December 2009 Archives

Students at Feltham Skills Centre helped build their own workshop by laying a concrete base.

The 16 and 17-year-olds helped lecturers and contractors lay the 60sq m floor for a new brickwork workshop last week to get experience of working on site.

The students at the college in Boundaries Road stopped only once to enjoy a hot drink and pasty made freshly by the centre's catering class.

A campaign is underway to make Queen guitarist Brian May a Freeman of Hounslow.

May grew up in Walsham Road, Feltham and returned to the town last month to unveil a memorial to friend and bandmate Freddie Mercury, who also hailed from the area.

Now politicians want to recognise Brian himself by bestowing on him the highest honour the borough can give and raised the suggestion at a council meeting last week.

Hundreds of children met Santa Claus in his grotto at the Centre in Feltham over the last two weekends.

Mayor of Hounslow Councillor Paul Lynch was on hand to help Santa with presents and pose for photos with families doing their Christmas shopping in the town.

Stilt-walkers dressed as 12ft reindeer also have been bringing the town to life and on Saturday December 19 there will be an acrobatic roller-skating elf and performances from the local community groups including the Oasis Church Choir and the Choral Society at the Centre.

MPs Alan and Ann Keen over-claimed £353 worth in service charges last year, newly-released documents have revealed.

The couple were forced to pay back the money after they had claimed £4,284 between them to pay a bill at their central London flat of just £3931.

The latest in a series of expenses scandals to plague Mr and Mrs Keen has emerged after Parliament published the claims of all MPs over the last 18 months.

The memorial to Freddie Mercury in Feltham town centre remains sealed off to the public as it has not been finished and is vulnerable during the bad weather.

The 2m by 2m star, which was unveiled by former bandmate Brian May in front of more than 2,000 people last week, was not finished in time for the ceremony and the persistent bad weather has left it still incomplete.

Tradesmen working on the Hollywood-style star still have to seal it with a protective coating and hope to have it done towards the end of next week, weather permitting.

The collapse of a rail bridge in Feltham that caused travel chaos last month only came to light when when drivers noticed the track was sagging.

The bridge over the River Crane was damaged by raging torrents late on Saturday November 14, causing the closure of the line between Feltham and Waterloo for more than a week.

Motor mechanics students at Feltham Skills Centre are working with new tools worth £18,000.

The West Thames College-run centre in Boundaries road received the industry-standard tools at a fraction of the original cost thanks to a partnership with Snap-on Tools.

Programme manager Lloyd Davis said: "The educational link with Snap-On Tools is fantastic for our motor vehicle students as they are being trained on the same industry leading tools and equipment as they'd find in a professional garage."