LOOKING back on some of the stories the Gazette has reported through the years...

July 1977

A THORNBURY mechanic narrowly escaped a car blaze in Staple Hill. Mike Lippiatt, 42, was welding the floor of a car when it suddenly burst into flames.

He escaped unhurt and raised an alarm after switching off his oxyacetylene gear.

One car was completely destroyed and two others were slightly damaged in the fire.

A 14-YEAR-OLD Warmley boy admitted to causing £2,000 damage after starting a fire at the Summit Youth Club in Kingswood, a juvenile court heard.

Inspector Rowley Willetts, prosecuting, said that the youngster started the fire at the end of a club meeting by setting light to a match and putting it in a hole in the wall.

Michael Kelly, defending, said that the boy did not realise what would happen. The teenager was fined £25 and his father was ordered to pay £400 in compensation.

July 1987

A BETTING shop opened in Station Road, Yate, despite the fact that no planning consent had been granted.

The applicant, Alan Davies of Cardiff, had applied for a change of use for the premises, which had previously been used as a retail store room.

Cllr Chris Willmore told the Gazette that Yate Town Council had objected to the plans.

“The highway is very dangerous and all this can do is worsen the situation,” she said.

HORTHAM Hospital in Almondsbury was proposed as a complex for the elderly or homeless.

Cllr Reg Porter made the suggestion at a planning committee meeting of Northavon District Council in July 1987.

After hearing the idea, Chief Planning Officer Alan Joyner commented that the hospital could become “a home for retired planning officers”.