1966

BUYING drinks for himself and his girlfriend while underage proved costly for a 17-year-old from Chipping Sodbury in February 1966. He was fined a total of £6 in for the offences at Sodbury Magistrates’ Court. The girl was fined £2 for drinking in a bar when underage.

A MAN from Frampton Cotterell sustained arm injuries, cuts and bruises after he flipped his car near the railway viaduct in Coalpit Heath. The 29-year-old also seriously damaged his vehicle as a result of the accident, in which no other cars were involved.

1976

TRAFFIC on the main Wickwar Road in Kingswood had to swerve to avoid the “staggering form” of John Smith, Dursley magistrates were told around this time 40 years ago. Mr Smith had earlier been spotted near one of the houses on the main road and when the police arrived they found he was drunk. There had already been several complaints about Mr Smith’s behaviour and police told the Gazette he had three previous convictions for being drunk on the highway. Admitting he was drunk, Mr Smith said he had nothing further to say. The magistrates said they required more information so Mr Smith was remanded in custody.

IN A PILE of rubbish in Folly Wood police found envelopes and papers addressed to a man from Norman Hill, Cam. Interviewed at his home by police, the man admitted the rubbish was his and later pleaded guilty to disposing of it in the wood in front of Dursley magistrates. In a letter to the court the man said: “Since the closure of the refuse tip in Cam, rubbish has to be taken to the quarry at Horsley. As I am not local I had no idea where this was. If I had not seen the rubbish already piled in Folly Wood I would not have left mine.” He was charged £25.

1986

AN APPLICATION for a zoo licence was to be made by Berkeley Castle. But animal enthusiasts who suspected it may have meant some kind of animal park was about to be opened up in the town were left disappointed – the licence was simply to house butterflies at the castle.

UP TO 30 jobs were lost at Mawdsleys in Dursley when the management announced large scale redundancies. Thirty days' notice were given to the employees when they received the notification. The letter to staff said: “The general situation has worsened and under these circumstances the directors consider it necessary to declare a redundancy.”