Yes, I noticed that, too: a classic example of 'copy and paste' journalism? 

Watch as police to give update on Ann Widdecombe murder investigation

Summary

Police are about to give an update on the murder investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe - watch live above

Devon and Cornwall Police say the 78-year-old was found at her home on Dartmoor in Devon on Thursday with serious injuries

They are looking for a white male in connection with their investigation, which they say is "moving at a significant pace"

Widdecombe, the former Conservative minister turned Reform UK spokeswoman, served as the MP for Maidstone in Kent for 23 years

Widdecombe's management say it's been "a very traumatic and upsetting 24 hours" - earlier when announcing her death, they did not give details on where, when or how she died

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she is "deeply saddened" to learn of Widdecombe's death and urges the public "to avoid speculation"

Heritage railway closes for 'forseeable future' after incident

All trains have been cancelled on a historic Oxfordshire railway line after a crash damaged equipment at a level crossing.

Cholsey and Wallingford Heritage Railway has had to cancel all of its trips and events for the foreseeable future after damage was caused to the historic bunk line last week.

A road traffic collision on the A4130 Wallingford Bypass caused damage to the equipment at the level crossing and requires repairs before any services can resume.

The railway team declined to comment on the situation, but it has been revealed they hope trains will be running again by the end of July.

A spokesperson for Wallingford Town Council said: "While the trains may be temporarily paused, there's still plenty happening behind the scenes."

(Swindon Advertiser article continues)

If it is like the Wallingford bypass, that long post-dates the railway, then it will be a council problem.

All trains cancelled on historic UK railway after crash

All trains have been cancelled on a historic Oxfordshire railway line after a crash damaged equipment at a level crossing.

Cholsey and Wallingford Heritage Railway has had to cancel all of its trips and events for the foreseeable future after damage was caused to the historic bunk line last week.

A road traffic collision on the A4130 Wallingford Bypass caused damage to the equipment at the level crossing and requires repairs before any services can resume.

The railway team declined to comment on the situation, but it has been revealed they hope trains will be running again by the end of July.

Going back even further in time , before Turbos (165/6) with the all stations Padd - Slough and the Padd- Rdg semi fast (Ealing Bway, Slough Burnham Taplow Maidenhead Twyford) the default in hot weather was to run all stops Padd - Rdg that was torture especially as more often than not it was a 3 car air-con had not been invented   

Man nearly sucked out of window mid-air on Ryanair plane, passengers say

A passenger was reportedly nearly sucked out of a cabin window in mid-air on a Ryanair plane.

Witnesses told local media the man, said to be a Serbian citizen in his 60s, was left hanging head first out of the window as far as his shoulders for several minutes, before other passengers on the flight managed to pull him back inside.

In a statement, Ryanair said its Friday morning flight from the Greek city of Thessaloniki to Germany's Memmingen returned "shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight".

It continued: "The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki."

The Irish budget airline added that "a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen" several hours later.

Media reports in Greece and Germany quoted passengers describing a loud bang followed by the window breaking and oxygen masks falling from the ceiling shortly after the Boeing 737 had taken off. They believe the window was smashed by pieces of the jet's engine - although Ryanair has not commented on this.

"We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams... for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door," Christina, a fellow passenger, told Radio Thessaloniki. The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."

The aircraft - believed to have been an 18 year-old-plane - was operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) later told the BBC that it "is aware of the incident involving a Ryanair group aircraft, registered and operated by Malta Air, departing Thessaloniki this morning.  The IAA will provide any requested assistance to the aviation safety investigation authority in Greece and the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate, to aid their investigation," it said.

In 2018, a passenger died when debris from a damaged engine caused a window to break on a Southwest Airlines flight in the US, and she was partially sucked out.

If that option didn't exist then the GWR services would be able to run on the relief lines all the way from Reading to Paddington making the normal stops.

Frustration as towns miss out on culture prize


Nine places across the Somerset Council area have missed out on being the UK's first Town of Culture

A tourism boss has said it is "frustrating" that no places across the West Country have been shortlisted for the UK's first Town of Culture.

Nine places across the Somerset Council area applied for the honour of being crowned UK Town of Culture 2028, which is similar to the more established City of Culture scheme.

Bridgwater, Taunton, Watchet, Wells, Yeovil, Bruton, Glastonbury, Frome and Shepton Mallet all missed out on the 15-name shortlist, with 400 towns applying.

Giles Adams from the Visit Somerset tourism board said: "It's frustrating. With respect to those towns selected, I don't want to appear sour but it does strike me that there is a focus on the north and the south west misses out. I think with these big competitions, there are very corporate and it always felt like things would be given to more northern town," Adams added.

Other places in the West including Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Filton, Emersons Green, Corsham and Nailsea were also unsuccessful.

Towns selected for the shortlist include Ilfracombe, Sandown, Pontypridd, Port Talbot, Birkenhead, Grimsby and Rotherham.

Each place will now receive £60,000 to develop a full bid and three winners - best small, medium and large town bid - will be chosen early next year.

An overall winner from these three finalists then will be crowned the UK Town of Culture 2028 and receive a £3m grant to host cultural events.

Jeremy James, events manager at Bridgwater Town Council, said: "There will be disappointment as it does garner excitement and energy doing the bid. I think the West Country needs to bang its a drum a bit. There were over 400 towns that went for this so it was always going to be a lottery."

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "I am so glad that so many towns have applied and I hope each and every town, whether they have been shortlisted or not, is incredibly proud of the work they have done to champion their local community."

Chiltern really have abandoned Stratford-Upon-Avon.

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:06
17:45 Swindon to Westbury due 18:26

17:45 Swindon to Westbury due 18:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01

14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01 has been cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe dies at 78

Former Conservative minister turned Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe has died aged 78.

(BBC article continues)

Err..........the explanation we've received for GWR trains running non stop to/from Reading to Paddington was that it was largely due to the likelihood of points (such as those at Dolphin Junction) falling over due to hot weather.

So customers who use Twyford/Maidenhead/Slough and smaller stations fall back to the Elizabeth Line, but if that fallback did not exist, what options would they have?

I don't believe we have such a class - we are a USER group - but we would love to have you as a member, Mark.   On the other way round, WWRUG *is* a member of organisations which have corporate memberships.

So customers who use Twyford/Maidenhead/Slough and smaller stations fall back to the Elizabeth Line, but if that fallback did not exist, what options would they have?

So customers who use Twyford/Maidenhead/Slough and smaller stations fall back to the Elizabeth Line, but if that fallback did not exist, what options would they have?

18:08 London Paddington to Frome due 20:00

18:08 London Paddington to Frome due 20:00 will call additionally at Maidenhead.
This is due to severe weather.

Err...surely the only difference sharing the relief lines east of Reading with the  Elizabeth Line makes to GWR when disruption occurs is to reduce the available capacity for them to use these lines when the OHL on the main lines only fails?

The "get out of jail" (odd expression for coping with disruption to their business) remains the slower alternative of taking Waterloo trains from Reading.

I guess the GWR masterplan of shove everyone to the Elizabeth Line and forget about them wasn’t so full proof after all.