Six winners have been chosen in this year's scarecrow competition run by the Llangollen Christmas Festival Committee.
Santa was out on his rounds to do the final judging and to drop off £20 cash prizes to each of the winning creations.
He said: "Once again people have made some fantastic scarecrows which made judging as difficult as ever but I think we had some really worthy winners.
"I'd like to thank all those who put in the effort to take part."
Latest tougher measures to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 announced yesterday by the Welsh Government have forced Llangollen Railway to cancel its popular Mince Pie Specials train services.
In a post on its Facebook page the heritage attraction currently fighting to get back on track from its financial crisis says: "Following the Welsh Government update advising of further restrictions in Wales from the 26th December 2021, we are unfortunately no longer in a position to be able to run the Mince Pie Specials.
"For customers who have pre booked tickets we would ask you to please bear with us.
"The timing of the Government announcement means we will be unable to issue any refunds before the New Year as the office will be closed from the 24th December until the 4th January.
"More information regarding refunds will be issued in due course."
The Mince Pie Specials were featured only yesterday on the BBC TV evening news.
And two metre social distancing rules are to return in public places, Mark Drakeford said in his latest update screened at 12.15pm.
Licensed premises will have to offer table service only, face masks will have to be worn and contact tracing details collected.
Outdoor events will be limited to 50, with 30 indoors.
Advice has been given to limit household mixing and use lateral flow tests beforehand, with a specific offence for having gatherings of more than 30 people.
Spectators at community sports matches will also be limited to 50 people.
Mr Drakeford announced the return to some Alert Level Two restrictions at a Welsh government press briefing.
The number of identified Omicron cases in Wales grew by 204 on Tuesday to 640.
Mr Drakeford also urged people to get vaccinated, saying this is "the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves".
"We are facing a very serious situation in Wales. A wave of infections caused by the new, fast-moving and very-infectious Omicron variant is headed our way," Mr Drakeford said.
"This new form of coronavirus could infect large numbers of people in Wales, disrupting daily lives and businesses and could cause an increase in the number of people who need hospital care in the coming weeks."
Close contacts of people who have Covid will no-longer have to self-isolate provided they have been fully-vaccinated.
They will now have to take a lateral-flow test instead.
Mr Drakeford has not gone as far as England, where people with Covid will now have to self-isolate for seven days instead of 10, providing they have a negative test result.
He said early action was needed to try and control the spread of the Omicron variant.
"As we enter our second winter of the pandemic, we have high vaccination coverage and tens of thousands of extra boosters are being given every day," he added.
"We also have access to the rapid lateral flow tests to help us all identify signs of infection without symptoms.
"Both of these, together with everything we have learned over the last two years will help to keep us safe at home without the need for new rules and regulations about mixing at home."
* The winning entry for the Christmas Card Competition from Seren Brierley of Ysgol y Gwernant.
Clwyd South MP Simon Bayne, has congratulated the 2021 winner and runners-up of his Christmas Card Competition and thanked everyone who took part.
Mr Baynes launched the competition on November 3 to design his official card and received a large number of pictures from primary school pupils in his constituency who were excited to showcase their artistic talents.
Mr Baynes said judging the competition was a difficult process due to the high standard of entries, however has congratulated the winner, Seren Brierley of Ysgol y Gwernant, and the two runners-up, Romany Roberts from Rhosymedre Community Primary School, and Rhys Jones from Ysgol y Gwernant.
Seren received a £20 book token and Romany and Rhys received £10 tokens as prizes.
The winning design has been sent to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other public figures in Government and beyond, with the designs from the runners-up featured on the back of the card.
Mr Baynes said: “I was delighted to hold the Christmas Card Competition and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took part and congratulate the winning entries.
"The standard of entries was extremely high and it was very difficult to decide on a winner. However, I would like to congratulate Seren Brierley on her excellent design and also Romany Roberts and Rhys Jones on being runners-up.
“I was extremely proud to present the Prime Minister with the winning Christmas card design and to showcase the wonderful talent we have here in Clwyd South.”
Denbighshire County Council is informing residents of waste collection arrangements over the festive period.
As Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day fall on a weekend, collection days will remain the same as usual for all residents.
During the festive period residents are asked that:
· Waste and recycling containers are put out on their usual day of collection by 7am.
· Non-recyclable waste is contained within the black bin or pink sacks, recycling as much as possible.
· Extra dry recycling, if the blue bin or sack becomes full, can be presented in a cardboard box, except for glass which should always be placed in the designated recycling container for safety reasons.
· Ribbons, bows, excessive adhesive tape and plastic windows are removed from cardboard packaging and wrapping paper before recycling. Unfortunately, wrapping paper and cards containing glitter or foil should be put in the black bin as they are not recyclable and can contaminate the paper stream.
· Food waste (cooked and uncooked) should always be recycled – even meat bones can go into the orange kerbside caddy for composting at a specialized facility within the county.
Cllr Brian Jones, the Council’s Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “We are wishing all our residents a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
“We know households will have extra waste and recycling during this period, but most of this can be disposed of and recycled through our kerbside collection services.
“If residents follow the guidelines it will help our staff to collect waste and recycling as efficiently as possible during Christmas.”
The Council’s bulky waste collection service and bin deliveries are running as usual over Christmas.
Extra waste can be taken to one of our three household waste recycling centres, in Rhyl, Denbigh and Ruthin which are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Booking is essential and you can book at www.denbighshire.gov.uk/
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Sporting events will be
played behind closed doors from Boxing Day in Wales to help control the
spread of the new omicron variant of Covid-19. |
|
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething today announced the new measures
for indoor and outdoor sporting events as the latest figures showed a further
steep rise in the number of confirmed cases of the fast-moving variant. He also confirmed a £3m Spectator Sports Fund will be
available to support clubs and sporting venues affected by the new measures
to protect public health. Further details about the fund will be available following
discussions with the sector. The Economy Minister said: “Sporting events over the Christmas period are one of the big highlights of the year. Unfortunately, the new omicron variant is a significant development in the pandemic and could cause a large number of infections. “We need to do everything we can to protect people’s health
and control the spread of this awful virus. “Throughout the pandemic we have followed scientific and
public health advice to keep people safe. The advice is clear – we need to
act now in response to the threat of omicron. We are giving people as much
notice of these decisions as we can. “Crowds will come back as soon as possible. We want everyone
to be here to enjoy their favourite sports.” The decision comes as some football clubs have already announced
Christmas matches have been postponed because of cases of Covid-19 in their
squads. Cardiff City FC has postponed its Boxing Day match against
Coventry City due to several cases of Covid-19 in its playing squad and
staff. And League Two leaders Forest Green will not be playing Newport
County. The latest figures show omicron cases are rising quickly in
all parts of Wales. The overall rate of coronavirus infections is also rising in
Wales and now stands at just under 550 cases per 100,000 people. The First Minister last week warned of a gathering storm of
omicron infections after the Christmas period as some strengthened measures
were introduced from 27 December to protect lives and livelihoods. The coronavirus regulations, including playing sports behind
closed doors, will be reviewed regularly, says the Welsh Government. * The Daily Post is reporting that all non-urgent treatment at North Wales hospitals has been cancelled to due the increasing number of Covid-19 cases. For the full story, see: https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/non-urgent-treatment-north-wales-22524120?fbclid=IwAR3pPdm5pHGbzk2AsXfAN5Azew09aHuX05WMAdIl6ENA8OArCsWQR9UfDlk |
Latest column from Denbighshire Citizens Advice is:
Q: I’m
a bit anxious about going out into shops at the moment so I want to do more
shopping online, but there have been things in the news about delivery
problems. I’m worried about not receiving things on time or packages being
lost. What should I do if my parcel goes missing?
A: When
you’re online shopping, it’s not always clear whom to contact if things go
wrong.
As
a customer, your contract is with the seller that you bought the item from.
It’s the seller’s responsibility to make sure the item is delivered to you.
They should chase the courier to find out what happened to your order if there
is a problem.
If
your parcel hasn’t arrived:
·
Check the delivery address you gave the
seller, to make sure it’s correct
·
Then contact the seller and ask where
your order is
·
If the seller claims they’ve delivered it
or doesn’t know where it is, you can ask for a redelivery. You might be able to
get a refund in some circumstances where the delivery time was essential and
you let the seller know ahead of time.
Under
the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you can ask the seller to deliver the item to you
again if the item wasn’t delivered either by an agreed date, or within a
reasonable time – usually 30 days.
If
the new delivery fails to come within a reasonable time, you cans ask the
seller for a refund.
If
your parcel was left somewhere:
Another
problem people face is when parcels get left in different places, for example
outside or with a neighbour.
If
your item was delivered by Royal Mail:
If
Royal Mail left your package with a neighbour or in a certain place because you
told them to, it’s not the seller or Royal Mail’s responsibility if it gets
lost.
If
they leave it somewhere you hadn’t instructed, it’s the seller’s responsibility
if it gets lost.
You
should contact the seller to ask for a redelivery or a refund.
If
the item was delivered by a courier:
Check
your terms and conditions or account details – they might include other places
for delivery, like your porch or a neighbour’s house. If you agreed to them,
it’s not the seller’s or courier’s responsibility if your order has gone
missing. However if you did not agree to this, then it’s the sellers
responsibility if your order goes missing.
If
you ordered something from a private seller or you’re still having trouble
after trying the tips above, you can contact the Citizens advice Consumer
Helpline for help on 0808 223 1133
