A team from a council agency will be visiting homes to raise awareness of the risk of flash flooding.

Cheltenham Borough Council, the Environment Agency and Charlton Kings Parish Council will share information with residents on what to do during flash floods.

Some of the properties in Charlton Kings are in a rapid response catchment which means rivers and tributaries near their homes are prone to flooding after heavy rain, even before flood warnings are issued.

Louis Krog, head of public protection for the borough council, said: "Within these areas, the advanced notice doesn't often happen, so these wardens will help give them an action plan so they can do what they can to prepare."

A newly elected councillor said it was an "honour and a privilege" to be chosen to lead a local authority.

Reform UK members on North Northamptonshire Council selected Martin Griffiths for the top job after the party seized control from the Conservatives in the local elections.

Griffiths, who once led the now defunct Wellingborough Borough Council as a Conservative, will have his position confirmed on 22 May.

"The people of this county have given us a clear mandate for serious change and we fully intend to deliver that," he said.

Reform UK made history during the elections, winning 39 of the 66 seats up for grabs at North Northamptonshire Council.

The unitary authority had previously been run by the Tories, who saw their 50 councillors slashed to 13.

Griffiths left the Conservative Party in 2021 to sit as an independent in North Northamptonshire, before joining Reform in December.

He now represents the Croyland and Swanspool ward, and was selected to lead his new party after a group meeting.

Edward McDonald, councillor for Gretton and Weldon, was chosen as his deputy.

Reform UK won 677 of about 1,600 seats contested at last week's local elections.

Griffiths said: "We have an incredible team of councillors with professional experience from all walks of life.

"It's the most experienced team I've ever worked with in my time in local government, and I am excited by what we can deliver for local people."

Griffiths said what his party achieved was "incredible", after it also won West Northamptonshire Council.

"From a standing start we now have full control of both Northamptonshire councils," he added.

Curators are putting together an exhibition that aims to show people how William Shakespeare came to write his plays.

The exhibition, called Becoming Shakespeare, opens in Stratford-upon-Avon later this month.

It has been described as a look at the influences that helped to shape the dramatist when he was young, and what inspired him to create his work.

Rachael North, chief executive of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said it would focus on the playwright's "formative years".

She said visitors would be able to "feel a personal connection to the beginnings of his extraordinary journey".

Bradley Wynne, creative director at Sarner International, which has been working on designs for the exhibition, said Shakespeare's Birthplace, in the Warwickshire town, was "one of the most literary heritage sites in the world".

The exhibition opens on 24 May and organisers said prebooking was recommended.

The Shakespeare's Birthplace website describes how the bard was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564.

His father was a glove-maker, holding civic positions in the town, which meant he was likely to have sent his children to the local grammar school.

The young writer would have lived with his family at their Henley Street house, until he turned 18.

He then married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than him and already pregnant when they tied the knot.

Experts have said it is a mystery how he got to London, but by 1592 his reputation in the capital was established.

His success made him "considerably wealthy" and he went on to buy the largest house in the borough of Stratford.

Researchers now believe Shakespeare spent more time in Stratford than previously thought, lodging in London and dividing his time between his hometown and the capital, in what could have been a two or three-day commute.

A shoe fetishist who raped and murdered a woman in her own home will not be moved to an open prison, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

Christopher Farrow was jailed for life in 2000 for the murder of mother-of-two Wendy Speakes in Wakefield six years previously.

Last month the Parole Board said Farrow, who received a minimum term of 18 years, should not be freed but instead moved to a Category D facility, the least secure.

But the government has blocked the proposal, saying public protection was its "number one priority".

'Horrific crime'

A spokesperson added: "Wendy Speakes' murder was a horrific crime and our thoughts remain with her friends and family."

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood was required to make the final decision whether to accept the recommendation.

Farrow raped Ms Speakes, 51, in 1994 after breaking into her home, raiding her shoe drawer and tying her up with black tights. He then stabbed her 11 times.

It took police six years to catch him after advances were made in fingerprint technology.

The Parole Board said that, at the time of the murder, he had a sexual interest in rape, sexual violence, stockings and high-heeled shoes, along with issues in relationships and managing his emotions.

Farrow has been denied release on four occasions, following hearings in 2018, 2020 and 2023.

Ms Speakes' daughter Tracey Millington-Jones said: "It is reassuring that victims are being heard and put first.

"The fact we victims should not have to go through this every two years is another concern which needs to be heard.

"But for now, I am very grateful that women will be safe from Christopher Farrow."

Ms Millington-Jones thanked Ms Mahmood, her MP Sir John Whittingdale and the media for supporting her campaign to keep Farrow in prison, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She added: "Justice should be served for the pre-meditated horrific murder of my innocent lovely mum."

Farrow, now aged 63, has spent almost 25 years in prison since being sentenced.

On 27 February, at his fourth parole hearing since his minimum term ended, the board heard he had completed an accredited programme last year to address "offence-related sexual thoughts".

A decision summary from the board said he had completed "extensive" work in custody including sessions with a psychologist, but only recent work had allowed professionals to say he showed insight into his offending.

Farrow, originally from Cookridge in Leeds, was moved to an open prison in 2018 but was returned to a closed jail the next year due to a number of cold case investigations taking place.

The Parole Board confirmed he was no longer a person of interest to police.

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