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

February 1977

POLICE warned car owners to be extra careful to secure their unattended vehicles following an increase in thefts in Dursley in 1977.

On Sunday, February 6, property worth £255 was taken from a car parked outside Hill Road, Wotton-under-Edge.

Items taken included climbing and camping equipment.

A police spokesman said at the time: “Thefts from parked cars seem to be on the increase and we would like to draw the public’s attention to the need to secure vehicles when unattended, and to reiterate that articles of value should be locked away from sight.”

February 1987

POLICE captured a man who had attempted to break into a house with two or three others after a dramatic chase across fields.

Uniform and plain clothes police officers from Dursley and Wotton-under-Edge joined in a search of the area after it was reported to the police.

The arrested man was remanded in custody at Gloucester Prison.

February 1997

A PERMANENT fax machine at Severn Beach Primary School was feared “too costly” by councillors in 1992.

Pilning and Severn Beach parish councillors discussed the possibility of purchasing a permanent machine at a meeting on Monday, February 10, 1992.

Chairman at the time, Cllr Frances Barr, thought that the cost of buying a permanent machine would be around £500 and that it would prove “very handy”.

Cllr Peter Tyzack disagreed: “You could hardly consider a fax machine of great value educationally.”