from an ATM. The woman refused. In an incident in Wrexham, Shropshire, a woman received a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer at Hammersmith Police Station in London. He said that two people had been arrested using bank cards with her details on, and he needed her home address to continue his policing work. When the woman refused, the caller threatened to have her arrested for perverting the course of justice. The woman did not reveal her personal or financial details. In five of the incidents, people were phoned by someone pretending to be from HM Revenue and Customs. The caller then stated that the people owed money, which could be paid in some sort of voucher (these turned out to be music or games vouchers). In three of these incidents the caller said that a courier would visit to collect the vouchers. Detective Sergeant Paul Bent from the Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police Economic Crime Unit said: Trust your instincts: if a phone call, text or email seems dodgy it probably is. To report fraud or a suspicious incident like the ones above, phone Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk. For more advice on how to spot fraud, visit the Take Five website takefive-stopfraud.org.uk. Take Five is a national campaign that offers straightforward advice on avoiding preventable financial fraud. It's led by Financial Fraud Action UK (part of UK Finance) and backed by the UK government.

Plans have been submitted for proposed hair salon (A1 use) that will occupy 30% of the building withan education and training centre (D3 use) for students of hairdressing to take up the remainder of the premises in the former Möben shop in Commercial Street Hereford. Planning application P174605/F Hopefully if these plans are passed it will encourage other businesses back to this forgotten area of our city. The only negative here is that the rates are higher than the rent!