Latest news with #DevizesTownCouncil
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Devizes: Warning to dog walkers as bird flu found in dead gull
A warning has been issued after a confirmed case of bird flu was found in a wild herring gull. Devizes Town Council has urged dog owners to take care after the bird was found dead in the town with H5N1 Avian Influenza as part of ongoing surveillance work. In a post on social media a spokesperson for the local authority confirmed Wiltshire Council had been notified of the finding by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The public have been told to avoid touching dead or sick wild birds, their feathers, or surfaces contaminated by bird droppings. Dog owners should keep their pets on leads and use footpaths, the APHA said, with people who keep poultry or other birds advised to wash their hands and disinfect footwear after Health Security Agency has said the risk to public health is very low. A spokesperson for Devizes Town Council said: "We will continue to monitor the situation and keep the public informed of any developments." What is bird flu? Bird flu is a disease caused by a virus that infects birds, with other animals such as foxes, seals and otters also sometimes major strain - circulating among wild birds worldwide - is a type of the virus known as migration has led to outbreaks in domestic and wild birds and has, in extremely rare cases, infected humans. Scientists say the current risk to humans is low. Transmission from birds to humans is rare and there has been no sustained human-to-human transmission.
BBC News
11-03-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Drivers in Devizes complain of pothole-wrecked tyres and wheels
Residents of a pothole-scarred town have said that driving is an "exercise in navigation" thanks to the state of their in Devizes, Wiltshire, said potholes have caused burst tyres and even wheel garage said there had been a "massive influx" of customers with pothole-related Council said it invests heavily in fixing roads, and has bought two bobcat machines for the purpose, but that a year of infrastructure work has delayed some repairs. BBC Radio Wiltshire's Kayleigh Barker visited the town to speak to locals."I've got a little tiny Fiat 500 and I lose the car in a lot of these potholes these days," said one woman. "We've already had one burst tire and a replacement."One man said driving was "an exercise in navigation", explaining: "Rather than just driving down a normal, straight road, you're constantly looking out for holes in the road. They need to get it sorted out."Another local said: "It's terrible, especially along the side of the roads, and when it rains, if you've got to pull in, you can't see how deep the holes are." The owner of the garage said: "We have had massive influx of people that come in due to potholes."First of all, they think it's a puncture and then when we do end up taking the wheel off, we find out [it's damaged]."Devizes Town Council's Jonathan Hunter said he wrote to the leader of Wiltshire Council, Richard Clewer, to flag the problem last month but that a co-ordinated response was needed."What happens is that National Highways come out, do some repairs, but tend to miss the surrounding potholes," he Council's Nick Holder said it had invested £22m over two years to resurface roads and fix he said: "Devizes residents will be aware that utility companies have been doing work in the town over the last 12 months to repair their infrastructure."Unfortunately this has prevented our full resurfacing programme from taking place as there is no point in resurfacing a road for it then to be dug up."
