Town Centre

A Walton man has revealed that he was behind the classic Woolworths advert slogan 'The Wonder of Woolies'.

Norman Clothier, 80, devised the slogan while he worked with top UK advertising agency Masius and Fergusson as a merchandising executive in the 1950s.

Taxis and minicabs in Elmbridge are set to become safer to use with new licence plates which are being introduced by the council.

Bigger square plates are being added to Hackney Carriages and private hire vehicles over the next year, as licences are renewed.

Walton could lose a valued recreational space if Elmbridge Council pushes ahead with plans to build 38 homes.

An application by the council's estates department has been lodged with the planning department for 26 houses and 12 flats on the 1.97-acre site of the now demolished Walton swimming pool, in Kings Close, and the open space surrounding it.

Fears are growing that residential streets could become choked with shop worker's cars once the cost of all-day parking in town centres goes up.

Shop workers may be driven out of town centres once Elmbridge Council increases its the long stay parking charges on January 5, meaning annual season tickets will go up by about £200.

The chairman of the management board at Wellington Close flats in Walton has said maintenance work is essential.

Martin Lincberg, who has been living in the flats for 32 years, has said the plans to replace the buildings' curtain cladding, which is made up of an old aluminium frame holding the glass windows, is in danger of disintegrating in the future if work is not carried out.

A TASTE Of Italy returns to Walton during the first weekend in October as the Italian Market comes to town.

A concerned mum has succeeded in getting a crossing assistant appointed the Half Way junction in Walton where roadworks are in progress.

Alexa Ergatoudis, 41 (pictured with her son Josh, 12), convinced Surrey County Council to take the unusual step after she complained that work for a new traffic light system was an 'accident waiting to happen'.

Walton's Olympic kayaking gold medallist Tim Brabants was given a warm welcome back to his home town on August 27.

Tim, 31, was cheered on by the Mayor of Elmbridge Cllr Nigel Cooper and the council's chief executive Robert Moran, who met the canoeist at Xcel Leisure Centre in Waterside Drive, Walton.

A girl aged 16 was the victim of an attempted robbery when three males on BMX bicycles stopped her in Rydens Road, Walton.

The gang demanded she hand over a mobile phone and cash and claimed one of them was carrying a knife, although no weapon was produced during the incident.

An ambulance was called to The Heart today (August 12) after a woman in her 60s collapsed in Debenhams.

Staff called 999 after the woman fainted just before 11.00am. An ambulance crew arrived at 11.09am and treated the woman in the vehicle for 20 minutes before she was allowed home.