News in Sandbach

Fiona Bruce MP has faced criticism for voting against a Labour motion that would have seen free school meals extended to cover holidays until Spring next year.

The Congleton constituency MP was among 318 of her party colleagues to block the move which has been pushed forward by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford MBE.

Missed bin collections in Cheshire East almost trebled last year, the LDRS can reveal.

A freedom of information request to the council showed that 21,340 collections were missed in 2019-20, compared to 7,182 the year before.

New figures show that Cheshire's GP practices conducted nearly half a million face-to-face appointments during the first six months of the Coronavirus response.

Between April and September 2020, GP practices across Cheshire also conducted more than 640,000 telephone and video appointments, processed more than 24,000 referrals and issued more than six million prescriptions.

Councillors have voted to freeze their allowances until May 2021 at Cheshire East's full council meeting.

The allowances, which were recommended to be increased by the authority's independent remuneration panel, are given to elected members as compensation for their time performing various duties associated with their role.

Sam Corcoran, leader of Cheshire East Council, has said he does not want to see tier 3 restrictions placed on the borough.

Responding to a question from Alsager Town councillor Sue Helliwell, the Labour representative added he had not asked the government for such a move.

Cheshire Police have u-turned over the enforcement of recently introduced 20mph speed limits in Sandbach town centre after initially saying they wouldn't do so.

A post on the Sandbach Police Facebook page last week said: "There is current confusion around the 20mph limits around the town centre.

Communities in Cheshire are being asked to share how local businesses in their area are successfully adapting during the pandemic, as part of a drive to keep people safe while supporting the local economy.

Let's Turn This Around – set up by the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership– urges residents and businesses to work together to follow restrictions and keep the region open for business.

A fire crew were called to put out a car fire this afternoon on Congleton Road in Sandbach.

The fire service was made aware of the incident around 4:20pm and dispatched one fire engine from Sandbach fire station.

Town councillors have voted to vacate the Sandbach Literary Institute as their venue to hold council meetings, with the mayor saying it would be "detrimental to the public purse" if they continued to rent it.

At an 'extraordinary meeting' of the town council on Thursday (15 October), held via Zoom, town councillors approved a proposal to give notice that they will vacate the building before the end December.

Age UK Cheshire East's new Veterans Keep in Touch service is hoping to expand and is looking to encourage more volunteers to join its ranks of veterans calling veterans.

The new service, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund, started during the lockdown in April and since then, contact has been made with over 90 veterans who have been previously supported by the charity.