News

Reading Borough Council Trading Standards are advising local residents to be on their guard if they receive phone calls out of the blue, after a local consumer was contacted twice in the space of an hour last week.

The cold calls can be about anything. These range from informing people that they have got a computer virus that only the caller’s company can fix, to offers of ‘free’ burglar alarms with an alarmingly high annual fee for monitoring and call outs.

here are a few things residents can do to reduce nuisance telephone calls:

Make sure you are ex-directory (please contact your phone service supplier)

If you are not already registered with the Telephone Preference Service, join today, by ringing 0845 070 0707

Get a telephone with a ‘caller display’ function, you can more easily chose which calls to answer

In extreme cases, perhaps for elderly or vulnerable family members, invest in a device that blocks calls from any unknown telephone numbers. Search for ‘call blocker’ on the internet for further details

Don’t forget to just say ‘No thank you’ to calls that do get through

Reading businesses are being encouraged to attend Council food hygiene courses in the new year. The 2014 courses have just been announced and are designed to help Reading food providers meet regulatory requirements.

The Council will again run the regular Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) courses. Covering all key aspects of food safety – preparation and storage, personal hygiene, pest control, food law, premises design, and the causes and prevention of food poisoning – the courses end with an assessment with certificates awarded to those who pass the exam.

Also on offer are workplace training courses, dependent on the number of staff able to attend.

A full list of courses is available here: www.reading.gov.uk/foodhygienecourse. For more information on food hygiene courses, please contact Consumer Protection on 0118 937 2465, [email protected].

Luke Haywood, aged 28, of Chagford Road, Whitley, Reading appeared at Reading Magistrates’ Court on 4/12 charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent to evade arrest, Dangerous driving, resulting in serious injury and aggravated vehicle taking.

The charges relate to a road traffic collision on Lower Early Way West, South Reading at around 5.30pm on Saturday (30/11) when PC Gareth Browning was seriously injured.

Haywood was remanded in custody to appear at Reading Crown Court on 16 December.

Thames Valley Police is currently investigating a serious injury road traffic collision in Whitley, Reading yesterday evening (30/11).

At around 5.30pm a Thames Valley Police officer, who was on foot at the time, was struck by a stolen motor vehicle travelling on Lower Earley Way West, Whitley.

He and a fellow officer were attempting to stop the vehicle. He is currently receiving hospital treatment for his injuries, which are described as critical. The other officer was unharmed.

Following the collision, the vehicle, a black Mazda Aerosport registration number KB07 LBV, failed to stop. While the vehicle was later recovered in Corrine Close, Whitley, officers are still attempting to locate the driver.

Assistant Chief Constable John Campbell said: “Our thoughts are with the injured officer and his family at this time.

“We would urge anyone who may have any information about these incidents or who may have witnessed yesterday’s incident, the Sonning Common burglary or who has seen the vehicle or knows the whereabouts of the driver to call the non-emergency number 101 and quote URN 1104 30/11.”

Changes in the way timber and other wood products are grown in commercial woodland mean that across the country many local woodlands are being left largely unmanaged. That can cause issues such as tree canopies joining to cut out light, and dominant plants – like holly and bramble – smothering other plants. As this continues woodlands become much less interesting places to visit and are much less attractive for wildlife.

Reading Borough Council, along with the Forestry Commission and other organisations, has now developed a series of proposals to improve local woodlands in Reading.

A seven-week consultation with residents’ associations, friends of parks groups and the Berkshire Local Nature Partnership took place earlier this year. 94% of respondents supported the Council’s approach to rejuvenating Reading’s woodlands. More than two-thirds of people who responded also said that they would be interested in volunteering for conservation tasks.

In total, the consultation showed approval for eight of the woodland management proposals, with amendments recommended for a further eight to ensure that individual woodlands benefit from tailored and appropriate improvement.

Reading Borough Council’s consultation asked for feedback on the following actions:

• Tree thinning to increase the diversity of plant life on the woodland floor, allowing young trees to grow to maturity and encouraging a greater mix of wildlife
• Coppicing and cutting small trees, to improve light dispersal and rejuvenate traditional stands of hazel
• Selective holly, bracken and bramble cutting to prevent the smothering of other plants and encouraging other plants like bluebells.
• Creating woodland ponds to encourage dragonflies, amphibians and bats to flourish
• Cutting an additional areas each alongside side of a woodland paths to provide an open areas to support greater diversity. More of species inhabit the first 10 metres of any woodland edge than the remainder of the woodland.