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

May 1996

VANDALS cruised streets in Olveston deliberately hammering in car windows.

Nine cars had windows smashed on The Street and Church Hill by vandals, while in a similar incident in Littleton-on-Severn, three more vehicles were attacked in a similar fashion, bringing the damage up to an estimated £3,000.

It was reported that poll tax dodgers in Northavon owed the district council almost £3.3 million in unpaid debts dating back to 1990.

Despite such hefty debts, the district council claimed its collection record to be good compared to other authorities.

THORNBURY school children were left to cross a busy, dangerous road alone while a school struggled to find a new lollipop man.

The job at Manorbrook Junior School had been vacant for several weeks when 71-year-old Jack Woodward retired after three years of service.

Despite efforts from the school to find a replacement noone had come forward, prompting a fear about road safety.

May 2006

A YATE support group came up with a new way of educating children into fighting bullying, through a board game.

Anti-bullying group Bullywatch made the game to give advice on coping with bullies.

Leader Julie Oakley said: “We have shown the game to schools and professionals and have been told it would be a useful tool in the fight against bullying.”

The group hoped that someone might come forward and help manufacture the game so it could be used throughout schools in the area.

TRIBUTES were paid to a driving force behind Dursley’s Bymacks factory who died at the age of 81.

Crowds of people from the town attended a service for Hilda Mack, who was laid to rest the month before.

MOBILE telephones and cash were stolen during a raid on an unlocked house in Berkeley.

Opportunist thieves snatched money and two phones from the property on Marybrook Street while the front door was unlocked.