June 2011 Archives

This week the Uxbridge Gazette has thrown its weight behind the campaign to stop High Speed Two (HS2).

The hugely expensive project will benefit no one in our communities. Destroying glorious countryside, demolishing properties, blighting neighbourhoods and causing untold upset for the many households on its route will do nothing for the environment or the local economy.

There is no reliable proof it will help the national economy either.

Thirteen councils, including Hillingdon, have lined up to challenge the evidence for the £32billion proposals, and now the Gazette does too.

Make sure you have your say before the current consultation finishes on July 29.

THE co-owner of a West Drayton pharmaceuticals firm has been jailed for 12 months after a jury found him guilty of running a counterfeit inhaler scam.

Premal Gandesha admitted importing and possessing the dodgy breathing aids, which malfunctioned after a number of doses, but denied knowledge they were counterfeit.

In the conclusion of a two-week trial at Harrow Crown Court on Friday (24), the jury returned a guilty verdict for Gandesha but acquitted his business partner, Sandeep Gohil, of Alphete Road in Edmonton, and employee Anand Mehta, of Oakfield Avenue in Kenton, on all counts.

A 'LOST' tortoise named after a motorbike racer has been found after going on the run for 18 hours.

Rossi the tortoise, a tribute to Moto GP rider Valentino Rossi, disappeared on Thursday evening at 7pm.

Brett Archer, his owner, of Colham Green Road, Yiewsley, said: "One of the kids left the back gate open. If you give him a chance he'll make a break for it."

However, Rossi's break for freedom did not see him travel far.

"He turned up in a next door neighbours garden, we are well chuffed he's back."

PLANS to demolish a former pub and replace it with flats and a restaurant have been withdrawn.

Proposals were submitted in January for the derelict Blues Bar at 5 Station Road, West Drayton, but developers have now taken a step back.

A PHARMACEUTICAL company who took over a building where Napoleon once stayed held their grand opening on Monday.

Ferrings Pharmaceuticals is the new owner of Drayton Hall, in Church Road, West Drayton.

The opening of their offices was held on Monday at 11.30am with Mayor of Hillingdon Councillor Mary O'Connor in attendance.

A MAN has been charged with criminal damage after a break in at a school.

Kryztof Zdankowski, 27, of no fixed address, appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Monday.

He was arrested after a break-in at the Yiewsley Grange school for children with autism and Asperger's syndrome last Sunday. He was bailed to re-appear at a future date.

A MAN from Yiewsley has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a man who was shot dead last week.

Anthony McKenzie, 22, of Falling Lane, Yiewsley, was charged on Saturday morning. (25/6)

He is one of four men held by police in connection with the murder of Kenrick Wickham, in Dulwich, south London.

1 COLHAM MILL ROAD - Use of Ground Floor of Colne Park House (aka 1 Colham Mill Road) as a Ophthalmic Opticians and Optometrists, being a use that falls within Use class D1.

99 MULBERRY CRESCENT - Single storey detached outbuilding to rear for use as a dog grooming business.

THREE men from Hillingdon involved in an industrial-scale pirate DVD venture, believed to be the largest one ever discovered in the UK, have been jailed.

Rahul Divan, of Barnhill Road, Hayes, Ajay Singh Ahluwalia, of Grosvenor Road, Northwood, and Prikshat Sharma, of Laurel Lane, West Drayton, worked at the factory in a warehouse in Tatchbrook Road, Southall.

It was set up by Mirza Baig, who was identified as the ringleader of the illegal operation during the trial.

YET again, another large warehouse fire filled the skies of the borough this weekend.

Firefighters rushed to a site in Stockley Close, West Drayton on Saturday, evacuating 33 people from surrounding premises.

The fire is the third large blaze at an industrial site this year, with the plume of smoke being seen for miles around.

The Brigade was called shortly after 10am with around three quarters of the ground floor, the first floor and the roof on fire.

It took 60 firefighters, who arrived in 12 engines, until 3pm to bring under control.

The fire caused the busy Stockley bypass to be closed for several hours, with motorists diverted to use other routes.