The council paid 65% of Christine Laird's costs

Cheltenham Borough Council incurred more than £2.1m in costs during its dispute with a former managing director, auditors have revealed.

The council lost its civil claim in June last year. It alleged Christine Laird failed to disclose health problems which affected her work.

A report by auditors KPMG also highlighted flaws in the council's decision-making process in the case.

It made 26 recommendations and will be discussed by councillors on 22 March.

The total costs incurred by the council as a result of the dispute were £2,132,000.

The biggest expenditure was the pursuit of legal action which contributed £1,045,000 to these costs.

'Mistakes made'

The council was ordered to pay 65% of Mrs Laird's legal costs as well as its own.

KPMG's auditor director Ian Pennington said: "The council was right to consider its options over whether it could recover some of the significant costs it had incurred, but mistakes were made which, if avoided, may have limited the further costs that the council incurred.

"There was no single issue of failing, rather there were a series of issues that taken together over time created the situation.

"The council did not recognise this as events were unfolding and did not respond effectively or early enough.

"Part of the legacy of this dispute is that it continues to absorb time, energy, attention and money."

He said the council needed to "move on" and build positive working relationships that would benefit the people of Cheltenham.

Council Chief Executive Andrew North said improvements had already been made.

He said: "Over the last four years or so we've really improved our processes considerably. So much so we got really good results in a recent assessment by the Audit Commission of the council's performance.

"The problem is we didn't always apply those improved processes to what was an existing case and it almost slipped through the net."

More carriages are proposed on trains between Gloucester and Westbury

Improvements are being proposed to some First Great Western rail services in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

The recommendations are part of Network Rail's Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) - a vision of planned work over the next decade.

More carriages are being promised on trains between Gloucester and Westbury to relieve peak time congestion.

Signalling improvements and the re-doubling of the Swindon to Kemble Line are proposed, to shorten journey times.

Speed increase

An additional platform at Westbury station is recommended to improve performance and capacity.

And five additional vehicles between Cardiff and Portsmouth are proposed to provide more seats for passengers from Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Westbury, Warminster and Salisbury.

Mavis Choong, from Network Rail, said there were also plans to increase the line speed between Gloucestershire stations and the Severn Tunnel junction.

"They will benefit from a more reliable service, especially as we're looking at improving the infrastructure on this line," she said.

The 30-year strategy will be put forward to the Department for Transport to help inform the planning for the industry's next funding period from 2014 to 2019.

Hundreds of people from all over the country have lined the river bank to witness the spectacle.

The huge wave, caused by the incoming tide being funnelled up the narrowing Severn Estuary, was expected to reach more than 5.4 metres (17.7ft) high.

About 50 surfers tried to ride the five-star bore as it headed upstream earlier.

The Severn Estuary experiences the second highest tide anywhere in the world and the bore's average speed is 10 mph.

Bores can range between one star, measuring 4.5 metres (14.8ft) to 4.6 metres (15ft), and five-star, measuring 5.4 metres (17.7ft) and above.

Gloucestershire County Council needs to save £60m over three years.

Up to 500 jobs are to be shed at Gloucestershire County Council over the next three years to help save £60m.

The cuts are part of a restructuring programme which includes a review of non-obligatory services such as parks, art galleries and museums.

The public sector union, Unison, said the proposed redundancies were causing very low morale among staff.

A survey showed 64% of employees felt uncertain about their role in the county council, the union said.

Long term problem

Regional spokeswoman Tanya Palmer said: "The feeling is one of very low morale and complete uncertainty about the future of their jobs, their families, their homes.

"All the messages I'm getting is one of anger, frustration, disappointment and real anxiety."

Councillor Mark Hawthorne said he fully understood that it was a difficult time for staff.

"We are looking at fundamentally changing what we do and that's going to affect staff and jobs," he said.

"The message I would give to them is that I thank them for their continued professionalism and the hard work they're doing every single day and reassure them that we are taking our time to make sure the decisions are the right ones for them and for services.

"This isn't a short term problem, this is a long term problem that we're going to have to deal with in the public sector."

Last week, the council set its 2010/11 budget at £407.3m, with 80% going towards care for vulnerable adults and children.

The new building would be built on land near Wall's roundabout in Gloucester

Views are being sought on plans for a new £4.5m mortuary and coroner's court complex in Gloucester.

It is hoped replacing existing outdated facilities will also help save the council at least £350,000 per year.

Gloucestershire County Council currently leases mortuary and post-mortem examination facilities from the NHS, a council spokeswoman said.

She added: "The current mortuary viewing facilities are poor. One of the aims is to make this more dignified."

Hotel bills

The new building would be built on land near the Wall's roundabout in Corinium Avenue, and include storage for 60 bodies, pathology facilities, viewing facilities and a court room.

The move would allow the coroner to hold inquests without the need to hire expensive accommodation from private hotels.

Gloucestershire County Council approved the plans and the signing of a conditional contract to purchase land subject to planning permission, which will be sought at the end of March.

If the project gets the go-ahead it is hoped the site could open by early 2012, when existing offices in Cheltenham and Gloucester will close.

Each year, the Gloucestershire coroner deals with about 2,000 deaths, approximately 1,250 post-mortem examinations, and around 325 inquests.

Parents registering babies in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury can also apply for their newborns to have their own library tickets.

If the three-month pilot scheme is successful, it will be rolled out to other libraries across Gloucestershire.

A county council spokeswoman said the library service had plenty to offer even to its youngest members.

"There are bright books to stimulate their sight, hearing and touch as well as nursery rhyme CDs," she said.

"We also run baby bounce and rhyme sessions and toddler story times.

"The library is a great place for families to spend time together and many of them even have children's centres based within them.

These are a fantastic resource for parents with children under five. We hope this scheme will encourage more families to go into their local library to see what it can offer them."

A 17-year-old youth has been charged with robbery following an incident in which a female shop worker was threatened with a meat cleaver.

The incident took place at 2100 GMT on Saturday in the Hester's Way area of Cheltenham.

Police said two males entered a shop in Coronation Square and threatened the assistant before assaulting her.

The arrested 17-year-old, who is from Cheltenham, is due to appear before town magistrates on Tuesday.

A campaign is being launched to reduce the number of motorcycle deaths on Gloucestershire's roads.

In the past three years, 16 bikers have died in the county and a further 103 have been seriously injured.

Motorcyclist Jeff Pollard believes it is important to target young motorcyclists and drivers.

"The initial test is very basic," he said. "They aren't allowed on motorways before they've passed. The training needs to be more available," he added.

The pair first met in a coffee shop in Cheltenham in June 2003

A woman was left £100,000 in debt by a man who claimed to be the illegitimate son of financier Edmund De Rothschild, a court has heard.

Christine Handy wept as she told Bristol Crown Court that Alexander Marc De Rothschild Hatton had repaid "not a penny" of money she lent him.

Mr De Rothschild Hatton, 49, of Cirencester, denies seven counts of obtaining money transfers by deception.

He also denies three charges of obtaining property by deception.

Mr De Rothschild Hatton is accused of conning nearly £300,000 from Mrs Handy.

Divorcee Mrs Handy, 45, told the court Mr De Rothschild Hatton, of Bowling Green Road, claimed to have been educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford.

She added that the defendant, the father of one of her four children, said he was "governed" by the Official Secrets Act.

He told me if the bill was not paid he would have to leave the country Christine Handy

She said she met the defendant in a coffee shop in Cheltenham on 23 June, 2003 when she was going through a divorce.

Mrs Handy said she "never expected to see" Mr De Rothschild Hatton again but when she returned to the coffee shop the following week he was there.

She said that at a subsequent meeting the defendant brought his passport.

"He said 'because I want you to know who I really am'. He said he was a Rothschild," Mrs Handy said.

"He said he was adopted. He said his real father was Edmund."

She said they formed a relationship and she first lent him money in December 2003.

This was £75,000 which he said he needed to cover the costs of studying for an MBA at London Business School.

Asked by Judge Julian Lambert why she lent him the money, Mrs Handy replied: "We were planning to get married. He told me it was for our financial future."

'Carrier bags'

Mrs Handy became pregnant in early 2004 and in July that year he asked for a loan of £50,000 to pay off an income tax demand.

She said: "He told me if the bill was not paid he would have to leave the country, so I was very scared."

In September 2005, Mrs Handy sold her house to give Mr De Rothschild Hatton £105,000 for an investment opportunity he claimed to have identified, the court heard.

Michael Mather-Lees, prosecuting, asked if she had been aware he was making purchases at designer fashion shops Burberry and Ralph Lauren.

She said: "No. He would come home and say his shoulders were straining from looking at computers and would ask for a massage.

"Little did I know it was strain from all the carrier bags."

She said she lent the defendant further sums for his business school costs.

Mrs Handy told the court a member of his family approached her and told her "he was not who he was proposing to be" so in September 2006 she confronted him.

Mr De Rothschild Hatton responded by telling her he could not trust her and they were "never going to be together".

The case continues.

An inquest heard that Mr Wright suffocated when the trench collapsed

The trial of the first UK company to be charged under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act has been adjourned for 18 weeks.

Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings is accused over the death of 27-year-old employee Alex Wright of Cheltenham.

The geologist died in September 2008 when a trench collapsed on him as he collected soil samples in Brimscombe.

Company director Peter Eaton, 60, of Stroud, also faces a charge of gross negligence manslaughter.