Church members tuck into haggis lunch

Members of Llangollen's churches enjoyed a hearty haggis lunch on Sunday at St Collen's Church Community Hall under the able auspices of Bob Brown, who acted as the Master of Ceremonies.

The meal was in celebration of the birthday of Robert Burns, the Scottish bard, on January 25.

Bob gave an introduction to the ingredients for a traditional Burns' night celebration and later gave a fascinating introduction to the poet's life and work.

The lunch concluded with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

MP hits out over PIP assessments

Today (Monday) in the House of Commons Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones questioned the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about the length of time people are having to wait for Personal Independence Payments to be assessed.

She said: "Last year, Iain Duncan Smith made a very clear promise that by the start of 2015 no-one would have to wait more than 16 weeks for an assessment.

"Today I asked a simple yes or no question as to whether this was now the case. The Government Minister couldn't answer it and just waffled about figures that were due out later in the week.

"The issue of Personal Independence Payment assessment times is a massive one for people with cancer and other serious conditions, in our area and more widely across the UK. It is  a great disappointment that David Cameron's Government has really let these people down."

County extends garden waste discount deadline

Denbighshire County Council is to extend the period for which an early-bird discount is available to residents by a further two weeks.

The reduced rates of £22 for the standard garden waste service and £34 for a higher capacity service will now be available to everyone signing-up before 14^th February.

The offer was originally scheduled to end on 31^st January.  So far, the Council had taken orders for 6,407 garden waste bins from 5,858 Denbighshire households.

Alan Roberts, Denbighshire’s Technical Waste Officer, explained that the level of orders placed exceeded expectations:  “This is the level of orders the Council expected to receive by the end of January and the Council would really like to thank everyone who has helped us plan the services by opting-in early.

"In fact the take-up has been so great, the Council has decided to extend the early-bird period in order to avoid a last minute rush of transactions.

 “Nearly 70% of orders have been placed by residents using the Council’s website. We would encourage this as it is not only convenient for the customer but it is the most cost-effective way for the Council to accept payments and helps us keep the cost of the garden waste service to a minimum.”

The Council is currently placing stickers on the wheeled bins of residents to remind them of the need to pay if they wish to receive garden waste collections in future.

These stickers show the extended early-bird discount deadline of 14^th February. After this date, the prices for the garden waste service will revert to the standard price of £24 or £36 for the higher capacity service.

Air Ambulance quiz night planned

A quiz night in aid of Wales Air Ambulance will be held at the Britannia Inn, Llangollen on Thursday, March 19.

With a 7pm for 7.30pm start, cost is £2 per person with a maximum of five players per team allowed. Quizmaster will be Martin Goggan.

Meals are available from 5pm.

AM asks Crimewatch about Trevaline case

An Assembly Member is hoping a TV appeal could finally solve the 25-year mystery of missing Llangollen woman Trevaline Evans. 

 

Ken Skates, the Labour AM for Clwyd South, has written to BBC’s Crimewatch programme to ask whether producers have any plans to revisit the case and attempt to finally establish what happened to Mrs Evans, who vanished in mysterious circumstances on June 16, 1990. 

 

After leaving a note in her antiques shop saying she would be back in two minutes, she was never seen again and her body has never been found. She was 52. 

 

Mr Skates, whose constituency office is in Llangollen, said: “Mrs Evans’ husband Richard passed away last month, aged 83, without ever knowing what had happened to her.  

 

“North Wales Police have said the case remains open but the investigation is currently inactive as they have exhausted every avenue. I have written to Chief Constable Mark Polin to see if that is likely to change, and am awaiting a response. 

 

“In all likelihood, the police’s resources are already too over-stretched to consider reopening such an old case without new evidence emerging. And while it may well prove fruitless, there is a chance – however small – that a fresh appeal on national television could yield key information. 

 

“Millions of people watch every edition of Crimewatch and, despite the great length of time that has elapsed since Mrs Evans’ disappearance, you just never know.” 

 

Mr Skates added: “I’m sure Mrs Evans’ surviving family will never lose hope that they might find out what happened to her, and I would urge anyone who has information which could help to contact police. 

 

“A quarter of a century is an incredibly long time, and this is a most unusual case, but of course it’s possible that someone still alive today knows what happened.” 

 

 

Chirk bypass now open following new incident

Shropshire Star (@ShropshireStar)

23/01/2015 16:52 Woman airlifted to hospital as #A483 closes following police incident on #Shropshire border shropshirestar.com/news/2015/01/2… pic.twitter.com/efDUIMLHB1

Tweeted just after 5.30pm:

North & Mid Wales ‏@TrafficWalesN                

#A5 : Now clear : Both directions : Chirk

Another major incident appears incident appears to have taken place on the A5 near Chirk.

The Daily Post tweeted around 4.20pm: "A5 Chirk Bypass closed in both directions closed, due to police incident and air ambulance in the road between A483 and B5070 Chirk Road."

llanblogger reader Mike Edwards, calling from his car, at around 4.30pm said that traffic was once again being diverted through Chirk.

County's dog fouling campaign continues

A campaign to tackle dog fouling in Denbighshire will continue into 2015 with a programme of on-going enforcement activities and promotional activity around the county.

In 2014, a total of 149 people were issued with fixed penalty notices for allowing their dogs to foul in public.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: "The council has been targeting a number of 'hotspots' in the county which have been identified by members of the public through the reporting of problems with dog fouling.

"We would like to thank the public for this information, as information on offenders and problem areas are a major help to us in our efforts to tackle this anti-social problem.

"We have been running a campaign for the last few years and the number of reports coming in from the public are increasing year on year. We believe this is as a result of a co-ordinated campaign through the media, websites, social media and the local press to tell the public how to report dog fouling.

"However, we still need the public to provide the information that could lead to us identifying the culprits and taking enforcement action. Generally, a fixed penalty notice will be issued and court action may be considered if an individual refuses to pay."

To report dog fouling, please visit the Council's website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/dogfouling or by contacting the Customer Contact Centre, on 01824 706100 (Welsh language line) or 01824 706101 (English language line).